After halting a four-game skid in its most recent outing, UCF is out to end a five-game road losing streak on Wednesday when it plays Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.
Darius Johnson scored 16 points and Jaylin Sellers added 15 as the Knights (14-12, 5-9 Big 12) recorded a 75-61 victory vs. then-No. 23 Texas Tech on Saturday.
UCF held a decisive 32-12 edge in points in the paint and benefited from a late 20-3 surge to seal the win.
“Whenever I’ve faced adversity as a coach or player, you have to use it as an opportunity. There’s something you can grow from within it,” Knights coach Johnny Dawkins said. “Nobody likes to lose and I can’t stand it … but there were some things we had to learn to become a better team. I thought that experience, as tough as it was, I think it helped us get better in a lot of ways. Now, we have to carry that forward and not forget those lessons that we learned.”
Sellers (16.5 points per game) and Johnson (14.3) are pacing UCF, which last notched a win on the road on Jan. 17, a 77-71 decision against Texas. Sellers scored 24 points and Shemarri Allen added a season-high 17 against the Longhorns.
Oklahoma State (12-15, 4-10) saw a modest two-game winning streak come to an end courtesy of a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in an 84-82 overtime loss to Oklahoma on Saturday.
Javon Small and Quion Williams each scored 21 points and freshman Eric Dailey Jr. added a season-high 20 off the bench for the Cowboys.
“We definitely wanted that win bad,” Dailey said, per The Oklahoman. “We want every win bad, but this one was a big one. We’ve been talking about it all year.”
Small boasts team-best averages in points per game (14.6) and assists per game (4.5), while Williams leads the club in rebounds per contest (5.8).
UCF posted a 60-56 overtime victory vs. Oklahoma State last season as part of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship.
–Field Level Media
