UCF and West Virginia both need to make a strong closing statement when they tangle in their Big 12 Conference regular-season finale on Friday night in Morgantown, W. Va.
There was a time when both teams seemed to be hurtling toward at-large status in the NCAA Tournament, but their metrics have been adversely affected by late-season upsets.
UCF (20-9, 9-8 Big 12) squandered its momentum from a three-game winning streak — which included a win at then-No. 19 BYU on Feb. 24 — by recording two home losses that dropped the Golden Knights from 44th to 48th in the NET rankings.
On Saturday it was an 87-86 loss to Baylor, the 14th-place team in the league. UCF followed that Tuesday with a 111-104 overtime loss against 13th-place Oklahoma State.
Themus Fulks paced UCF with 22 points against Oklahoma State and Riley Kugel added 18 points in his second game back from an ankle injury that forced him out of two contests.
“We have to understand the importance of regrouping and responding,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “We’ve done that all season long and have to do it again. The last two losses were tough because we had a successful road trip and came back home with the opportunity to build some momentum.”
With losses in four of its last five games, West Virginia (17-13, 8-9) has dropped from 54th to 62nd in the NET. The Mountaineers hope to take advantage of their home court, where they have a 14-3 mark, to enter the Big 12 tournament on a high note.
West Virginia lost 65-63 on the road to Kansas State on Tuesday. The Wildcats are in 15th place in the Big 12 and played without P.J. Haggerty, the nation’s fourth-leading scorer, yet still went on a 21-0 run in the second half.
Chance Moore led West Virginia with 18 points as the Mountaineers’ Wins Above Bubble ranking fell to 70th in the nation. UCF appears in good shape at No. 33 in WAB.
West Virginia knocked off UCF 74-67 in comeback fashion Feb. 14 in Florida. Honor Huff led the Mountaineers with 21 points that day, while Fulks put up 19 points and seven assists for the Knights.
“They are extremely talented,” West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said of UCF. “They have a lot of different guys that can hurt you. To start that second half in particular, our inability to take care of the basketball led directly to them getting runouts and when you put them on the open floor, they are dynamic.”
