After his team rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to secure a 65-60 victory over No. 3 Kansas on Wednesday, UCF coach Johnny Dawkins couldn't make his way through the crowd. With every step he took, there were handshakes and high fives congratulating him on breaking an eight-game losing streak against ranked teams.
But another historic moment also unfolded in that victory: For just the fourth time in college basketball history and the first in 20 years, the top three teams in the Associated Press poll have lost to unranked opponents in a two-day span. , according to ESPN Statistics and Information.
The Jayhawks' loss Wednesday followed Purdue's 88-72 loss at Nebraska and Houston's 57-53 loss at Iowa State, both of which unfolded Tuesday. No. 5-ranked Tennessee also lost 77-72 at Mississippi State on Wednesday.
This is the first time in the history of the Associated Press poll that four teams in the top five have lost to unranked teams in a two-day span, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
“We kept believing and our guys kept fighting,” Dawkins said. “We got off to a really good start in the game. They have a championship pedigree. A championship program. A great coach. And I feel like the guys kept fighting. We knew we couldn't get it all back in one possession. So what we wanted to do “It was reducing, reducing. And I thought we did that at halftime, and we carried that momentum into the second half.”
With 3:45 left in the first half, Kansas took a 35-19 lead on a layup by Dajuan Harris Jr. Although the Jayhawks had taken control of the game from the start, Dawkins switched to a zone look in the second half, which seemed to frustrate the Jayhawks. In the second half, Kansas connected on just 32% of its field goal attempts and ended up going 3 of 11 from the 3-point line.
“I thought it was important for us to mix things up,” Dawkins said. “They have outstanding players. Those guys are capable of making plays at any time, so we just wanted to keep them off balance as best we could. And tonight it worked. It's one of those things where, you don't know, tomorrow it might not work, “But tonight it worked out for us. I'm happy for our guys. I thought our effort was great and I'm very proud of what they accomplished.”
The Knights joined Cincinnati, Houston and BYU as additions to the Big 12 this season. Next year Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado will arrive. But the greater depth of the Big 12, the largest conference in the United States for most of the last decade, is already evident.
Big plays from Ibrahima Diallo (13 points, five rebounds, three assists, one block), Jaylin Sellers (18 points) and Darius Johnson (17 points) helped UCF capture a key victory in just its second Big 12 game. The packed audience also played an important role. The 10,000-seat Addition Financial Arena was full for the matchup against Kansas.
Dawkins said the buzz in the arena created perfect conditions for the third upset of a top-three men's college basketball team in less than 48 hours. It was also just UCF's second win over a top-five team. The program's other top-five win came against then-No. 4 UConn on November 25, 2011.
“It was electric,” Dawkins said of the crowd. “The energy and enthusiasm in the building is the reason we won. That's what we've talked about. We have to do this together. Our community came out and joined us.”
