Riley Kugel totaled 19 points and seven rebounds, Jamichael Stillwell had 18 points and seven boards and UCF earned an 82-73 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday night in Manhattan, Kan.
Themus Fulks produced 13 points, 12 assists, three rebounds and three steals for the Knights (14-2, 3-1 Big 12), who won their second straight game. Devan Cambridge had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.
P.J. Haggerty had a game-high 23 points along with five rebounds and five assists for the Wildcats (9-8, 0-4). Khamari McGriff totaled 15 points and five boards. Abdi Bashir Jr. scored 12 points and Taj Manning posted 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
UCF shot 52.5% (32 of 61) from the floor, while Kansas State hit 44.6% (29 of 65).
Neither team created much separation early in the fourth conference game for each. Kugel’s five points gave the visitors a 9-8 lead at the first media timeout as each squad made half of its field goals by the 15:41 mark.
Kugel stayed hot and sent the Knights on an 11-0 run with his second trey and a baseline jumper to start it. Then Fulks alley-ooped to Cambridge for a 16-10 edge. With the home side down 20-10, David Castillo drilled a long ball to break the streak.
UCF’s defense constantly pressured the Wildcats, forcing them to commit eight turnovers to just five assists by the 10-minute mark. The lead grew to 29-16 on Fulks’ jumper from the elbow at 7:56.
Kansas State came alive on an 8-2 run behind two layups by Haggerty and buckets from Manning and McGriff to cut the deficit to 10 with less than three minutes to play.
UCF led 42-28 at halftime on 52.9% shooting as Kugel led with 10 points. Meanwhile, the Wildcats shot 34.4% and received eight points from McGriff.
Just over three minutes into the second half, the Wildcats’ found their game, with Bashir making two treys to get the deficit down to eight. Castillo’s layup at 13:12 made it 55-49.
Haggerty’s layup made it a one-point game, but Fulks and Jordan Burks drained deep shots to push UCF’s lead to 63-56 at 10:57.
Kansas State got within three at 7:36 but could get no closer as UCF handed the Wildcats their fourth straight defeat.
–Field Level Media
