UCF kept up its impressive momentum, hitting a school-record-19 three-pointers to overcome Florida Gulf Coast University, 102-80, on Saturday at Addition Financial Arena.

The Knights connected on 54% (19 of 35) of their 3’s.

Jordan Burks had a career-high 23 points on 6 of 10 shooting from beyond the 3-point line, leading five Knights in double-figures. Themus Fulks at 21 points, Jamichael Stillwell added 14, Devan Cambridge had 16 and Chris Johnson had 12.

“We had no idea about that. We just had it going, so that was new to us,” Cambridge said of the 3-point record.

UCF has won nine straight and is off to its best start in the 10 seasons under coach Johnny Dawkins (10-1). The Knights wrap up their non-conference portion of the schedule with a neutral-site game against Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, Dec. 23, at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex at Disney.

“I give our guys a lot of credit, because when you’re facing a team that’s that hot shooting the basketball, you have to dig down real deep and find something within you in order to kind of change that outcome,” said Dawkins. “Our guys were able to dig deep. They were able to get back locked in on the game plan, especially in the second half.”

After a slow start, both teams found their shooting stroke, particularly from long distance, combining to shoot 68% (19 of 28) from beyond the 3-point line in the first half.

Fulks kicked off the scoring with a layup, giving the Knights an early 5-2 advantage. However, FGCU quickly responded with an 8-0 run, taking their first lead of the game at 6-5 around the 15-minute mark of the first half. Their lead expanded to 10-5 before Burks hit a 3-pointer, narrowing the gap to 10-8.

Burks and Cambridge connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to help UCF retake the lead at 14-13 with 11:55 left in the first half. But it became a back-and-forth affair with seven lead changes.

FGCU (5-7, 0-0 ASUN) took the lead at 41-39 with 3:42 left in the first half, building that advantage to a game-high 8 points before UCF stormed back to tie the game at 49 at the half.

Burks had 16 points in the first half, doing most of his scoring beyond the arc, connecting on 5 of 7 3-pointers.

UCF took the lead early in the second half but struggled to pull away from FGCU. However, a crucial 7-0 run gave them a 9-point lead, 68-59, with 11:39 remaining in the game.

Center John Bol was huge in the second half, grabbing 7 of his 9 rebounds while being a defensive presence in the paint for the Knights.

UCF continued its hot shooting as Johnson and Cambridge connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Knights their largest lead of the game at 78-64 with 9:33. Cambridge’s shot was the 14th 3-pointer of the game, tying the season-high set against Texas A&M on Nov. 14.

Stillwell finished with 13 rebounds, earning his fifth double-double of the season.

“Jamichael is gonna have his presence felt every night,” said Cambridge. “He’s just a dog, man. He’s gonna do the little things and it’s gonna show every night. He gives a reward and gets rewarded for it.”

The Eagles also shot well from 3-point range, connecting on 56% (15 of 27), while finishing at 51% from the floor.

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/2025/12/20/ucf-knights-continue-impressive-start-with-win-over-fgcu/