Men's Basketball Drops Conference Opener to UCF, 85-72

Wednesday, December 28

Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse

7 p.m. CT

Tulane University

3-10, 0-1AAC

UCF

10-3, 1-0AAC

UCF

Tulane

Photo by: Parker Waters

Men's Basketball Drops Conference Opener to UCF, 85-72

Dec 28, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score PDF

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane owned a one-point lead at halftime, but UCF used 54 second-half points to rally for an 85-72 victory over the Green Wave on Wednesday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Kain Harris led all scorers with a career-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench, while Melvin Frazier contributed 13 points and a game-high three steals. Malik Morgan added 12 points, seven boards and three assists.

Matt Williams led four UCF (10-3, 1-0 AAC) scorers to reach double-figures with 21 points, as A.J. Davis compiled a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Tank Efianayi totaled 14 points while Chad Brown added 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting off the bench, as the Knights shot 25-for-45 (.556) as a team and went 30-for-45 (.667) at the free throw line.

Tulane (3-10, 0-1 AAC) committed 32 fouls in the contest – its most since posting 30 against Texas A&M on Nov. 26, 2005. The Green Wave outscored the Knights, 20-10, off turnovers and 30-21 off the bench, but were topped, 38-28, in the paint and 12-5 on second chance baskets.

UCF led for a majority of the first 20 minutes of action and jumped out to a 10-5 lead at the 14:55 mark on a Davis layup. The Knights pushed their lead to as many as six after a dunk by Tacko Fall made it 19-13 with 9:05 to play, but Tulane fought back from that point, closing to within two points on Harris' first three of the night with 6:05 left cut the deficit to 25-23.

Buckets on consecutive possessions by Harris and Frazier down to the 4:12 mark gave the Green Wave its first lead of the night, 28-27, with just over four minutes remaining. Despite UCF reclaiming a three-point lead, 31-28, late in the half, a layup by Ryan Smith and a dunk by Ray Ona Embo sent Tulane into the locker rooms with a 32-31 advantage.

The Green Wave shot 14-for-33 (.424) overall, 1-for-6 (.167) from three and 3-for-7 (.429) at the free throw line in the first half, while the Knights went 12-for-21 (.571) from the floor, missed all three attempts beyond the arc and shot 7-for-13 (.538) at the foul stripe.

The two sides exchanged scoring possessions in the first four minutes of the second half, as a Morgan jumper kept Tulane on top, 38-37, with 16:57 left in the game.

A response came in the form of a three-pointer by Matt Williams on the very next possession to put UCF back on top by two and the Knights never looked back. UCF continued to work the ball inside and got to the foul line on a consistent basis – attempting 32 free throws in the second half.

The Knights created their first double-digit lead of the night, 62-52, on a pair of free throws by Nick Banyard with 7:38 left on the clock. UCF pushed the advantage to as many as 16 with 3:55 remaining, but a quick 7-0 run by the Green Wave in a span of 34 seconds, capped by another Harris three-pointer, brought it back to single digits, 75-66.

Tulane would draw no closer however, as the Knights closed out their third win in a row with a 13-point triumph.

The Green Wave will travel to Cincinnati for its first American Athletic Conference road game on Sunday, Jan. 1. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET), and the game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.