Knights Fly Past Southern Miss

Senior guard Jermaine Taylor (Tavares, Fla.) recorded a game-high 31 points as the UCF men’s basketball team defeated Southern Miss, 73-61, in Conference USA play at the UCF Arena Wednesday. Sophomore guard Taylor Young (Orlando, Fla.) dished out a career-high nine assists without committing a turnover for the Knights (12-6, 2-2 C-USA).

UCF shot 56.0 percent overall for the contest. Southern Miss fell to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in league play with the loss.

The Knights, who recorded 21 assists on 28 made field goals, led by as many as 20 points late in the second half. Taylor connected on 13-of-23 shots from the field and also added five assists and two steals in 36 minutes.

“I think we’ve grown offensively in regards to our movement. Our focus defensively was pretty sound,” UCF head coach Kirk Speraw said. “We didn’t give them any easy looks. We didn’t foul them; we didn’t put them at the foul line. It was a pretty consistent effort.”

The hosts led for most of the first half and took a 37-26 advantage into halftime. Taylor scored 19 points in the second half as the Knights shot 62.5 percent overall after intermission.

UCF and the Golden Eagles were meeting for just the second time in Orlando.

Taylor was one of two Knights who finished with double-digits in scoring against Southern Miss. Senior center Kenrick Zondervan (Hoofddorp, Holland) registered 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Knights made all eight of their free-throw attempts in the victory.

Southern Miss shot 41.8 percent from the field for the game. Craig Craft paced the Golden Eagles with 20 points and Courtney Beasley added 19 points.

The contest was the first of three-consecutive home games for the Knights. On Sunday, UCF will host Marshall, and tip-off is set for 2 p.m.