There wasn’t much for UCF basketball fans to cheer about on Saturday as the Knights ran into perhaps one of the best shooting teams in the country. Vanderbilt cruised to a 105-93 win at Addition Financial Arena.
The Commodores shot an impressive 61% from the floor in the first half, connecting on 10 three-pointers as they built a 19-point lead. They extended that lead to as many as 27 points in the second half before UCF cut it to 9, but the Knights were never able to get any closer.
UCF (1-1) opened the season with an 82-78 win over Hofstra on Monday night but had no answers for Vanderbilt’s high-powered offense.
“We gave up 105 points tonight and that’s not who we want to be as a team,” said coach Johnny Dawkins. “They’re a high-scoring team, we knew that, but our defense has got to be better.”
Both teams started red-hot from the floor, combining to hit 9 of their first 11 shots. Vanderbilt jumped out to a 12-11 lead by the first media timeout at the 15:54 mark. Riley Kugel opened the game strong, hitting two of UCF’s first four shots, including a three-pointer, to lead the team with 5 early points.
However, the Knights then went through a stretch of nearly three minutes without a point, missing four straight shots before a Jordan Beale layup helped UCF take a brief 15-14 lead. That advantage was short-lived, as Tyler Harris connected on a 23-footer to give the Commodores a 17-15 lead.
Vanderbilt’s lead grew to 24-15 as UCF struggled from the field, missing their next four shots. The Knights managed just 2 points over a four-minute stretch, allowing Vanderbilt to build its largest lead. A Kugel three-pointer from the top of the key ended the scoreless streak, but little else went right for UCF as the Commodores went on an 18-6 run to lead 32-21 with 6:18 remaining in the first half.
Whenever UCF tried to make a run, Vanderbilt responded with a three-pointer. The Commodores connected on 10 of 18 shots from beyond the arc in the first half, while the Knights were 5 of 8. Kugel was flawless from deep, going 4 of 4 on three-pointers in the half.
Vanderbilt cruised to a 52-36 halftime advantage.
“At times, we played at an extremely high level in the first half,” said Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington. “The way we shot the ball, the way we passed, that momentum helped us on defense.”
Vanderbilt picked up right where it left off in the second half, going on an 8-0 run to open the half and forcing Dawkins to burn an early timeout. At one point, UCF trailed by as many as 27 points.
The Knights mounted a 12-2 run with about six minutes left to cut the Vanderbilt advantage to single digits at 84-75, but the Commodores responded with another run, putting the game out of reach.
Kugel finished with a team-high 25 points, while Chris Johnson added 17 and Jamichael Stillwell contributed 15.
“We just talked about it and it all starts with positive energy,” said Kugel. “We’ve got a couple of screws to fix, but we will bounce back.”
Duke Miles led four Vanderbilt players in double digits with 20 points. The Commodores (2-0) were coming off a 105-61 win over Lipscomb.
UCF returns to the court on Tuesday when the Knights host Florida A&M. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/08/ucf-knights-host-vanderbilt-commodores-mens-basketball/
