Tyler grabbed an offensive board and then scored inside as the buzzer sounded. His basket might have only given the Knights a one-point edge at the break, but it helped set the tone for the rest of the game. The result was a good one for UCF as the Knights posted a 67-56 win at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. The triumph gave UCF head coach Kirk Speraw his 275th victory with the Knights, making him the winningest coach in program history.<\/p>\n
After the game, Speraw spoke about Tyler’s big basket. It helped the Knights come out of halftime strong, as UCF (11-11, 3-5 Conference USA) used a 10-0 run early in the second period to pull away. The team eventually led by as many as 16 against the Pirates, who fell to 7-15 overall and 1-7 in the league.<\/p>\n
“It was a very big bucket,” Speraw said. “We missed the jumper, but he fought and battled for that rebound and kind of willed it into the hole. I thought that was crucial to be able to do that.”<\/p>\n
Tyler had a strong game for the Knights (10 points, nine boards), but the team’s most valuable player was junior guard Taylor Young (Orlando, Fla.). Starting for the second-straight game, Young hit all three of his 3-point attempts and finished with a career-high 16 points. He hit five free throws down the stretch, helping UCF hold off a late rally fueled by East Carolina’s Jamar Abrams, who drained five treys and concluded the game with 28 points.<\/p>\n
“Taylor Young shot the ball very well. He hit some (3-pointers) in good rhythm,” Speraw said.<\/p>\n
Sosa, UCF’s 3-point specialist, has struggled for the last month, but found his shot against the Pirates. He made four shots from deep and finished with 14 points.<\/p>\n
The win was especially big for the Knights because the team will not play again until eight days from now when Memphis hosts UCF.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tyler grabbed an offensive board and then scored inside as the buzzer sounded. His basket might have only given the Knights a one-point edge at the break, but it helped set the tone for the rest of the game. The result was a good one for UCF as the Knights posted a 67-56 win at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.…","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":9891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[423,2677,4591],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-9890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-basketball","tag-kirk-speraw","tag-taylor-young"],"yoast_head":"\n