B.T.’s Breakdown: Lessons Learned From UCF Hoops’ Season-Opener

The UCF Knights men’s basketball team has officially begun its 2026-27 campaign with a tense season opener against Florida Gulf Coast, though it still pulled off a 96-95 overtime win.

From a historic performance by a returning player to how the Eagles managed to stay in the game and nearly pull off an upset, here are five notes on the Knights’ season-opener:

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1. Nearly Gave it up at the Line

While the Knights made it to the free-throw line more often than Florida Gulf Coast, particularly in the second half, enough of their shots missed to leave the door open for the Eagles to send the game into overtime.

Center John Bol and guard Arturo Dean were the two who struggled the most, accounting for seven of the 13 total unsuccessful free throws UCF had that night, three of which came in the last 66 seconds of the second half.

Coach Johnny Dawkins acknowledged that the Knights did not shoot free throws as well as he would like and that it would need to be something to “really focus on going forward.”

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2. Another Chance at Overtime

Despite a close shave to start the regular season, the season-opener going to overtime did at least give the Knights another opportunity to play in an overtime situation after losing in the same situation against Kentucky in their final exhibition game.

Back in Lexington, the Knights shot 2-for-5 from the floor with two of their missed shots coming from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Wildcats went 6-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three.

On Monday, it was the Knights that jumped out ahead early thanks to a layup each by forward Lewis Walker and Dean. Johnson took care of the rest, scoring all of the last 10 points, which proved to be just enough for UCF to escape with the win.

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“The last time we played, we lost an overtime game on the road, and now to come back and have a chance to redeem ourselves tonight, you know, says a lot about our players,” Dawkins said. “To be back in that same situation and how we respond, I…

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Publish date : 2026-11-05 00:42:00

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