The UCF men’s basketball season come to a close against Creighton on Wednesday in the College Basketball Invitational semis in Omaha, Nebraska. The Knights fell 82-64, finishing the season 21-12 overall.

The game capped an unusually hectic day for the Knights. The team was unable to leave Orlando until 9 a.m. the day of the game, arriving via charter plane around 2:30 p.m. local time. UCF typically travels the day before games.

The Bluejays (22-14), who improved to 18-3 at home this season, raced out to a 15-5 lead and never looked back. The hosts shot 56.7 percent overall and 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from 3-point range in the opening half while forcing 13 UCF turnovers. The Knights trailed 44-23 at halftime.

UCF finished the season with at least 20 wins for just the sixth time since joining the Division I ranks in 1984. Under new head coach Donnie Jones, UCF posted non-league wins over No. 16 Florida, Miami and USF, and entered the national rankings for the first time in school history.

In Omaha, the Knights were led by sophomore Keith Clanton, who scored a game-high 26 points. UCF shot 48.9 percent, but made just 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) of its 3-point attempts.

Creighton shot 57.7 percent from the floor for the game, and 46.7 percent from deep. Gregory Echenique led the hosts with 19 points.

“Give credit to Creighton. They are a very good basketball team,” Jones said. “They were aggressive and played with an edge. Our kids kept competing. This tournament is about the future as much as it is about the now. There were a lot of positives from playing in this tournament.”

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On Monday the Knights (21-11) put together a huge second half in front of an announced crowd of 3,949, as they did away with Rhode Island, 66-54, in the CBI quarterfinals.

UCF improves to 15-0 against non-conference teams on the year and returns to the court Wednesday at Creighton (21-14) at 8 p.m. in the CBI semifinals. The game will be televised nationally on HDNet and broadcasted locally on 740 AM.

“We’re having fun right now,” junior point guard A.J. Rompza said afterwards. “That’s the way you win games. Right now we’re jelling.”

Rompza scored seven points, grabbed five rebounds and finished with four assists on his 21st birthday. The Knights were led by sophomore forward Keith Clanton, who went for 16 points and nine rebounds.

UCF played poorly in the first half and trailed 30-27 at the break after shooting only 31 percent from the field while making just 2-of-15 attempts from beyond the arc.

All that changed after intermission, though.

“I knew we had to come out and calm down and run the offense,” UCF coach Donnie Jones said. “We really wanted to focus on going inside and I thought we did a good job of playing inside-out.”

The Knights outscored Rhode Island in the paint 48-24 and won the rebounding battle by a 44-28 margin, of which 19 came off the offensive glass.

“Our defense won for us tonight,” Jones said. “We had great patience and executed, and was able to get good shots in crucial parts of the game.”

Rhode Island (20-14) was held to 24 points in the second half as UCF jumped out on an 18-5 run after the break. They led by 14 points with five minutes to play and made 17-of-25 shots in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Isaiah Sykes had six points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists for the Knights while Tom Herzog went 5-of-7 from the field for 10 points. A.J. Tyler scored 11 points and P.J. Gaynor had six points, five rebounds and four assists.

Marcus Jordan was held to four points on 2-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and four assists. Senior forward Delroy James, who poured in 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, led Rhode Island on the night.

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On Wednesday, UCF improved to 20-11 on the year following a 69-54 first-round win over St. Bonaventure.

Sophomore Marcus Jordan finished with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Knights.

Junior A.J. Rompza scored 13 points (3-for-6) and dished out seven assists while Tom Herzog went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field for 10 points.

UCF outscored St. Bonaventure 25-10 over the last 12 minutes of the game after the visiting team tied the contest at 44-all. With the win, the Knights remains unbeaten on the season against nonconference opponents.

Isaiah Sykes led the team in rebounding with six boards and added nine points and two steals.

Rhode Island enters Monday’s at 20-13 overall following a 76-59 win in the first round of the CBI over Miami (Ohio).

This is the first time UCF has hosted a postseason game of any kind since joining the Division I level in 1984.

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After losing in the first round of the Conference USA Championship, the Knights (19-11) were left out of the selection process as bids were being handed out to the NCAA Tournament and National Invitaional Tournament.

But UCF returns to UCF Arena on Wednesday against St. Bonaventure in the opening round of the 16-team College Basketball Invitational at 8 p.m. The first-ever meeting between the two programs will be televised nationally on HDNet.

The program’s fifth postseason invite since 1984 comes on the heels of a season spent in the Top 25 for the first time ever. The Knights were ranked over the course of four weeks after defeating No. 16 Florida in December. They also earned wins over USF and Miami before going on to go unbeaten at 13-0 in non-conference play.

