Southern Miss started out hot and got out to an early 11-6 lead. UCF when on to rattle off the next 15 points in the contest to take a 21-11lead after Golden Eagles coach Larry Eustachy picked up a technical foul voicing his displeasure about the officiating. Whatever he said at that point to his team worked and worked well as the Golden Eagles closed the gap quickly and ended the half on a 10-0 run which carried over into a dominating second half performance on their way to a 78-65 win in which they dictated both ends of the floor for the final 25 minutes of the contest.
Southern Miss shot 46 percent from the floor, hit seven 3-point shots, and hit 19 of 27 free throws in this contest. They won the battle of the boards by one and had two more offensive rebounds than UCF. The Golden Eagles held UCF to just 40 percent shooting from the floor, 4 of 14 from behind the arc, and forced the Knights into 15 turnovers on the evening. Keith Clanton lead the Knights with 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting while Marcus Jordan added 11 points. The rest of the squad was just 9 of 32 shooting offering little help. The only positive note for the Knights was the fact they were 17 of 20 from the free throw line on the evening.
The loss snapped a 16 game home winning streak for the Knights and marked the first time all season the team has lost a game in which they led at halftime as well as their first back to back losses. The team has to bounce right back as they play host to Palm Beach Atlantic on Monday night as they take a temporary break from conference play.