The UCF Knights were outscored 42-25 in the 2nd half and went from being up three at halftime to dropping a 68-54 decision to the Cincinnati Bearcats to drop to 9-7 overall on the season and 0-4 in American.

The Knights continue to show signs of playing in perks in every game in conference, but still have not played a full-complete 40 minute game in conference.

So what went wrong? We break it down right here in our Four Corners:

Points off Turnovers

The Knights turned the ball over 14 times, which the Bearcats turn into 24 points, while UCF only scored 8 off of Cincinnati’s 13 turnovers. That was pretty much the difference in game.

Shooting

Cincinnati shot 50% from the field in the 2nd half of the game while UCF shot only 35%. For the game the Bearcats shot 50% while the Knights were at 42%, with the Bearcats having nine more shot attempts (54-45). Cincinnati also shot well from 3-point land, going 6-16 compared to UCF’s 1-9. The Bearcats outscored the Knights from long range 18-3.

Rebounding

The Bearcats out-rebounded the Knights 34-22, with the big stat being that Cincinnati doubled up UCF in offensive rebounds, 10-5 which gave Bearcats five extra possesions.

Not Much Ball Movement

UCF tied its season low for assists with 9. The Knights had 9 at Oklahoma on December 21st where UCF also struggled on offense. The Knights average over 14 assists per game. Bearcats forced the Knights into a lot of isolation basketball, especially in the second half, which the Knights struggle with as they do not have an established guy that can get baskets on his own.

For the offense to be successful, UCF has to have ball movement. On Wednesday night’s loss at SMU, UCF had 18 assists.

Overall it was a tough second half as UCF continues to search for its first complete 40 minute performance in conference play. The next opportunity comes on Tuesday at an improved Tulane team that has beaten Temple and Cincinnati already.