If UCF coach Johnny Dawkins wanted to get a better understanding of his team, he got a good glimpse over a two-game exhibition schedule that featured No. 6 Duke and LSU.

The Knights, which open the season against Hofstra on Nov. 3, held a double-digit lead in the first half only to watch it disappear in a 75-68 loss over visiting LSU on Sunday at Addition Financial Arena.

“I get a lot more information and I get my players to start to adjust to the level that we are at,” Dawkins said of the purpose of the exhibition games. “Some of my players have never played at this level before, so there’s no way around it. The only way you can have them understand how intense it’s going to be, or how physical [it is], or what the pace is going to look like, is for them to face those types of opponents. The last two games were intentionally designed to do that.”

UCF is coming off a 96-71 exhibition loss at Duke on Tuesday.

After a slow start on Sunday, the Knights went on a 13-2 run midway through the first half, helping build a double-digit lead before LSU cut it to 36-29 at the half.

Poor shooting coming out of intermission helped the Tigers go on a 10-2 run, retaking the lead at 50-42. UCF put together a run of its own, tying the game at 58 with 7:46 left.

But once again, the Knights went ice cold from the floor, going scoreless over a six-minute stretch that allowed LSU to go on a 15-6 run to cruise to the win.

UCF guard Riley Kugel had 17 points in the first half before finishing with a game-high 21 points and 7 assists.

The Knights leaned heavily on their bench with George Beale Jr. and Devan Cambridge stepping up. Beale had 18 points on 6 of 13 shooting, including 4 of 8 on 3-pointers, while Cambridge added 6 points and 4 rebounds.

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/10/26/ucf-knights-drop-exhibition-game-to-lsu-tigers/