2018–19 UCF Knights men's basketball team

2018–19 UCF Knights men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Second Round
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
Record24–9 (13–5 AAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaCFE Arena
Seasons
2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 11 Houston 16 – 2   .889 33 – 4   .892
No. 22 Cincinnati † 14 – 4   .778 28 – 7   .800
Temple 13 – 5   .722 23 – 10   .697
UCF 13 – 5   .722 24 – 9   .727
Memphis 11 – 7   .611 22 – 14   .611
Wichita State 10 – 8   .556 22 – 15   .595
Tulsa 8 – 10   .444 18 – 14   .563
South Florida 8 – 10   .444 24 – 14   .632
UConn 6 – 12   .333 16 – 17   .485
SMU 6 – 12   .333 15 – 17   .469
East Carolina 3 – 15   .167 10 – 21   .323
Tulane 0 – 18   .000 4 – 27   .129
† 2019 AAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll


The 2018–19 UCF Knights men's basketball team represented the University of Central Florida during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Knights were members of the American Athletic Conference. The Knights, in the program's 50th season of basketball, were led by third-year head coach Johnny Dawkins and played their home games at the CFE Arena on the university's main campus in Orlando, Florida. They finished the season 24–9, 13–5 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to Memphis. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated VCU in the first round before losing in the second round to Duke.

Previous season

The Knights finished the 2017–18 season 19–13 overall and 9–9 in AAC play to finish in sixth place. In the AAC tournament, they defeated East Carolina in the first round before losing to Houston in the quarterfinals. Despite having 19 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
A. J. Davis 3 G/F 6'9" 215 RS Senior Atlanta, GA Graduated
Daniel Lewis 13 G 6'5" 175 Freshman Atlanta, GA Transferred to Kennesaw State
Brock Stephenson 20 G 6'0" 190 Sophomore Miami, FL Left team
Tate Morse 25 G 6'4" 165 Senior Orlando, FL Graduated
Djordjije Mumin 33 G 6'5" 210 Senior Podgorica, Montenegro Graduated
Nathan Laing 51 G 6'1" 185 RS Senior Lillington, NC Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school
Ibrahim Doumbia 14 C 6'10" 205 Sophomore Miami, FL South Carolina
Frank Bertz 20 G 6'5" 175 Junior Hesperia, CA East Los Angeles College

2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Andreas Fuller Jr.
SG 		Saint Petersburg, FL Saint Andrews School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg)  
Star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 75
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 12, 2017.

Roster

2018–19 UCF Knights men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 B. J. Taylor 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr William R. Boone High School Orlando, Florida
G 2 Terrell Allen 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Jr Drexel Upper Marlboro, Maryland
G 3 Dre Fuller Jr. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Admiral Farragut Academy Fayetteville, North Carolina
G 4 Ceasar DeJesus 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS So Mt. Zion Prep Jersey City, New Jersey
F 5 Myles Douglas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Aberdeen High School Edgewood, Maryland
G 10 Dayon Griffin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 208 lb (94 kg) RS Sr Louisiana Tech St. Petersburg, Florida
F 11 Rokas Ulvydas 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Jr Texas Tech Kaunas, Lithuania
G 12 Xavier Grant (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr American Heritage School Fort Lauderdale, Florida
G 13 Levy Renaud (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr NSU University School Fort Lauderdale, Florida
F 14 Ibrahim Famouke Doumbia Current redshirt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So South Carolina Bamako, Mali
G/F 15 Aubrey Dawkins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Michigan Palo Alto, California
G 20 Frank Bertz 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr East Los Angeles College Hesperia, California
F 21 Chad Brown 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Deltona High School Deltona, Florida
G 22 Chance McSpadden 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 184 lb (83 kg) RS Jr Winter Haven High School Winter Haven, Florida
C 24 Tacko Fall 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) 295 lb (134 kg) Sr Liberty Christian Prep Dakar, Senegal
F 25 Ryan Anders (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Wharton High School Tampa, Florida
G 31 Anthony Catotti (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr Seminole High School Oviedo, Florida
C 35 Collin Smith 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS So George Washington Jacksonville, Florida
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

