PREVIEW: #10/8 Men’s Basketball to Meet Big 12 Rival UCF on Saturday

Saturday, January 18

Orlando, FL

11 a.m.

University of Houston

UCF

PREVIEW: #10/8 Men’s Basketball to Meet Big 12 Rival UCF on Saturday

1/17/2025 7:24:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Digital Game Program Listen (950 AM KPRC)Listen (The Varsity Network)Live Stats (StatBroadcast)Houston Game Notes (PDF)UCF Statistics (PDF)Big 12 Game Notes (Jan. 18, 2025)

Cougars tip off vs. Knights at 11 a.m. (CST) Saturday, inside Addition Financial Arena

ORLANDO, Fla. – The #10/8 University of Houston Men's Basketball program returns to the road to face Big 12 Conference-rival UCF at 11 a.m. (CST) Saturday, inside Addition Financial Arena.

Houston (13-3, 5-0 Big 12) enters this weekend's game following a 70-54 win over rv/#25 West Virginia inside Fertitta Center on Wednesday night.

In the second meeting against the Mountaineers, graduate forward J'Wan Roberts led all players with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting and grabbed three rebounds. Graduate guard LJ Cryer totaled 18 points, thanks to 5-of-10 shooting from the arc, while junior guard Emanuel Sharp posted 14 points with three treys of his own.

With that win, the Cougars extended a pair of streaks. Houston earned its 32^nd straight home win inside Fertitta Center to continue the nation's longest active streak.

Houston also won its ninth straight game overall and held its ninth straight opponent under 60 points. That latter streak is the second longest in Big 12 history and trails only the 10 consecutive games by Nebraska (Nov. 21, 2020 – Jan. 5, 2011).

TUNE IN
• Fans can watch Saturday's game on CBS Sports Network with Jordan Kent (play-by-play), Mike O'Donnell (analyst) and Brandon Baylor (reporter) calling.
• Fans can hear Saturday's game on 950 AM KPRC and the Varsity Network app with Jeremy Branham (play-by-play) calling. The pregame show begins at 10:45 a.m. (CST), Saturday.
• Fans can follow live stats from Saturday's game by visiting StatBroadcast.com and following the appropriate links or by clicking here.

HOUSTON in NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS
• Houston leads the nation in field goal percentage defense (.352), scoring defense (54.2 ppg) and scoring margin (+22.4).The Cougars have led the nation in field goal percentage defense in each of the last four full seasons and topped the country in scoring defense a year ago.
• The Cougars rank second in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage at .415 and rank eighth with only 9.3 turnovers per game.
• Junior point guard Milos Uzan leads the Big 12 and stands seventh nationally with a 3.85 assist-turnover ratio. The Las Vegas native has recorded one or fewer turnovers in 10 games in 2024-25.
• Sophomore forward Joseph Tugler ranks 14^th in the nation ad third in the Big 12 with 2.5 blocked shots per game.
• Sharp leads the Big 12 and stands second nationally with a .478 3-point percentage. In addition to his long-range shooting, the Tampa, Fla., native is second in the Big 12 and 10^th nationally with his .972 free throw percentage.

MILESTONES ALERT
• Graduate forward J'Wan Roberts became the 52nd member of Houston's career 1,000 Point Club in its Jan. 11 win at Kansas State. Roberts now has 1,029 points to rank 49^th in school history and needs only 13 more points to move past guard Damon Jones (1994-97) into 48^th in Houston history.
• Graduate forward J'Wan Roberts set the Houston career record by competing in his 150th game at Kansas State on Jan. 11.
• Graduate guard Mylik Wilson needs only three points against West Virginia to reach 1,000 points during his complete college career. Wilson now has 997 points after compiling 247 points with Houston (2022 – present); 81 points with Texas Tech (2021-22) and 669 points with Louisiana (2019-21).

