UCF uses big second half to down Utah in Big 12 tourney

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Keyshawn Hall scored 23 points, including 17 in the second half, as UCF defeated Utah 87-72 in the first round of the 2025 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship Tuesday. UCF trailed by one point at halftime.

The Knights will face No. 6 seed Kansas in the second round Wednesday night. It was the 15th 20-point game for Hall.

Hall, who led the Big 12 in scoring but was not a first-team, All-Big 12 selection, was 12-of-14 from the free-throw line.

The 14th-seeded Knights (17-15) had four players in double figures. Besides Hall, the Knights got 20 points from Darius Johnson, 15 from Jordan Ivy-Curry, and 14 points and 11 rebounds from Moustapha Thiam.

No. 11 seed Utah (16-16) was led by Keanu Dawes with 21 points and 15 rebounds. The Utes also got 11 points from Lawson Lovering and 10 from Gabe Madsen.

UCF was the team with the big run at the start of the second half, using a 14-2 run to take a 53-42 lead at the first media timeout. The lead grew to 20 points before Utah responded. A 7-0 run cut the deficit to single digits (67-58) with 9:06 left. But UCF responded with a 10-0 run of its own to stretch the lead back to 19 points.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that solved virtually nothing, as Utah took a 40-39 lead into halftime. After falling behind 7-2, Utah used a 14-0 run to seize control. The Utes led by as many as 12. But the Knights wouldn't go away.

The teams used different scoring strategies in the first half. Utah outscored UCF 28-6 in the paint, while the Knights used the long ball. They were 7-of-18 from 3-point range, while the Utes were just 1-of-12.

Lovering led the Utes with nine first-half points while Dawes nearly had a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Ivy-Curry and Thiam each had eight points for UCF.

--David Smale, Field Level Media