It was a rough night for Johnny Dawkins and his squad as they drop a much-anticipated matchup with #12 Houston. A win tonight could have been what secured the Knights an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Instead, UCF has to hope they can rack up enough victories in the toughest stretch of their schedule.

Highlights

Three in the Key

1. Free throw struggles continue.

There was little room for error if UCF was going to pull off the upset and they just didn’t execute. You can’t shoot 52% from the free throw line and expect to knock off one of the best teams in the country. Free throws are what make or break a game like this and it broke UCF tonight.

2. Knight Nation showed out.

The one bright part of the evening was the crowd. The student section came out in force and the rest of the arena definitely had more fans than normal. Was it the packed house everyone was hoping for? No, but it was definitely the best crowd of the season.

3. Don’t overreact.

UCF fans are about to go into frenzy calling for Johnny Dawkins’ job. If you’re one of those fans, please take a deep breath. Losing to a 22-1 top 15 team doesn’t warrant hitting the panic button. Fans can’t expect that same level of perfection that UCF Football made them accustom too. There’s going to be ups and downs in a college basketball season and it’s your job as a fan to support the team through it all.

Who’s Got Next?

UCF travels to SMU this Sunday, February 10th. The match will tipoff at 2:00pm EST and will be broadcasted on ESPNews.