Central Florida 75, South Florida 74: Isaiah Sykes capped a 27-point performance with a driving layup before time expired as the visiting Knights snapped a nine-game losing streak in dramatic fashion.
Tristan Spurlock collected 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals for Central Florida (10-13, 2-10 AAC), which avenged a one-point overtime loss to the Bulls at home earlier this month. Staphon Blair chipped in 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting and Justin McBride came off the bench to contribute 13 points.
Martino Brock tied a career high with 21 points while Victor Rudd matched him to lead South Florida (12-14, 3-10). No other player reached double figures for the Bulls, who dropped their third straight.
Sykes snapped a 71-71 tie with a basket with 1:25 left, but Brock converted a three-point play on the other end to put South Florida up by a point. After an exchange of empty possessions, Sykes drove into the lane and scooped in a runner off the glass with 1.8 seconds left before Brock's long 3-point try at the buzzer hit the back of the iron.
South Florida led by as many as eight in the first half before settling for a 38-34 lead at the break, only to fall behind 41-40 when Spurlock had a steal and raced the other way for a three-point play. There were multiple lead changes and ties thereafter, the last coming when Rudd hit two free throws to tie it at 71 with 1:43 left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Blair had 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the first half and finished with four of Central Florida's nine blocked shots. ... The Knights entered with an AAC-worst 39.7 percent mark from the field in conference play but finished at 50.9 percent on Saturday. ... South Florida still leads the series 20-6.
Central Florida | South Florida | |
Isaiah Sykes 27 | Scoring | Martino Brock 21 |
Isaiah Sykes 5 | Assists | Corey Allen Jr. 4 |
Tristan Spurlock 8 | Rebounds | Victor Rudd 9 |
Tristan Spurlock 5 | Free Throws Made | Victor Rudd 7 |
Tristan Spurlock 4 | Steals | Martino Brock 2 |
Staphon Blair 4 | Blocks | Corey Allen Jr. 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Central Florida | 75 | 50.9 | 3-9 | 14-20 | 16 | 26 | 9 | 6 | 9 |
South Florida | 74 | 49.1 | 6-17 | 16-20 | 14 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 11 |