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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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 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.”

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

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The Knights (14-1, 1-1 in C-USA) trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half and went into the halftime break down 36-21 before returning to make a game out of it.

“We didn’t match their intensity,” UCF Coach Donnie Jones said afterwards. “We came back out in the second half and cut it down to five a couple times but we just couldn’t make the plays we needed to.”

UCF shot just 39-percent from the field, turned the ball over 16 times and finished with a season-low six assists. Houston (9-6, 1-1 in C-USA) drained 48-percent of its shots and held UCF’s biggest threats in check for most of the way.

Marcus Jordan shot only 3-of-9 from the field and finished with 10 points, four rebounds, four turnovers and three assists while Keith Clanton had 13 points on 1-of-6 attempts along with nine rebounds, four turnovers and two blocks. Tom Herzog was a perfect 4-of-4 shooting with 13 points and two blocks. A.J. Rompza added 10 points (4-of-10 shooting), four rebounds and two turnovers.

“We’ve got to learn from this, and we will,” Jones said. “We’ve got a week to get better at it.”

UCF travels to Southern Miss on Saturday, Jan. 15 before returning to Orlando on Wednesday, Jan. 19 against East Carolina.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

The win improves the Knights to 10-0 on the season. They started the day as one of only 12 unbeaten teams in the nation, having received votes in both Top 25 polls. The win is expected to give UCF its first national ranking in program history.

Trailing 43-33 at the break, it was a second-half surge that propelled the Knights to the win.

Isaiah Sykes gave UCF its first lead in the game since holding a 10-9 advantage early on when he was successful on a left-handed layup with 7:59 remaining. That put UCF up 59-58 and they never trailed the rest of the way.

From there, Isaac Sosa hit a 3-pointer, A.J. Rompza banked in a jumper and Keith Clanton tipped in a basket to extend the lead.

Miami (7-3) got within three points in the final minute but UCF did enough to hold them off down the stretch.

Marcus Jordan led the way with a game-high 23 points. He turned his ankle and did not return with a minute-and-a-half to play after stepping on the foot of an opponent. Jordan shot 8-of-18 from the field, 5-of-8 from the free-throw line and finished with five assists, four turnovers and three rebounds in the win.

Tom Herzog tallied 11 points, 10 rebounds along with two blocks and a steal while Rompza finished with a quiet 10 points and two assists.

Clanton overcame a slow first half to become a major player the remainder of the way. He ended up shooting 6-of-8 from the field for 14 points, despite going 2-of-8 at the foul line, and pulled down seven rebounds for the Knights.

UCF outscored Miami in the paint 42-28 and turned around a poor shooting performance in the first half (39-percent from the floor) to blow past the Hurricanes in the final 20 minutes 51-35.

UCF takes its perfect record back on the road on Wednesday as they travel to Massachusetts. The Knights return to Orlando Dec. 29 as hosts of the two-day UCF Holiday Classic against Furman.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

On Thursday, UCF fans were treated to two big wins over rival USF. First, the men’s soccer team eliminated the Bulls from the NCAA Tournament. Then the men’s basketball team went on to score a big win in front of 7,653.

– UCF Basketball Improves To 3-0 –

Playing in front of an energetic crowd at the UCF Arena, the UCF men’s basketball team topped cross-state foe USF, 65-59. Junior guard A.J. Rompza led the Knights with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The victory was just the sixth in 25 tries for UCF against the Bulls (1-2).

The Knights led for the majority of the contest, but the Bulls got within two points with 25 seconds to play when Jawanza Poland hit a 3-pointer. Rompza was then fouled and nailed a pair of free throws to secure the win for the Knights.

“I am really proud of our team,” UCF Coach Donnie Jones said. “We have had two blowouts in our first games. We have gotten huge leads and haven’t been in any late-game situations. I am really proud of our team. I am really proud of A.J. Rompza and a lot of our veterans who really stepped up down the stretch.”

UCF led by as many as 12 points in the opening half and took a 38-29 advantage into intermission. The Bulls opened the second half with a 13-2 run and went up 41-40 with 13:55 to play when Ron Anderson scored inside. Rompza led the Knights right back, scoring a bucket and then finding an open Marcus Jordan for a 3-pointer that gave UCF the lead back for good, 45-43, with 13:08 on the clock.

UCF’s defensive pressure helped force 18 USF turnovers. The Knights recorded seven blocked shots in the win. Senior forward A.J. Tyler finished with four blocks. Junior guard Isaac Sosa finished with 13 points and three assists. Anderson led the Bulls with 18 points and Augustus Gilchrist added 14 points.

UCF will be back in action on Tuesday at Stetson.

– UCF Soccer Moves On In NCAA’s –

UCF goalkeeper Shawn Doyle recorded his eighth shutout of the year as the Knights cruised to a 3-0 win over USF in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship at the UCF Soccer Complex. It’s UCF’s first win over the Bulls since 2001. USF leads the all-time series 20-4-4.

With the win, UCF advances to face 10-seed Michigan on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Ann Arbor. Michigan is ranked No. 19 in the nation. The Knights now stand at 12-4-3, while the Bulls wrap up their 2010 campaign at 9-6-4. It is UCF’s seventh shutout in nine home contests this year. The Knights have conceded just three goals at the UCF Soccer Complex in 2010.

“I really felt good about the game going in,” UCF Coach Bryan Cunningham said. “I thought we matched up well with USF and they’re a tremendous team. Credit to (the team). They executed the game plan and a shutout is great against a high-powered team like that.”

