National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Central Florida 86, Florida State 74
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 19, 2020
Where: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Florida
Officials: # Mike Roberts, # Jeffrey Anderson, # John Gaffney
Attendance: 2576

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

Top Game Performances
 
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 Stats Summary
 
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