NATIONAL POLLS
• The Cougars stood at #10 in the Associated Press poll and at #8 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches poll released Monday.
• This marked the 96^th consecutive week in which Houston was ranked, the nation's longest active streak and extending its school record.
• Houston is 6-2 when playing as the #10 (AP) team during its history and has won its last three games as the #10 (AP) team.
• This marks the fifth poll in which Houston will compete as an AP Top-10 school during the 2024-25 season. It also marks the first time since the 2021-22 season in which the Cougars will play as the #10 (AP) team.

ABOUT UCF
• UCF brings an 12-4 overall record and 3-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play into Saturday's game in Orlando, Fla.
• The Knights are tied for sixth in the latest Big 12 standings.
• UCF is 9-1 in home games during the 2024-25 season. Only a 99-48 loss to Kansas on Jan. 5 prevents a longer streak.
• The Knights have alternated wins and losses during their last five games with wins in two of their last three contests,.
• In its most recent action, UCF took a 95-89 win at Arizona State on Tuesday night.
• Against Arizona State, junior guard Keyshawn Hall led all players with 40 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field and 10-of-10 shooting from the free throw line. He also added seven rebounds and six assists. Senior guard Darius Johnson totaled 17 points with a team-high seven assists and added two steals while sophomore forward JJ Taylor came off the bench to post 14 points with a team-high nine rebounds.
• This season, Hall leads the Knights with 17.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Johnson stands second with 15.1 points per game but tops UCF with 4.1 assists and 2.8 steals per contest. Fifth-year guard Jordan Ivy-Curry ranks third on the team with 14.3 points per game
• Head Coach Johnny Dawkins is in his ninth season at UCF and his 17th season as a collegiate head coach.
• Dawkins has built a 316-222 record during his career and is 160-107 in his career at UCF.
• He previously compiled a 156-115 record at Stanford (2019-16).
• Dawkins has a 3-13 record against Houston during his career with a 2-13 mark with UCF.
• Dawkins has a 2-13 record against Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson during their careers with all 15 previous meetings coming during Sampson's Houston and Dawkins' UCF tenures.
• 1986 graduate of Duke.

SERIES HISTORY vs. UCF
• Houston owns a 24-11 lead against UCF in the series, which began during the 2005-06 season.
• Saturday's game marks the 20th straight season in which the two schools will square off.
• The series has been played at least once every year since the 2005-06 season.
• The Big 12 is the third conference in which the two schools competed as league rivals. The teams first met as Conference USA rivals from 2005-06 through 2013-13 and then squared off as American Athletic Conference foes from 2013-14 through 2022-23.
• Houston has won the last nine and 13 of the last 14 games. Only a 69-64 loss inside Fertitta Center in Houston on March 2, 2019, prevents a longer streak.
• In the most recent meetings, the Cougars swept the regular-season series against UCF, taking a 69-57 in Orlando, Fla., on March 6, 2024, and a 57-42 win inside Fertitta Center in Houston on Jan. 20, 2024.
on Road: Houston holds a 9-6 lead in the series against UCF in true road games played in Orlando, Fla.
• Houston has won the last six meetings in Orlando, Fla., and seven of the last eight. Only a 77-70 UCF win on Jan. 14, 2017, prevents a longer streak.
• In the most recent road encounter, Houston enjoyed a 69-57 win inside Addition Financial Arena on March 6, 2024.
in Orlando: Houston holds a 10-6 lead in the series against UCF games played in Orlando, Fla.
• In addition to a 9-6 road record on the Knights' home court, Houston claimed an 84-56 win in the American Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals inside Amway Center on March 9, 2018.

UP NEXT
• Following Saturday's game, Houston returns to Fertitta Center to meet Utah at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 21.
• That game will air on ESPN+.
• From there, the Cougars meet Kansas inside Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan., at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 25. That game can be seen on ESPN or ESPN2.
• Houston closes the month of January when it faces West Virginia for the second time this season, this time at 6 p.m. (CST), Wednesday, Jan. 29, inside WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va. That game will air on ESPN+.
• All Houston Men's Basketball games can be heard on 950 AM KPRC and the Varsity Network app.

BUY 2024-25 TICKETS
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