SB Nation Tampa Bay - UCF Knights Roll Over Hartford, Win 67-48https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49019/tb-fave.png2011-12-03T21:20:02-05:00http://tampabay.sbnation.com/rss/stream/23712902011-12-03T21:20:02-05:002011-12-03T21:20:02-05:00Sykes Leads the Charge
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<p>For the first six games of this season, the Knights have been lead most nights by Keith Clanton and Marcus Jordan. Tonight, they and the rest of the Knights jumped on the back of Isaiah Sykes who led the way with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and a show-stopping blocked shot in a 67-48 defeat of the Hartford Hawks.</p>
<p><span class="caps">UCF</span> jumped out to an early 27-8 lead that included a 21-0 run and then seemingly shut down for the rest of the first half on a series of turnovers and poor shot selection. After the Hawks recovered from the initial onslaught by <span class="caps">UCF</span>, they worked the game to within six points at half and got the game as close as four points with ten minutes left to go before running out of gas and bodies due to foul trouble.</p>
<p>The Knights shot just 38 percent from the floor and were only 3 of 13 from the arc. <span class="caps">UCF</span> spent most of the second half of the contest on the free throw line as Hartford was fouling early and often and the Knights shot 71 percent on 22 of 31 from the line.</p>
<p>Sykes had a tremendous all-around game going 9 of 14 from the floor, 4 of 6 from the line, and hauling in six offensive rebounds on the night. Sykes’ game is more of a slasher as he is still developing his shooting range, but he has an uncanny knack for being in the right place on put backs and loose balls and his hustle on the defense end of the court sets the example for the rest of the team. Even on the best offensive night of his young career, the play of the night was Sykes breaking up a 3 on 0 fastbreak from behind with an incredible shot block on what appeared to be an easy lay-up.</p>
<p>The Hawks’ defensive efforts were to double-team Clanton any time he touched the ball in the paint and pressure Jordan any time he had the ball in his hands anywhere on the court. The due combined to shoot just 5 of 19 from the floor and Clanton had only four of those attempts. That strategy is one the Knights can expect to see more frequently once conference play begins until a consistent third option steps up for the Knights on the offense. Tonight, that was Sykes but that could also be Tristan Spurlock on other nights. Spurlock had the other double-double on the team with 10 points, 11 rebounds (7 offensive) two steals and two blocks in 30 minutes of strong all-around play.</p>
<p>The team has a busy week off the floor with final exams this week before taking on Bethune-Cookman College next Saturday at 5pm at the <span class="caps">UCF</span> Arena. Last season, the two teams faced off on December 3rd and the Knights were victorious 76-59 behind 31 points from Clanton and Jordan as well as another 14 points and 8 blocks from senior center Tom Herzog.</p>
https://tampabay.sbnation.com/central-florida-knights/2011/12/3/2609092/ucf-knights-isaiah-sykes-leads-the-chargeJason Collette2011-12-03T09:00:23-05:002011-12-03T09:00:23-05:00Knights Get Back At It
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<p>The Knights look to get the offense back up and running against the lowly Hartford Hawks after running into the Crimson Wall of Defense over the weekend.</p> <p>The Knights come back from The Bahamas with the second place finish in the inaugural Battle of Atlantis having gone 2-1 in the tournament which included wins against College of Charleston and 4th-ranked University of Connecticut. To date, UCF has played four schools with top-100 RPI's this season: Harvard (15), Florida State (30), College of Charleston (48), and UCONN (88). Their next game against Hartford will not be one of those. Hartford comes into the contest 0-7 with an RPI of 338 that places them in the bottom ten of the country which should give the Knights a golden opportunity to get back into their offensive flow that Harvard effectively disrupted last weekend.</p>
<p>After starting the season with 34 turnovers in its first two contests, the Knights have done a much better job protecting the ball turning it over just 33 times over their past four contests. Most of that has to do with getting <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/100262/marcus-jordan">Marcus Jordan</a> back in the lineup as all of the point guard minutes were going to the inexperienced <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124519/isaiah-sykes">Isaiah Sykes</a> and Jordan's older brother Jeff who sat out all last season as a transfer. Free throw shooting continues to be a roller coaster ride as the team is shooting a woeful 57 percent from the line this season.</p>
<p>Tip-off is at 5pm as the Knights play the first of four home games in the month of December around final exams and the semester break.</p>
https://tampabay.sbnation.com/central-florida-knights/2011/12/3/2607160/knights-get-back-at-itJason Collette