St. Bonaventure (16-14) went 8-8 in the Atlantic 10, earning a win this season over St. John’s. The winner of Wednesday’s game moves on to face either Miami (Ohio) or Rhode Island on Monday, March 21.

Other matchups in the CBI include San Jose State at Creighton; James Madison at Davidson; Weber State at Oregon; Duquesne at Montana; Austin Peay at Boise State; and Hofstra at Evansville.

In its fourth year, the CBI is a single-elimination tournament up until the best-of-three championship series takes place March 28-April 1. All games are played at campus sites.

Tulsa won the inaugural title in 2008 while UTEP lost in the championship series the following year to Oregon State. Virginia Commonwealth won the event last year.

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The UCF men’s basketball season came to an end Wednesday as the Knights lost to East Carolina in the opening round of the Conference USA Championship. Just as it did in the previous two meetings, ECU used a big second half to post a 75-60 victory at the Don Haskins Center.

The Knights were led by 15 points, four rebounds and two blocks from sophomore forward Keith Clanton.

UCF (19-11) is left hoping for a spot in a postseason event, including the National Invitation Tournament or the College Basketball Invitational. They’ll learn of their fate no later than Sunday.

Despite leading at the halftime break 39-34, the Knights were outscored 41-21 after intermission. The Pirates shot 56.0 percent overall in the second half while UCF shot just 28 percent from the field and 11 percent from the 3-point line after the break.

The Knights finished the afternoon with 16 turnovers and shot only 8-of-21 from long distance for the day.

East Carolina opened the second half on an 18-6 run. UCF would get no closer than 52-48 with close to 11 minutes to play.

The Pirates raced out to a 20-10 lead to start the game, but UCF refused to go away as Clanton sparked a 26-9 run with a triple. Junior guard Isaac Sosa scored all 11 of his points during the run. Sosa hit three 3-pointers and closed the run with a pair of free throws with 59 seconds to go in the half that handed the Knights the advantage.

UCF shot 59.1 percent overall and 58.3 (7-of-12) percent from deep in the first 20 minutes.

Sophomore guard Marcus Jordan was held to nine points on 1-of-9 shooting. He also finished with seven assists, five rebounds and four turnovers.

Darrius Morrow led East Carolina with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Jamar Abrams added 15 points. Jontae Sherrod was held to seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.

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The UCF men’s basketball team opens the Conference USA Championship today at 1 p.m. in El Paso, Texas against East Carolina.

Just as they were a year ago, the Knights enter the tournament as the No. 9 seed. UCF finished out its conference schedule by winning five of its past seven games.

The game can be heard on 740 AM. Further coverage is available at UCF Athletics.

The Pirates (16-14, 8-8 Conference USA) finished the regular season No. 8 in C-USA and swept the Knights on the year with wins on Jan. 19 (74-62) and Feb. 5 (68-61).

Last season UCF (19-10, 6-10 C-USA) defeated SMU in the opening round before going on to lose big against top-seeded UTEP in the quarterfinals.

With a win over ECU, the Knights would face No. 1 UAB at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

East Carolina is led by all-conference third-team selection Jontae Sherrod, who averages 15.6 points per game.

UCF sophomores Marcus Jordan and Keith Clanton also earned All-C-USA honors. Jordan was named to the all-league second team. He ranks seventh in the league in scoring at 15.9 points per game. Clanton, the Orlando Christian Prep alum, is an All-C-USA Third Team selection after averaging 13.9 points and 8.2 rebounds on the year.

The winner of the C-USA Championship title will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, No. 7 Houston took the title.

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Junior guard A.J. Rompza hit a 3-pointer with 3.8 seconds remaining to lift the UCF men’s basketball team to a 65-64 Conference USA win Saturday at the UCF Arena.

The victory was the fourth in the last five games for the Knights, who improved to 18-9 overall and 5-9 in league play.

Southern Miss (21-7, 9-5) led by two points with 11 seconds to play when the Golden Eagles’ Angelo Johnson missed the second of two free throws. UCF sophomore guard Marcus Jordan grabbed the rebound, quickly pushed the ball up the court and found Rompza on the right side, where he hit the contested three. R.L. Horton’s desperation 3-point attempt for Southern Miss was off the mark at the buzzer.

“It was nice to finally come out on the other end of that for the first time,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “It was a big shot by A.J. Rompza, but the thing that I was the most proud of was the way our guys fought. We had a couple of times there when we could have tucked our heads and they made some great runs and that’s a terrific basketball team that we just played, and the shot went in for us.’’

