NCAAMB Games of the Weekend: January 10-11

SATURDAY: 22 KANSAS AT WEST VIRGINIA 

Photo by Kathleen Batten/AP Photo

Saturday afternoon, the West Virginia Mountaineers hosted the Kansas Jayhawks in an afternoon matinee. The senior tandem of Honor Huff and Brenen Lorient combined for 41 points in West Virginia’s 86-75 victory over Kansas. 

West Virginia has now won three of their last four, beat their first ranked opponent of the season, and handed the Jayhawks their second consecutive loss.

The first half was full of ties and lead changes, but Kansas led 43-39 at halftime. Standout freshman Darryn Peterson finished with 16 first half points. Peterson finished his stellar first half, sinking a contested three pointer to match the Jayhawks largest lead of the half. Lorient matched Peterson, scoring 16 of his own to lead the Mountaineer offense. 

The second half started off as all Jayhawks. Kansas grabbed their biggest lead of the game, 59-51, early in the second half. The Jayhawks looked poised to get their first road conference win of the season, but the Mountaineers responded.

Down eight with 14:55 left in the second half, West Virginia scored 16 unanswered points to take an eight-point lead of their own. Honor Huff would score 16 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to propel West Virginia to 2-1 in conference play.

Key to Victory: 16-0 second half run

West Virginia’s 16-0 run was a critical momentum shifter in the conference bout.

Next for the Mountaineers: Tuesday, January 13 at Houston Cougars at 8:30 PM EST

Next for the Jayhawks: Tuesday, January 13 vs Iowa State Cyclones at 9 PM EST

SUNDAY: 25 UCF VS CINCINNATI

Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo

Sunday afternoon, the UCF Knights hosted the Cincinnati Bearcats in a Big 12 conference showdown in central Florida. Senior guard Themus Fulks hit a game-winning floater with 11 seconds left to give the Knights the victory.

It was an action-packed first half. After the Bearcats initial 12-5 run to start the game, UCF went on their own 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game. From there, UCF maintained a lead throughout the first half, but the Bearcats stuck around. UCF took a 33-32 lead into halftime.

Senior forward Jamichael Stillwell led the Knights offensively in the first half, scoring 8 of his 15 points in the first half. Sophomore center Moustapha Thiam led the Bearcat offense, scoring 11 of his career-high 24 points in the first half.

To start the second half, senior guard Riley Kugle scored 6 of his team-high 19 points to kick start the UCF offense, but the Bearcats responded to every score.

The game remained tight throughout the second half, but the most action happened within the last three minutes. The Knights went ahead 69-64 after Stillwell’s three point play, but Bearcat big man Moustapha Thiam would continue his career day by scoring six straight points to get the Bearcats within one with 1:30 left.

Cincinnati would take the lead on Baba Miller’s two-foot floater in the paint with 31 seconds left. That bucket would put the Bearcats ahead 72-71, and give them their first lead since the 8:19 mark of the second half. The Florida Atlantic transfer packed the stat sheet, finishing with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

After the clutch Fulks floater put UCF back up by one with 11 seconds left, the Bearcats had a chance to win. Graduate student guard Jalen Celestine had a chance to give the Bearcats their first conference win of the season, but his step back three rattled out at the buzzer.

Key to Victory: Three point shooting

The Bearcats shot a season low 15.8 percent from beyond the arc (3-19), while the Knights shot 42.9 percent from deep (6-14).

Next for the Knights: Wednesday, January 14 at Kansas State Wildcats at 8 PM.

Next for the Bearcats: Wednesday, January 14 vs Cincinnati Bearcats at 7 PM.

Thank you for reading!

Elias Meredith (@EAM_55)