Senior guard Brandon Mahan scored a career-high 32 points as the visiting UCF Knights pulled off an historic 86-74 upset over the 15th-ranked Florida State Seminoles on Saturday night at Tallahassee, Fla.
UCF (2-1), which hadn't played since Dec. 6 due in part to a COVID-19 cancellation, snapped FSU's 27-game home winning streak. UCF also broke FSU's streak of 41 consecutive wins in home games against nonconference opponents and dealt the Seminoles (4-1) their first loss of the season.
In addition, this was UCF's first-ever win over FSU, following 11 losses.
The Knights also got 22 points and a game-high eight rebounds from freshman Isaiah Adams -- who was Florida's Mr. Basketball last season -- and 20 points from Darin Green Jr. as UCF produced just its eighth win ever over a ranked team.
Mahan made 10 of 13 attempts from the floor, including 2 of 4 3-point attempts, and went 10 of 10 on free-throw attempts.
UCF got a boost as point guard Darius Perry made his Knights debut. Perry, a graduate-transfer from Louisville, had six points.
FSU was led by M.J. Walker's 22 points. RaiQuan Gray and Anthony Polite added 14 points each. Teammate Scottie Barnes -- a freshman projected as an NBA lottery pick in 2021 -- had eight points, three rebounds and three assists. He made just 3 of 8 attempts from the floor.
FSU, which led by as many as 10 points in the first half, settled for a 39-34 advantage at the break -- but only after the Knights pulled off a 13-0 run.
Adams helped keep UCF in the game in those opening 20 minutes by scoring 16 points, including making 7 of 9 free-throw attempts and sinking 4 of 8 attempts from the floor.
Perry's layup with 7:31 left in the second half gave UCF its largest lead of the game to that point, 67-58.
A steal and layup by Perry gave UCF an even bigger lead at 76-66 with 1:46 left, and the Knights cruised from there.
For the game, the Knights shot 50 percent from the floor, 47.4 percent on 3-pointers (9 of 19) and 88.5 percent (23 for 26) on free-throw attempts.
--Field Level Media
Central Florida | Florida State | |
Brandon Mahan 32 | Scoring | M.J. Walker 22 |
Dre Fuller Jr. 4 | Assists | Scottie Barnes 3 |
Isaiah Adams 8 | Rebounds | Anthony Polite 6 |
Brandon Mahan 10 | Free Throws Made | M.J. Walker 6 |
Isaiah Adams 3 | Steals | Raiquan Gray 2 |
C.J. Walker 3 | Blocks | Balsa Koprivica 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Central Florida | 86 | 50.0 | 9-19 | 23-26 | 11 | 29 | 3 | 6 | 13 |
Florida State | 74 | 47.1 | 10-23 | 16-26 | 11 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 14 |