Wilson explodes for 15 as Knights take care of Palm Beach Atlantic

Kasey Wilson said in an interview a few weeks ago that he knows he needs to do the little things, not necessarily score points, to impress head coach Donnie Jones and capitalize on his expanded playing time of late.

Monday night, though, the true freshman showed that scoring points can't hurt.

Click here for a post-game video of head coach Donnie Jones.

Wilson finished with 15 points and five rebounds as the UCF Knights (16-6) easily handled Palm Beach Atlantic (4-17), 84-69, in out-of-conference action.

"We've got to continue to find more minutes for him, as he's continued to improve," Jones said. "He's starting to be able to adjust to the physicality and the speed that he needs to at this level."

For Wilson, whose playtime had been steadily increasing, the opportunity to play extended minutes was one he definitely recognized.

"I'm not really used to [playing for that long], but it felt just to get out there and contribute to a win," Wilson said.

Junior guard Marcus Jordan led UCF with 17 points. Jordan apparently made his outside shot a point of emphasis going into the contest and shot only 3-pointers, going five-for-10 from beyond the arc.

"We watched [Jordan's] shot selection over the past couple days," Jones said. "I thought he took shots in rhythm tonight."

The Knights utilized the opportunity, in a game that wasn't ever in doubt, to get all three freshmen Wilson, forward Wayne Martin and forward Rod Days) and also transfer-guard Bobby Horodyski valuable floor time.

"It was a lot of fun, that was one of the things we wanted to do [get the subs in]," Jordan said.

UCF never trailed and led by as many as 28 points. Palm Beach Atlantic would rally late, though, good for a final score that was a bit deceiving in regards to the game's competitiveness.

Now the Knights will have a valuable four days off before playing on the road at SMU (10-11, 2-5). Jones, who expressed some displeasure in the way his squad finished Monday night's contest, said the team will have a day off on Tuesday before returning to the practice floor on Wednesday.

"The focus will be on us for Wednesday and then Thursday, and then Friday we'll start to focus on SMU," Jones said. "We've got two good days to really focus on some things we need to adjust and improve."

Tipoff from Dallas will be at 3 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the UCF-IMG Sports Network.