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For the second consecutive game, the trio of Senior Brandon Mahan, Freshman Isaiah Adams and sophomore Darin Green, Jr. carried the Knights’ offense as they combined for 52 of the UCF Knights’ 75 points as beat the Cincinnati Bearcats to open American Athletic Conference play.
Mahan scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, and once again made big plays in critical moments to hold off the Bearcats.
Adams scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, scoring in different ways by driving to the basket, posting up and his jump shot.
Green added 12 points in the win.
The Knights shot 53% from the field in the 2nd half and opened up a 13-point lead in the second half after being tied at halftime. UCF would hold off a late 10-1 run by the Bearcats for their third win of the season.
The Knights forced 19 Bearcat turnovers, with 15 of them coming in the first half.
UCF now gets set to host No. 6 Houston on Saturday, which is highest-ranked team to play at Additional Financial Arena in history. The previous record was No. 7, by both Cincinnati and Louisville in 2014. UCF will look to beat Houston for the second time as the 6th-ranked team, like they did on March 2, 2019 at Houston.