A chorus of boos rained down from the stands as Moustapha Thiam stepped back on the court at Addition Financial Arena on Sunday for the first time since March 8, 2024.
The 7-foot-2 Senegalese native was back at UCF, but this time as a member of the Cincinnati Bearcats, less than six months after transferring from UCF following his freshman season.
It was a very messy divorce that also saw the departure of assistant coach Mamadou N’Diaye, who reportedly brokered the deal with Cincy to land Thiam.
The boos continued throughout the game, crescendoing every time Thiam touched the basketball. A constant reminder that Knights’ fans may forgive, but they don’t forget.
UCF got the last laugh, hanging on for a hard-fought 73-72 win over Cincinnati despite a career-high 24 points by Thiam.
Thumas Fulks’ floater in the paint with 11.5 seconds left in the game lifted the Knights to the win.
Riley Kugel led four Knights in double figures with 19 points, while Jamichael Stillwell had 15, Jeremy Foumena had 12 points and Chris Johnson had 10. Fulks had 12 assists, his fourth double-digit assist game of the season.
UCF (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) bounced back after losing its Big 12 road opener at Oklahoma State on Tuesday. The Knights were ranked in the Associated Press top 25 poll for the first time since the 2019 season.
Cincinnati (8-8, 0-3 Big 12), meanwhile, dropped its third straight game of the season.
Most of the players currently on UCF’s roster weren’t around when Thiam played for the Knights, so there was little animosity among them toward the transfer.
The Knights, however, had little time to worry about revenge as they had their own issues to deal with, quickly falling behind 8-2 at the start of the game. Three quick UCF turnovers led to four points by the Bearcats, who led throughout the first 10 minutes of the game.
UCF got a spark from its bench as guard Chris Johnson nailed a 3-pointer that sparked a 9-0 run that helped the Knights take their first lead of the game with over 12 minutes in the first half.
The run continued as UCF outscored Cincinnati, 16-2, to push the lead to 21-14.
But the Knights suddenly went cold, going through a scoreless stretch that lasted more than 3 minutes, allowing the Bearcats to finish the half on an 18-12 run fueled, for the most part, by Thiam, who had 9 points.
UCF pushed its 33-32 halftime lead to 42-36 as guard Kugel scored 7 points in the first four minutes. But Cincinnati went on an 11-2 run to retake the lead for the first time since the 13-minute mark in the first half.
It was a back-and-forth affair throughout much of the second half with both teams trading blows.
The Knights were without junior guard Carmelo Pacheco, who was listed as out for Sunday’s game according to the Big 12 player availability report.
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.
