During the media session on Friday Bearcats Sports Radio was able to ask coach Davis his thoughts on the “deflate gate” scandal, opening a Twitter account, oh and, the UCF game overview.
This Sunday at 2 PM ET on CBS Sports Network the Bearcats travel to the sunshine state to take on the University of Central Florida Knights. The Knights are 9-9 and 2-5 in the American, while the Cats are searching for their first conference road win of the season. Every W counts as the Cats try to claw their way to the top of the American. UC leads the all-time series against UCF 4-0, and this should be number 5.
Offense: The Knights are a team that live and die by the 3-ball. They lead the league in 3-point shooting percentage at 38.3%, and are second in 3-pointers made at 7.2 per game. UCF is also 2nd in the AAC in scoring offense at 69.7 points per game. It’s safe to say if the Knights’ offense is on, they are scary good how fast they can put up points!
Key Players: Freshman guard #1 B.J. Taylor leads UCF in scoring with 14.8 points per game, which is good for 4th in the AAC. Two other players, sophomore guard #22 Brandon Goodwin and freshman guard #10 Adonys Henriquez also average double-figures. Henriquez averages 2.3 3-pointers a game. Three players also rank in the top 6 in the AAC in 3-point shooting percentage at over 40%.
Outlook: Look for senior guard Jermaine Sanders to continue progressing in his starting role. Sanders is averaging 12.5 points on 11-17 shooting the last two games. This has also forced Shaq Thomas to play hungry off the bench to regain his starting role.
Farad Cobb gets to return home to the sunshine state where he played last season at Northwest Florida State College, and could have a breakout game. Deshaun Morman also played a year of prep ball in Florida.
I expect the UC defense to shut down the UCF offense, but it is KEY they absolutely guard the 3-point arch. The Cats cannot afford to sleepwalk through the first half like they did against Temple and Houston this week.
Prediction: Cats win 70-55.
Submitted By Andy Smith