In the 35th minute Cameron Cooksey flung a lengthy throw in from the far sideline that pressing and leaping defender Ben Hunt was able to flick off of his head past USF goalkeeper Jeff Attinella and into the top corner of the net for the first goal of the match.

Then with less than a minute to play before the half, Nik Robson calmly pushed a penalty kick past Attinella for his 10th goal of the season, giving the Knights a 2-0 advantage heading into intermission. UCF held a 10-3 edge in shots at the break. Yaron Bacher put UCF on top 3-0 when he fired a 25-yard free kick high into the far corner of the USF net.

Doyle finished with three saves and UCF held an 18-10 advantage in shots.

The Bulls were making their 14th NCAA Tournament appearance while UCF was making its first NCAA appearance since 2004 and its fourth all-time. The last time the Knights advanced to the second round was in 2004, when they lost at Wake Forest.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

And speaking of basketball, there is plenty of excitement surrounding the UCF men’s program this season. A new coach. A new style of play. Can Donnie Jones make fans forget about Kirk Speraw? I think so.

The soccer teams at Rollins College have had little trouble this season. Well, aside from the conference tournaments, I suppose. But can they parlay their Top-25 rankings into advancing past the first two rounds of the Division II tournament for a change?

And speaking of soccer, the men’s team at UCF has not been this good for quite some time. They are now just one win away from the Conference USA title game, which will be broadcast nationally. Here’s hoping a similar fate as the one that caught the women’s team on Sunday is not waiting around the corner.

– Magic Lose First Game at Amway Center –

The Orlando Magic got a little taste of what it must feel like to be the Miami Heat this week. On Wednesday the Magic held an 18-point lead over the Utah Jazz before eventually losing its first game at the new Amway Center 104-94.

Just one night before, Utah trailed by 22 points before defeating the Miami Heat in overtime 116-114.

Orlando (5-2) turned the ball over 21 times and shot 37.5-percent from beyond the arc.

Vince Carter led the Magic with 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting (4-of-10 from 3-point range). Jameer Nelson returned from an ankle injury to score 19 points with 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Rashard Lewis made 3-of-7 shots from long range and 6-of-15 from the field to finish with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Dwight Howard took just eight shots and finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots, but had 6 turnovers in the loss.

– New Era Begins For UCF Hoops –

A new head coach leads the UCF men’s basketball program into a new era on Friday when the Knights host West Florida at the UCF Arena at 7 p.m. West Florida finished 11-14 a year ago while UCF went 15-17.

The first 1,000 fans inside the arena Friday will receive a free Donnie Jones mask to commemorate his first game on the sidelines with the Knights.

Jones took over for long-time coach Kirk Speraw on March 29 after previously leading the way at fellow Conference USA foe Marshall. He spent 11 years as an assistant at the University of Florida and holds a career record of 55-41 in three years as head coach.

Jones brings to UCF an aggressive up-tempo style on both ends of the court.

The Knights return sophomore forward Keith Clanton of Orlando Christian Prep, a C-USA All-Freshman Team selection a year ago who averaged 9.7 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds. In all, eight letterwinners return with seven newcomers added to the team. Along with Clanton, rounding out the starting lineup for Friday are junior A.J. Rompza, sophomore Marcus Jordan, junior Isaac Sosa and senior transfer Tom Herzog at center out of Michigan State. Jordan also made the all-conference freshman team.

UCF is scheduled to play 17 games at home this season. The Knights host Jackson State on Monday and USF on Thursday, Nov. 18. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

– Rollins College Soccer Teams in NCAA Field –

The NCAA Division II Soccer Championship chase begins this week for both the men’s and women’s programs at Rollins College.

The men’s team is ranked No. 7 in the nation and carries an 11-3-3 record into Friday night’s match at home against West Florida (14-4-2) at 8 p.m. The winner takes on either Tampa (14-6-1) or Barry (10-3-3) on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Winter Park.

The postseason bid for the men is the 11th in program history for the Tars. Rollins has reached the second round four times but has never advanced further.

Leading the team is Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the Year Thomas Biddinger, fellow all-conference first-teamer Jack Clifford and freshman goalkeeper Keneil Baker.

The women’s team is ranked No. 13 in the nation and carries a 10-4-2 record into Sunday’s match at home against either Florida Southern (10-5-3) or Florida Tech (9-6-2) at 12 p.m. in Winter Park.

The Tars are led by a senior class made up of Jessica Deese, Chelsea Brady, Marie Sapper, Leah Hirsch and SSC Defensive Player of the Year Meagan Thomas.

– UCF Men’s Soccer in C-USA Semifinals –

On Friday the UCF men’s soccer team faces off with Tulsa in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis at 8:30 p.m.

The Knights earned the No. 2 seed and a bye in the opening round of the tournament with a 4-1-3 record in league play. Tulsa, the three-time defending tournament champions, came in as the No. 6 seed. They defeated Kentucky 5-0 to advance on Wednesday. Tulsa and UCF closed out the regular season in a 1-1 tie.

UCF (11-3-3) is led by six players who were recently voted to all-conference teams. Among the first-teamers are sophomore Nik Robson and juniors Warren Creavalle and Kevan George. Senior captain Yaron Bacher and goalkeeper Shawn Doyle were honored with spots on the second and third teams, respectively. Steven Lamberta was named to the all-freshman team.

Top-seeded SMU takes on South Carolina in the other semifinal on Friday. The winners will meet up to decide the championship on Sunday at 3 p.m. on CBS College Sports.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –