A Valentine’s Day showdown at Addition Monetary Enviornment was supposed to assist UCF really feel the love once more after a current two-game slide. As an alternative, the Knights had their hearts damaged as West Virginia rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tug out a 74-67 win on Saturday.
The loss was painful not solely as a result of it was the third in a row, nevertheless it put the Knights’ postseason hopes in peril. The workforce was projected to earn an NCAA Event berth for the primary time for the reason that 2018-19 season, however these hopes are beginning to evaporate.
West Virginia (16-9, 7-5 Huge 12) went on a 28-13 run over the ultimate 8 minutes to tug away with the win.
UCF (17-7, 6-6 Huge 12) opened the second half on a 22-9 run to construct up a double-digit benefit, however struggled to search out a solution for the Mountaineers. The Knights continued their February swoon, falling to 5-13 total within the month since becoming a member of the Huge 12 two seasons in the past.
“We didn’t execute,” mentioned UCF coach Johnny Dawkins. “Coming down the stretch, you give them lots of credit score; that’s how they gained lots of their basketball video games. We knew moving into that we needed to keep centered, however we didn’t maintain it. We didn’t maintain it within the second half as wanted.”
Honor Huff led WVU with 21 factors, whereas Jasper Floyd had 17 and Probability Moore had 12.
Themus Fulks led UCF with 19 factors, whereas Riley Kugel had 13 and Jordan Burks and Chris Johnson had 10 apiece.
After struggling to get off to quick begins in losses to Houston and Cincinnati, Kugel’s 30-footer to open play appeared like the fitting step for the Knights. However 4 early turnovers — three by level guard Fulks — over the primary 4 minutes restricted the injury towards West Virginia.
UCF missed six of its subsequent seven pictures earlier than a Fulks’ layup and foul, which helped the Knights retake the lead at 10-8 with 12:58 left within the half.
UCF guard Riley Kugel (center) drives by way of West Virginia defenders Amir Jenkins (left) and Morris Ugusuk (proper) in the course of the West Virginia at UCF faculty basketball recreation in Orlando on Saturday, February 14, 2026. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
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UCF guard Riley Kugel (center) drives by way of West Virginia defenders Amir Jenkins (left) and Morris Ugusuk (proper) in the course of the West Virginia at UCF faculty basketball recreation in Orlando on Saturday, February 14, 2026. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
West Virginia, nonetheless, would storm again to re retake the lead, connecting on 4 of their subsequent six pictures to construct an 18-15 benefit with 7:45 left. The Mountaineers relied on their dimension, scoring 14 of their 18 factors within the paint.
UCF would go on a 7-0 run late within the first half, fueled partly by Bol, who scored 4 factors and blocked 2 pictures in a three-minute interval. The Knights constructed their largest lead at 29-24, however went scoreless for the ultimate 2:22, permitting WVU to chop the benefit to 29-28 on the half.
UCF began the second half with a 7-2 run as Kugel had a hand in all the Knights’ factors, scoring 5 and aiding on a Jordan Burks’ layup, forcing West Virginia to make use of a fast timeout.
Burks’ 3-pointer stretched the result in its largest of the sport at 39-30.
Again-to-back baskets by Fulks and a 3-point play by Devan Cambridge pushed the result in 45-35 with 14:35 left.
After UCF constructed a 14-point lead at 52-38, West Virginia went on a 21-7 run to tie the sport at 59 with 5 minutes left.
“This group’s been in these positions earlier than and sometimes, we do a superb job of not panicking,” mentioned West Virginia coach Ross Hodge.
The Knights had been with out senior ahead Jamichael Stillwell, who missed solely his second recreation of the season.
Please discover me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. E mail: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Join the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly e-newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF protection.