UCF trailed by as many 10 points in the second half, and Southern Miss went up 59-50 with 7:13 to play when Horton hit a pair of free throws. Jordan, who led the Knights with 20 points, then sparked a 10-0 UCF run. He scored four points during the spurt, which was capped at the 3:25 mark when he found senior forward A.J. Tyler for a 3-pointer that gave UCF a 60-59 edge.

The contest was the first in Orlando for the Knights since Feb. 12, and was played in front of an announced crowd of 7,402.

Southern Miss led 33-25 at the break after Horton nailed a long 3-pointer with only a second to play in the opening half. Horton led Southern Miss with 20 points. The Golden Eagles shot 41.5 percent overall, and made 7-of-12 shots from deep.

Tyler hit 4-of-6 3-pointers and finished with a season-best 14 points. UCF shot 48.9 percent overall for the game. Rompza totaled just four points, but recorded a game-high five assists.

UCF plays its regular-season home finale on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against SMU.

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UCF now stands at 16-8 overall and 3-8 in Conference USA.

The Knights started the year 13-0 in non-league play before opening the C-USA portion of its schedule with a close win over Marshall before the slump set in.

Losses on the road to Houston (76-71), Southern Miss (86-69), Memphis (77-61) and East Carolina (68-61) where tangled in between setbacks at UCF Arena against East Carolina (74-62), Rice (57-50), UAB (74-69) and Memphis (63-62).

The losing streak ended Feb. 12 at home in a 58-57 win over Tulsa.

But the slate gets no easier from here.

On Saturday the Knights are in Birmingham, Alabama for a rematch with UAB (18-7, 8-4 C-USA). They’ll then head off to El Paso, Texas to meet up with UTEP (19-6, 7-3) on Monday.

The final home games of the season take place Saturday, February 26 against Southern Miss (19-6, 8-4) and Wednesday, March 2 against SMU (16-9, 7-4). Both games begin at 7 p.m.

The regular season comes to a close March 5 as UCF coach Donnie Jones makes his return to Marshall (17-9, 5-6), where he coached the past three seasons.

The C-USA Championship will be held in El Paso from March 9-12.

Leading the way this season for the Knights has been Marcus Jordan and Keith Clanton. Jordan is averaging 15.6 points and 3.5 assists while Clanton averages 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Isaac Sosa has hit 49 shots from beyond the arc and is averaging 8.7 points on the year.

A.J. Rompza is averaging 5.5 points, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals while Tom Herzog contributes with 6.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.

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The UCF men’s basketball team returned to its winning ways Saturday as the Knights got past Tulsa, 58-57, in Conference USA play at the UCF Arena. The Golden Hurricane had the chance to win with three seconds to play but Scottie Haralson’s 3-point attempt was off the mark.

The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Knights, who improved to 15-8 overall and 2-8 in C-USA. Sophomore forward Keith Clanton led UCF with 16 points and sophomore guard Marcus Jordan added 15 points and seven assists in the winning effort.

Leading by a point, UCF could not extend its advantage with 12 seconds to go when Jordan was unable to score inside. Justin Hurtt, who led Tulsa (13-11, 6-4) with 23 points, got the rebound and pushed the ball up the floor, where he found Haralson in the left corner. The guard launched a 3-point attempt, but the shot was long and corralled by Clanton.

“It’s been a long time. It did (feel like forever) and it’s nice for it to finally miss,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “I’m just happy for our kids and happy for the program to find a way to get a victory. As I told those guys at the beginning of the game, I’m proud of how we’ve continued to work. Our kids have not tucked their heads. Everybody usually tucks their head when it doesn’t go well, but our kids have been resilient and enthusiastic and continued to work. I’m just happy for them to get that victory because there’s been a lot of pressure on them with the start that we had.’’

UCF shot 37.7 percent for the game, but made 47.8 percent of its field goals and 81.5 percent of its free-throw attempts after intermission.

Tulsa led 29-25 at the break, but UCF opened the second half in strong fashion, and eventually went up 42-34 with 12:12 to go when Clanton hit a jumper.

UCF will return to action Wednesday at Tulane. The squad’s next home game is Feb. 26 against Southern Miss.

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The UCF men’s basketball team played well enough to win on Wednesday night. But instead of celebrating a victory, the Knights (14-8, 1-8 in Conference USA) are left scratching their heads in disbelief.

UCF led by two-points before the last-second heroics of Antonio Barton, who hit a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining, stunned an announced crowd of 7,076.

The 63-62 loss to the Tigers (18-6, 6-3 in C-USA) extended the Knights’ losing streak to eight games.

