UCF 75, Bethune-Cookman 67: Justin McBride turned in a career effort, scoring 31 points and grabbing eight rebounds to lead the host Knights past the Wildcats.

Shooting 12-of-15 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line, the sophomore McBride was a force, making all the difference for UCF (4-1), which rebounded from a 95-69 thrashing by Davidson on Wednesday. Kasey Wilson added 12 points - his fourth straight game with 10 or more - while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists for the Knights, who shot 52.2 percent, including 8-of-14 from 3-point range.

Quentin Brewer tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds for Bethune-Cookman (2-5), which has lost five of six games following a win in its season opener. Mikel Trapp contributed 15 points, including 4-of-6 on 3-pointers, and Ricky Johnson added 11 points and a team-high five assists for the Wildcats, who took advantage of UCF's generous defense, shooting 51.9 percent in a competitive effort.

The Knights never trailed throughout the game, extending their first-half lead to 39-27 on a 3-pointer from Adonys Henriquez with 1:34 left until halftime. Johnson split a pair of free throws and then followed up with a layup on the following possession to send Bethune-Cookman into the break down 39-30.

The Wildcats kept pace throughout the second half, keeping the deficit to single digits and pulling to within 60-57 with 6:48 remaining on a layup from Johnson. Henriquez and Wilson answered by accounting for all of the points in a 9-3 run to push UCF's lead to 69-60 with just over two minutes to play and, after a Trapp 3-pointer trimmed Bethune-Cookman's deficit back to six, McBride responded with a tip-in and a three-point play on the next two possessions for the Knights to slam the door.

GAME NOTEBOOK: UCF improved to 15-7 all-time against Bethune-Cookman. ... Knights F Staphon Blair, who entered play leading the American Athletic Conference, shooting 73.7 percent from the field, finished with seven points on 2-of-5 shooting. ... UCF surpassed its season average of seven 3-pointers per game, knocking down 8-of-14 to creep closer to AAC-leading Houston (9.3) in the category.