UCF's inside dominance takes down Tulsa

Dallan Coleman posted a season-high 20 points and nine rebounds as UCF pulled away to beat Tulsa 88-75 on Saturday afternoon at the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Fla.

Moustapha Thiam scored a career-best 14 points as the Knights (8-2) extended their winning streak to four. UCF, which outscored Tulsa 44-24 in the paint, won for the first time away from home following neutral-court losses in November to Wisconsin and LSU.

Keyshawn Hall assisted on Thiam's alley-oop dunk with just under five minutes remaining to give UCF a 72-68 lead. Hall (14 points, six rebounds) then completed a key three-point play at the 2:09 mark and a nine-point Knights lead.

Thiam delivered another strong all-around performance, finishing with eight rebounds, five blocks and three assists. UCF's dominance inside included 25 second-chance points. Jordan Ivy-Curry netted 13 of his 16 points in the first half and Darius Johnson added nine points.

Tulsa's Keaston Willis scored a game-high 22 points, including six 3-pointers, with five rebounds, while Dwon Odom added 20 points and seven assists. Matt Reed came off the bench to score a season-high 10 as Tulsa (4-7) dropped its fourth consecutive game.

UCF built a 45-39 halftime lead as the Knights (17 of 34) and Golden Hurricane (14 of 27) both shot 50 percent or better from the field, in addition to making a combined 13 3-pointers.

In a half that featured seven ties and four lead changes, Tulsa used a 12-0 run to take a 38-32 advantage. However, UCF ended the opening 20 minutes with a 13-1 burst as Ivy-Curry hit a pair of threes and Dior Johnson added a fastbreak layup and two free throws.

UCF improved to 7-1 when leading at halftime, while the Golden Hurricane fell to 0-7 when trailing at intermission.

--Field Level Media