Although it was a painful loss, UCF head coach Donnie Jones reaffirmed that his team will regroup.

“We didn’t win but this team has continued to fight and we are getting better,” Jones said afterwards. “Losing is not what we want to do but this group of kids continues to work.”

In a game where the Tigers shot better from the field, it was UCF that stormed back from a nine-point deficit late in the first half. The Knights only trailed by two at the intermission, 32-30.

Junior guard Isaac Sosa was a big part of the first half comeback, hitting two 3-pointers that gave UCF some momentum and fired up the partisan crowd.

“We were able to free him up on some screens,” Jones said of Sosa. “Anytime you can give him some distance, some space, he’s very effective shooting the basketball.”

Sosa was streaking on the night, shooting 4-of-5 from behind the arc. He also led the team with 14 points.

The Knights led by as many as seven points in the second half but Memphis’ press defense late in the contest forced three turnovers that gave the Tigers life.

In total, UCF committed nine turnovers.

Sosa said Wednesday’s loss was among the toughest for UCF. He felt that with the way the Knights were playing they were close to ending the streak.

“We played hard the whole game and they hung in there, but all the credit goes to them,” Sosa said of Memphis.

A frustrated Marcus Jordan played 39 minutes. He contributed 12 points but shot only 3-of-13 from the field.

Jordan dismissed any notion that Memphis disrupted his shooting, stating that it “was just one of those nights where the ball wouldn’t go in.”

Junior guard A.J. Rompza returned to the court following a two-game absence. He scored just four points and committed two turnovers that helped the Tigers along the way.

Memphis also took advantage of second-chance points, outscoring UCF 17-6 in that category.

Both Antonio and his brother Will Barton nailed key 3-pointers late in the game to give the Tigers a chance. Will had a game-high 15 points, while Antonio added 14.

The Knights will look to Saturday’s game against Tulsa to put the streak to an end.

– Follow Carlos Pineda on Twitter @CarlosFPineda10 for more UCF athletics –

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Tom Herzog has been known to get into foul trouble.

Typically, early fouls have limited the production of the 7-foot redshirt senior. But Herzog kept free of fouls Saturday night by scoring a career-high 20 points in 35 minutes of play.

Even with his big contribution, the UCF basketball team suffered the same fate for the sixth consecutive time with a 74-69 loss to UAB at the UCF Arena.

The Knights (14-6 overall, 1-6 in Conference USA) led with just over five minutes to play before that advantage disappeared.

The Blazers (15-5, 5-2 in C-USA) were down two points when Dexter Fields, out of Orlando’s Olympia High School, hit a 3-pointer to give UAB the go-ahead lead. Following a missed jumper from UCF junior P.J. Gaynor, Jamarr Sanders hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining to extend UAB’s lead to 71-67.

Fields led the Blazers with 19 points, hitting 5 of 7 from behind the arc.

UAB shot 50 percent from behind the 3-point line in all, causing the Knights fits from long-range the entire night. UCF fell to 0-6 all-time against the Blazers.

“It’s our defense right now,” said UCF sophomore Marcus Jordan, who scored 15 points and added five assists. “We’re not going to win another game until we pick up our defensive effort. We’ve just got to grind it out.

“We’re not quitting. We’re not putting our heads down. We’re trying to get a win. We come into practice and work harder. Come into games and work harder.”

The Knights played with a certain fire from the beginning of the contest, scoring on their first five possessions and jumping out to a 9-3 lead, their largest of the game.

Although UCF shot 13 of 29 (44.8 percent) from the field in the first 20 minutes, the Blazers shot better and saw themselves take an eight-point lead late in the first half. A three-pointer by UCF redshirt senior Taylor Young and a layup from freshman Isaiah Sykes cut the lead to three and excited the partisan crowd.

The Knights entered the half trailing 37-32.

“We missed our shots and have to get stops,” UCF coach Donnie Jones said. “We played well enough to win the game, but that’s not what happened. You’ve got to finish the game and get stops when it counts.”

UCF’s offensive weakness came from behind the 3-point line, where they shot just 5 of 17 (29.4 percent).

Junior A.J. Rompza did not play due to a foot injury. He walked onto the court before the start of the game on crutches.

The Knights have nine games remaining and Jones said the team has to keep building and getting better, figuring out a seven or eight-man rotation.

UCF, who began the season on a 14-game winning streak, hits the road for the next two games with a stop Wednesday night at UTEP and Saturday against East Carolina.

“We’ve got off to a great start and we’ve stumbled and we’re not able to get a break to make a break,” Jones said. “We’ve still got a lot to play for here.”

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