UCF fans stormed the court in Orlando, Florida, when the Knights pulled off an 81-75 upset victory over No. 17-ranked Kansas on Saturday.
Jordan Burks hit a go-ahead three for UCF to go up 75-72 with 42 seconds left in the game and the Knights led the rest of the way.
Darryn Peterson watched the last ten minutes of the game from the bench after carrying the load for the Jayhawks offense in the first half. This was only Peterson’s fifth game played this season, as he has missed time with a leg injury. That injury seemed to cause problems again and keep Peterson out during the final stretch of the game.
Head coach Bill Self said Peterson was on a minutes restriction and that his injury started bothering him in the second half.
“We expected something like that to happen,” Self said. “But we were hoping that it would be a situation in which I could control it a little better by minimizing his minutes in the first half.”
Coming into the game, Peterson’s career high in points scored was 22, which came against North Carolina earlier this season. He scored 23 in the first half against UCF. In the second half, Peterson only played five minutes and made one three-point shot.
In the second half, Kansas relied on Melvin Council Jr., who was scoreless in the first half. Peterson’s 23 first half point total was nearly matched by Council scoring 20 in the second half.
Tre White had 14 points, going 4-for-13 from the field. Flory Bidunga had eight points. No other Jayhawk had more than three.
The Knights were led by Riley Kugel with 19 points. Kugel had previously committed to Kansas, but never ended up playing for the Jayhawks, instead transferring to Mississippi State before playing this season at UCF.
“We signed Riley,” Self said. “We were disappointed when it didn’t work out.”
Other double-digit scorers for the Knights were Themus Fulks, who had 16, and Burks, who had 14.
“More than anything, we couldn’t guard the ball,” Self said. “It was just a poor, poor defensive effort.”
Kansas took a 21-15 lead seven minutes into the game on a Jamari McDowell 3-pointer. That was the team’s fifth made three at that point. That six-point lead was the biggest lead the Jayhawks would get all day.
The Knights scored five straight points while Kansas struggled to score. White ended Kansas’ 3:49 scoring drought with a mid-range jumper to bring the Jayhawk lead to 23-20.
Kansas head coach Bill Self exchanged words with an official after a UCF drive that one official called a travel but another called a blocking foul on Bryson Tiller. The foul stood.
The Knights took advantage of retaining possession and Kugel scored the go-ahead basket to give UCF a 24-23 lead. Kugel had also scored the basket that cut the lead to one and would soon hit a three to cap a solo 7-0 run.
McDowell threw an alley-oop lob to Peterson from well behind the three-point line to cut the Knights lead to 29-27.
Kugel got a fast break layup off a UCF rebound that pushed the Knights’ advantage to 33-27.
McDowell drove the baseline down by six and found Peterson open in the opposite corner for a three-pointer. Elmarko Jackson scored a layup to cut the lead back down to one. He had an opportunity to tie the game with a three-point play as he was fouled on that shot, but he missed the free throw.
Fulks scored the last five points of the half for the Knights. UCF led 44-41 at halftime.
Fulks also opened the scoring for UCF in the second half with a layup.
Kansas’ first three points of the half came from the free throw line. Council got on the scoreboard for the first time in the game with a floater about three minutes into the half.
Four different players scored for the Knights in the second half before the first media timeout, when they held a 52-46 lead.
Council continued to score after the timeout, coming out of the break with all of the next ten points for Kansas. He had two two-pointers, including a converted and-one, as well as a made three. With the basket he had before the timeout, he had 12 straight for Kansas. UCF scored eight points of its own during that run from Council, but the lead was down to two points at the next media timeout with Peterson on the bench.
Peterson came out of the timeout with a go-ahead three-pointer, before committing his second foul of the game on the other end and went straight back to the bench. He did not return to the game.
UCF scored seven straight after going down 59-58, a run capped by Burks’ second made three-point shot of the game.
Flory Bidunga committed his fourth foul with over eight minutes remaining in the game and was subbed out soon after.
UCF led 66-61 at the second-to-last media timeout with 7:55 remaining.
Bryson Tiller was fouled on a shot attempt, but missed both free throws.
Kansas went cold. A scoreless stretch of over four minutes coupled with four points from UCF stretched the Jayhawks deficit to nine points. Bidunga made a free throw to end the drought. He missed the second one, but Kansas got the rebound. White traveled and the Knights got the ball.
White said after the game that the stretch was less about UCF’s defense and more about “self-inflicted wounds.”
Self pushed back on that claim.
“I thought they defended us well,” Self said. “But I did think our ball and body movement was very poor tonight.”
During that cold streak, Peterson went to the end of the bench to use a massage gun and to stretch.
Council made two free throws and then Kohl Rosario made a good read and got a steal off a long inbound pass. He threw a pass ahead to White who finished with a layup to cut the UCF lead to four. Bidunga scored in the paint a few possessions later. The Knights called a timeout with a 70-68 lead and 3:37 remaining in the game.
Council tied the game on a drive from half court. Bidunga blocked a shot on the next possession but UCF recovered the loose ball and Kugel scored a layup to retake the lead.
The Jayhawks got a stop on their next possession and Council got a fastbreak to score his 20th point of the half and tie the game at 72.
UCF called a timeout with 59 seconds left in the game. Burks hit a corner three out of that timeout.
White missed a three-pointer on the next possession and Kansas fouled when UCF got the rebound. The Knights were in the bonus so Fulks went to the free throw line. He made the first free throw to make it a two-score game but missed the second free throw.
White was fouled on a three-point attempt and he knocked down all three free throws with 16 seconds left. UCF called a timeout, leading 76-75.
Kansas tried to trap the Knights in the backcourt but they were able to push the ball ahead to Kugel. Council committed a foul as Kugel went up for a layup. Kugel made the layup and the free throw that followed to push the lead to four.
“Dumb mistake by me,” Council said. “If I’m going to foul him, I should’ve fouled him a little bit harder or tried to block the shot.”
Tre White missed a 3-pointer on the other end and Devan Cambridge made two free throws to put the finishing touches on the victory.
Kansas will play TCU at Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.