ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Keyshawn Hall scored 20 points, Jordan Ivy-Curry added 15 and UCF blew most of a 20-point lead Tuesday night before the Knights pulled away to beat Tennessee Tech 80-69.
Hall finished with eight rebounds and a career-high five assists and Ivy-Curry added four assists and four steals. Dallan “Deebo” Coleman scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half and JJ Taylor had 11 for UCF (4-0).
Kyle Layton made 4 of 5 from 3-point range and scored all of his 16 points in the second half for Tennessee Tech (3-3) and Daniel Egbuniwe finished with 13 points. Rodney Johnson Jr. and Jaylon Johnson scored 12 points apiece.
Hall hit a 3-pointer to open the second half before Coleman scored in the paint to give UCF a 20-point lead — its biggest of the game — with 18:41 to play. Egbuniwe scored the next five points to spark a 15-3 run to cut Tennessee Tech’s deficit to single digits with 12:44 remaining. Layton hit three 3-pointers in less than 90 seconds and hit the 1-and-1 free throw on the last of those to cap a 15-3 run that made it 65-62 with 7 minutes left, but the Golden Eagles got no closer.
Darius Johnson and Rokas Jocius hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 15-2 run that gave UCF a 14-point lead with 3 minutes left in the first half and Hall made a layup at the buzzer to make it 47-32 at the break.
Johnson had six points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Knights. The senior guard has 1,000 career points and became just the 21st player in program history to reach that milestone.
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