Jeff Jordan Leaves #UCF Program

Per a UCF press release, back-up point guard Jeff Jordan has left the program.

UCF men’s basketball senior Jeffrey Jordan will not be returning to the team this semester.

“We wish Jeff nothing but the best in the future,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “We appreciate his contributions to our program and he will always be a member of the UCF basketball family.”

“I will not be returning to the UCF basketball team this semester due to personal reasons,” Jordan said. “I thank coach Jones for the opportunity to be a part of the UCF basketball family. I wish the team and coaching staff much continued success.”

This leaves the team short-handed for point guards with only A.J. Rompza and Marcus Jordan having experience running the point. The elder Jordan’s playing time had decreased in recent games and he had seen just 34 minutes over the last three minutes but those minutes provided effective rests for the starters. This leaves UCF with just 12 players on the active roster as C.J. Reed continues to sit out as a transfer from Bethune Cookman.

Knights End Pirates' Plundering

UCF ended a four-game losing streak to East Carolina in impressive fashion dominating both sides of the court in a 81-63 victory on the road.

#UCF Holding On Down the Stretch

UCF has been up by as many as 22 points in the second half but currently holds a 64-51 lead with seven minutes remaining in the contest. Missouri transfer MIguel Paul has been a one-man wrecking crew for the Pirates as he has 21 points on the contest but has also taken some out of control shots at inopportune moments that UCF has taken the other way to convert into points.

East Carolina is already in the double-bonus as the Knights have been foul-prone in the second half. Josh Crittle has four fouls and Dwight McCombs has three fouls on the inside. UCF has also continued its one to one assist to turnover ratio as it has had struggles with the East Carolina pressure in this half.

A.J. Rompza Stealing the Show

A.J. Rompza is putting on an impressive show in this game in just his third game back on the season. He is a perfect 6 of 6 from the floor, has hit all three of his 3-point attempts, while chipping in six assists, five rebounds, and three steals. He leads all scorers with 16 points as UCF leads East Carolina 51-35 with just over 13 minutes left in the game.

Knights Up Seven at Half

UCF goes into the half up 38 to 31. The Knights had stretched their lead out to 13 points with 1:39 left but back to back 3-point shots by Miguel Paul narrowed the gap to seven and UCF was unable to convert its final two shot attempts before the half.

UCF shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half while out-rebounding East Carolina 22-12 so far. A.J. Rompza leads all scorers with 14 points and has dished out five assist. Isaiah Sykes has ten points and five rebounds on the game. Keith Clanton and Marcus Jordan are struggling going 3 of 10 from the floor with a couple of airballs on forced shot attempts. Clanton is battling a flu bug but has still been on the floor for most of the game.

In an otherwise impressive half of play, one criticism of UCF’s play was carelessness with the ball. The Knights have to control the ball better in the second half as they committed as many turnovers, seven, as they had assists in the first half. Nobody is in any foul trouble as there were only ten fouls called in the entire half and nobody on UCF has more than one foul.

Impressive All-Around Effort In First Half

UCF is hoping to end a four-game losing streak against East Carolina that dates back to the 2009-2010 season. UCF has played spirited basketball on both ends of the floor and currently holds a 33-25 lead at East Carolina. The team is shooting 55 percent from the floor but a new scoring duo has emerged.

For most of the season, UCF has been led in scoring by Marcus Jordan and Keith Clanton but that pair only has eight points so far while A.J. Rompza and Isaiah Sykes are carrying the team so far with 24 points on 10 of 12 shooting. UCF also enjoys a nine rebound advantage on the glass and have blocked four shots so far.

Free throw shooting has been a rare site so far with the Knights hitting most of their outside shots and having their way on the inside but have hit just 1 of 4 free throws so far.

UCF Battles East Carolina

The UCF Knights try to end East Carolina's run of success against the Knights as UCF goes on the road for their first Conference USA road game of the season.