On March 2, UCF defeated (#8 AP Poll/#6 Coaches Poll) Houston at Fertitta Center stopping the nation's longest home winning streak at 33.[1] With the win UCF entered the AP Poll for the first time since the 2010–11 UCF Knights spent four weeks in the poll peaking at 19.[2]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 29, 2018*
7:00 pm 		Flagler W 86–69 
CFE Arena 
Orlando, FL
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2018*
6:30 pm, ESPN3 		Rider W 84–70  1–0
 CFE Arena (4,870)
Orlando, FL
November 11, 2018*
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Florida Atlantic L 79–80  1–1
 CFE Arena (4,304)
Orlando, FL
November 15, 2018*
1:30 pm, ESPN3 		vs. Cal State Fullerton
Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinal 		W 68–52  2–1
 HTC Center (1,317)
Conway, SC
November 16, 2018*
1:00 pm, ESPN2 		vs. Saint Joseph's
Myrtle Beach Invitational semifinal 		W 77–57  3–1
 HTC Center (1,050)
Conway, SC
November 18, 2018*
6:30 pm, ESPN2 		vs. Western Kentucky
Myrtle Beach Invitational championship 		W 78–62  4–1
 HTC Center (3,018)
Conway, SC
November 24, 2018*
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		Northern Kentucky W 66–53  5–1
 CFE Arena (3,374)
Orlando, FL
November 29, 2018*
7:00 pm, ESPNU 		Alabama W 70–64  6–1
 CFE Arena (4,449)
Orlando, FL
December 2, 2018*
3:00 pm, ESPNU 		at Missouri L 62–64 OT 6–2
 Mizzou Arena (10,067)
Columbia, MO
December 8, 2018*
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		Grambling State W 70–45  7–2
 CFE Arena (3,798)
Orlando, FL
December 11, 2018*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Georgia Southern W 95–88  8–2
 CFE Arena (3,632)
Orlando, FL
December 16, 2018*
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Stetson W 90–65  9–2
 CFE Arena (3,660)
Orlando, FL
December 21, 2018*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Illinois State W 77–56  10–2
 CFE Arena (3,885)
Orlando, FL
AAC regular season
January 2, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPNews 		Temple W 78–73  11–2
(1–0) 		CFE Arena (3,884)
Orlando, FL
January 5, 2019
12:00 pm, ESPNews 		at UConn W 65–53  12–2
(2–0) 		XL Center (10,541)
Hartford, CT
January 13, 2019
4:00 pm, ESPNU 		East Carolina W 76–65  13–2
(3–0) 		CFE Arena (4,692)
Orlando, FL
January 16, 2019
10:00 pm, CBSSN 		at Wichita State L 67–75  13–3
(3–1) 		Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
Wichita, KS
January 19, 2019
12:00 pm, ESPNU 		Tulsa W 64–62  14–3
(4–1) 		CFE Arena (4,155)
Orlando, FL
January 23, 2019
8:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Tulane W 75–50  15–3
(5–1) 		Devlin Fieldhouse (1,308)
New Orleans, LA
January 27, 2019
4:00 pm, CBSSN 		at Memphis L 57–77  15–4
(5–2) 		FedEx Forum (17,046)
Memphis, TN
January 31, 2019
9:00 pm, ESPNU 		UConn W 73–67  16–4
(6–2) 		CFE Arena (5,016)
Orlando, FL
February 7, 2019
7:00 pm, CBSSN 		No. 12 Houston L 68–77  16–5
(6–3) 		CFE Arena (6,292)
Orlando, FL
February 10, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPNews 		at SMU W 71–65  17–5
(7–3) 		Moody Coliseum (5,989)
Dallas, TX
February 13, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPNews 		South Florida
War on I-4 		W 78–65  18–5
(8–3) 		CFE Arena (4,719)
Orlando, FL
February 16, 2019
6:00 pm, ESPN2 		Memphis W 79–72  19–5
(9–3) 		CFE Arena (5,458)
Orlando, FL
February 21, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN2 		at Cincinnati L 55–60  19–6
(9–4) 		Fifth Third Arena (12,377)
Cincinnati, OH
February 24, 2019
12:00 pm, CBSSN 		SMU W 95–48  20–6
(10–4) 		CFE Arena (4,978)
Orlando, FL
February 27, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPNews 		at South Florida
War on I-4 		W 75–63  21–6
(11–4) 		Yuengling Center (7,231)
Tampa, FL
March 2, 2019
4:00 pm, ESPN 		at No. 8 Houston W 69–64  22–6
(12–4) 		Fertitta Center (7,039)
Houston, TX
March 7, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN2 		No. 25 No. 20 Cincinnati W 58–55  23–6
(13–4) 		CFE Arena (9,141)
Orlando, FL
March 9, 2019
4:00 pm, ESPN2 		No. 25 at Temple L 62–67  23–7
(13–5) 		Liacouras Center (9,951)
Philadelphia, PA
American Athletic Conference tournament
March 15, 2019
3:00 pm, ESPN2 		(4) at (5) Memphis
Quarterfinals 		L 55–79  23–8
 FedEx Forum (7,610)
Memphis, TN
NCAA tournament
March 22, 2019*
9:40 pm, CBS 		(9 E) vs. (8 E) VCU
First Round 		W 73–58  24–8
 Colonial Life Arena (16,219)
Columbia, SC
March 24, 2019*
5:15 pm, CBS 		(9 E) vs. (1 E) No. 1 Duke
Second Round 		L 76–77  24–9
 Colonial Life Arena (16,332)
Columbia, SC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
APRV———RV—————RVRV——————25RVNot released
CoachesRVRV^RVRVRV—RV—RVRVRVRVRV—————RVRVRV

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

References

  1. ^ "Knights Down No. 6 Houston, 69-64". UCFKnights.com. March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  2. ^ "FSU climbs to No. 14 in latest AP college basketball poll, UCF cracks into top 25". FOX Sports. Associated Press. March 4, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.