The UCF men’s team is still unbeaten on the basketball court.

On Wednesday the Knights opened Conference USA play with a 65-58 win over Marshall in front of an announced crowd of 9,094 at UCF Arena. The turnout is the third largest in program history.

The matchup held special meaning as new UCF coach Donnie Jones spent the past three seasons guiding the Thundering Herd (10-4).

UCF entered the week ranked No. 18/19 in this week’s Top 25 polls and improved to 14-0 on the season as sophomore Marcus Jordan finished with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists. As a team, the Knights blocked 11 shots with Keith Clanton (14 points, 8 rebounds) and Tom Herzog (9 rebounds) each in on four rejections.

With the game tied at 28-all at the break, Jordan led a second-half surge by scoring 18 points and giving UCF the lead for good at 47-46 following a three-point play with less than seven minutes remaining.

The Knights are on the road this Saturday against Houston (8-6, 0-1 in C-USA), then travel to take on Southern Miss (12-2, 1-0) on Saturday, Jan. 15. They return to Orlando on Wednesday, Jan. 19 against East Carolina (8-6, 0-0).

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– Photos by J.C. Carnahan –