Knights return to their losing ways against the Blazers

Overcoming 34 percent shooting from the field was too much of a task to handle for the Knights, who lost to the UAB Blazers for the second time this season, 63-58.

The Knights (16-9, 3-9), battling back from being down by as many as 13 points on Feb. 19 in Birmingham, Ala., cut the Blazers' lead to three, thanks to an A.J. Rompza three pointer with seven seconds left in the game.

UCF was forced to foul, however, and a pair of Jamarr Sanders free throws effectively ended the rally attempt, making it a two possession game and out of reach.

A tough second-half effort was not enough for the Knights who dug themselves too deep of a hole in the first half, scoring only 20 points.

"We just didn't make shots," said head coach Donnie Jones through a release.

The Knights did lead in the first half, but a 13-0 UAB run midway through the half put the Blazers (19-7, 9-4) ahead for what ended up being the rest of the game.

UCF's poor shooting from the field was almost negated by great free throw shooting — an area the Knights have struggled with in the past. Saturday night, however, UCF went 17 of 18 from the free-throw line, keeping them in the game.

Marcus Jordan led the Knights with 18 points, and Rompza performed well coming off the bench and adding 15 points. Unfortunately for UCF, the two Chicago-natives did not receive much help scoring help, with no other Knight scoring more than five points.

"We had a lot of chances around the rim, but we didn't finish," Jones said. "We played well in spurts, but we need to be more consistent."

Aaron Johnson led UAB with 19 points, and four other Blazers finished with double figures.

Looking ahead to UTEP

The Knights will not have long to regroup.

The team is right back on the road Monday facing another of Conference USA's best, taking on the UTEP Miners (20-6, 8-3) at 1 p.m. The game is a make up for a game that was supposed to have taken place Feb. 2, but a winter storm postponed the match.

Despite a delay with the rescheduling, the Knights will still have to find a way to deal with Randy Culpepper.

It's an unenviable task.

Culpepper is averaging 19.3 points per game, and shooting 44 percent from the field, making him a player who opposing coaches lose sleep over.

UCF players and fans should remember Culpepper. The stand-out player torched the Knights last season at the Arena, lighting up the UCF Arena for 39 points on 13 of 20 shooting, including nine three pointers.

UCF is 3-4 all time against the Miners, who sit atop the conference standings. UTEP is coming off a victory on Saturday over Houston, 76-64. Culpepper led the Miners with 33 points.