Dec. 30, 2007

Box Score

ORLANDO, FL - Junior swingman Jermaine Taylor scored a game-high 21 points, leading host UCF to an 82-50 men's basketball win over NJIT in the first round of the UCF Holiday Classic Sunday afternoon at the University of Central Florida.

Taylor, who scored a career-high 30 points two days earlier in UCF"s 85-82 loss against UConn, did most of his damage against NJIT in the first half, scoring 16 points in 14 minutes of first-half action. He played just four minutes in the second half, but added five more points and finished with 21 points in 18 minutes.

Arguably the best player NJIT has faced in its season and a half of Division I competition, Taylor shot 5-for-6 on three-point attempts and also put the ball on the floor to score on some acrobatic driving layups.

The only other double-figure scorer in the game was Knights sophomore forward Tony Davis, who came off the bench for 11 points, along with a game-high 12 rebounds, all in 15 minutes of action.

With the game under control after the opening minutes, UCF coach Kirk Speraw took the opportunity to use his full roster. Freshman Jean Michel Yotio led the Knights in minutes played with 22 and all 12 Knights who appeared logged at least 12 minutes on the floor.

NJIT, too, with Monday's consolation game coming less than 20 hours after the UCF game, had nine players see at least 11 minutes of action and only one play more than 30 minutes.

The scoring leaders for NJIT were senior captain Kraig Peters and freshman Justin Garris, each of whom scored eight points. Jheryl Wilson and Kyle Edwards added six points apiece.

The six points for Edwards were one shy of his season-high seven, set against Lafayette on December 3. Edwards is in a comeback season, having missed all of the 2006-07 season due to injury.

NJIT scored first on a three-point basket by Garris with 18:41 left in the first half. But UCF used strong defense and an efficient offense to score the game's next 14 points, taking a 14-3 lead before Dan Stonkus broke a 5:45 scoring drought by making the first of two free throws at 12:56.

In the 14-point run that established their control of the game, the Knights made a jump shot, went ahead for good a dunk by center Stanley Billings with 17:13 remaining and then scored their next 10 points on layups.

When Chip Cartwright hit a jumper to give UCF a 16-4 lead with 12:44 left, the seven different men had entered the scoring column on the team's eight buckets.

Taylor hit his first three-pointer of the game for a 19-4 UCF lead before freshman Brendon Lyn gave the Highlanders a spark off the bench, sinking a three-pointer with 11:15 remaining and then a layup 15 seconds later, closing the gap to 19-9.

But Dave Noel made two three-pointers to spark a 10-0 UCF run that stretched the Knights lead to 20 points, 29-9, with 6:37 left.

UCF made four more three -pointers--three by Taylor--in the last 5:41 and pushed the advantage to 44-18 by halftime. With Taylor (4-for-5) leading the way, UCF shot 7-for-11 from outside the arc as a team in the opening 20 minutes.

The Knights finished the game 10-for-19 (53 percent) on threes. NJIT, too, shot well from long range, making eight of its 15 three-point tries, as six different Highlanders connected.

The Highlanders, who were outscored in the second half, 38-32, actually outscored UCF, 19-17, in the first 11:22 of the second half.

NJIT, which played its first game under head coach Jim Casciano since the November 10 season opener, will take on Texas-Pan American in the UCF Holiday Classic consolation game on Monday at 1 pm. UTPA was a 95-83 loser to Long Island University in Sunday's other opening-round game.

Casciano, who took a leave of absence for personal health reasons starting November 11, was off the bench for 12 games and returned to lead practices on December 16 after receiving clearance from his doctors.