Near the end of a season that has not gone as UCF hoped it would, point guard Darium Johnson has still served as a source of satisfaction to the team’s fans and coaches.
Going into Wednesday night’s final home game against Big 12 Conference opponent Oklahoma State in Orlando, Johnson is averaging 15.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He leads the team in assists and steals.
“Just sticking it out,” he said when asked about the key to his career. “I wasn’t a kid who was highly ranked coming out of high school and I could have transferred and gone somewhere else for other reasons but I believe in the staff here.
“I believe in coach (Johnny) Dawkins and everything he’s done for me.”
Johnson delivered a team-high 20 points and four assists Saturday in an 89-78 loss at TCU. The Golden Knights (15-14, 6-12) trailed 49-30 at halftime, which proved to be too big a hole from which to dig out during a spirited second-half comeback.
Leading scorer Keyshawn Hall (18.9 ppg) endured a miserable game at TCU, making only 3 of 17 attempts from the field and finishing with 14 points.
Oklahoma State (14-15, 6-12) is also coming off a conference loss on the road, falling 71-61 to Baylor on Saturday night. Poor shooting and ball handling did the Cowboys in as they hit just 19 of 49 attempts (38.8 percent) from the field, including 2 of 14 on 3-pointers, and committed 18 turnovers.
It was a far cry from their last game, a 74-68 upset of then-No. 9 Iowa State that saw Oklahoma State play to its strength and force 18 turnovers that led to 24 points.
“Just stayed focused and stuck to the game plan,” said guard Arturo Dean of that victory. “Stayed focused for a whole 40 minutes.”
Bryce Thompson leads the Cowboys’ attack at 12.6 ppg, while Abou Ousmane adds 12.1, including 25 in the win over Iowa State.
Oklahoma State outgunned UCF 104-95 on Feb. 19 in Stillwater, getting 25 from Thompson and hitting 28 of 35 foul shots. Hall had 34 for UCF.
–Field Level Media
