Loss to Tulsa, not Southern Miss, may haunt Knights

The worst part about Saturday's 78-65 loss to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles had nothing to do with Saturday night's game.

Nope, the worst part of UCF falling to the league-leading Golden Eagles was that they also fell in the previous game to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

That loss is what may haunt the Knights and, coupled with the Southern Miss defeat, may prove all the more costly. The team that just a week ago was being projected as a NCAA Tournament team now finds itself simply in need of a win.

Are the Knights capable of beating the Golden Eagles, a team with a 19-3 record and top-15 RPI? Sure. They've already beat better teams this season (see UConn).

That said, should UCF absolutely beat Southern Miss? Of course not; Saturday's game showcased an athletic Golden Eagles team whose four 3-pointers in the second half ran the Knights out of their very effective 2-3 zone defense and created a lead they would not relinquish.

Now, should UCF beat Tulsa on the road? If the Knights want to be an NCAA Tournament team or even an NIT at-large bid, they absolutely should.

Watching Saturday's game, of course UCF had its opportunities and didn't execute to its ability. Still, you got the sense during the second half that Southern Miss was also just pretty good.

Wednesday's game at Tulsa, however, was just an exercise in frustration as the Knights shot themselves in the foot time and time again, culminating in technical fouls on Marcus Jordan and Keith Clanton in the game's waning moments.

Sure, the Golden Hurricane have catapulted to third in the Conference USA standings, but it's still a hard sell saying they beat UCF more than the Knights beat themselves on Wednesday.

It's also hard to say whether the Knights can reassert themselves in the conversation for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. But, only two games back in the standings, they'll get their opportunities.

They'll get a warm-up when they welcome Palm Beach Atlantic and its 4-16 record to the UCF Arena on Monday. Then they face another "should win" on Saturday, when they play SMU on the road. The Mustangs are 2-6 in league play.

After those two games, though, things get interesting again for UCF. The Knights will get a chance for revenge when the Marshall Thundering Herd visits the UCF Arena on Feb. 8. It should be a great game; the two teams generally don't like each other, and both are fighting to get back atop the C-USA standings.

UCF had quite the week when it defeated Memphis for the first time, followed immediately by defeating UAB for the first time. Then the Knights dropped consecutive games to Tulsa and Southern Miss.

What a difference a week makes.

With the Knights at a crossroads in a season where they've battled adversity from the start, you have to wonder what will happen in the weeks to come.