UCF rallies past upset-minded Quinnipiac, 102-91

Jeremy Foumena scored a career-high 18 points off the bench, and UCF won for the fifth straight game, rallying past Quinnipiac 102-91 on Tuesday night in Orlando, Fla.

The Knights (6-1) trailed by five at halftime and were down 60-50 two minutes into the second half before outscoring the MAAC school 52-31 the rest of the way.

The 6-foot-11 Foumena canned 8 of 11 shots and had a season-high seven rebounds in 18 minutes. Riley Kugel had 16 points and Jordan Burks had 13, while John Bol (13 points) and Themus Fulks (13 assists) set career highs.

UCF shot 52.9% from the floor and held a 54-22 edge in paint points. It owned a 43-29 rebound margin as it hit the century mark for the first time this season.

Quinnipiac (4-3) was led by Jaden Zimmerman's 26 points. Samson Reilly netted 17, while Amarri Monroe had 14 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Grant Randall scored 12 and Keith McKnight 11.

With both schools coming off wins over Pitt, Kugel set the tone early with the first five points, but Randall's 3-pointer and free throw at 15:33 gave the Bobcats their first lead.

The game went back and forth, with the visitors capitalizing off a number of turnovers by the Big 12 school as they led 27-26 at 8:22.

Reilly came off the bench and immediately drained two from deep for a 33-30 edge, and Zimmerman's three from the line gave the Bobcats a 36-31 lead at 6:06. An 8-0 Quinnipiac run made it 47-39 before Foumena's layup with a minute left cut the Bobcats' lead to 52-47 at the break.

However, UCF rallied with a 12-0 run in the first seven minutes of the second half, first grabbing a 65-64 lead on Devan Cambridge's two free throws at 13:08.

The Knights continued to feed Foumena, a transfer from Mississippi State, to create an 84-70 lead at 5:36 on the big man's short hook shot as Quinnipiac went scoreless for more than three minutes.

--Field Level Media