AAC Basketball: Cincinnati suffers defeat at hands of UCF

Feb 11, 2017; Orlando, FL, USA; UCF Knights guard B.J. Taylor (1) drives around Connecticut Huskies guard Rodney Purvis (15) during the second half of an NCAA basketball game at CFE Federal Credit Union Arena. The Huskies won 66-63. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

Central Florida made it a memorable home AAC basketball finale with an upset win over Cincinnati.

You always hope you can win your last home game of the season, especially against a ranked team like Cincinnati.

The Central Florida (UCF) Knights precisely did that as they secured their biggest win of the season, knocking off No. 15-ranked Cincinnati, 53-49 at home, 53-49, on Sunday.

Cincinnati struggled in the second half as the Knights found themselves ahead by as many as 11. However, the Bearcats, finding themselves in this position before, battled back and closed the gap, getting it down to two points late.

Cincinnati got the lead down to two and had a chance to tie in the final seconds. However, a missed dunk on an alley-oop led to a Tacko Fall rebound.

Fall sank two free throws, which put the game out of reach for Cincinnati. The sophomore had a solid game defensively, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking four shots.

B.J. Taylor had one of the biggest games of his career at UCF. Taylor, a sophomore, scored a season-high 27 points in the game, including 17 in the first half. It was Taylor who had one of the biggest shots when he sank a step-back three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring with 33 seconds remaining in the game.

With the win, UCF now has four straight victories, none bigger than this one against the Bearcats. This win won’t get them into the NCAA Tournament as they’ll still need to likely win the AAC Tournament, but it was a solid momentum builder for the postseason tournament.

UCF is a fun defensive team to watch, especially with Fall on the floor. It would be a treat to watch them in the NCAA Tournament. The Knights can make it five in a row Thursday when they take on South Flordia.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati struggled with shooting the ball as they shot 29 percent from the field. Jacob Evans led the Bearcats with 17 points, while Jarron Cumberland finished with 11.

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This was a loss that Cincinnati didn’t need. They now drop to second in the AAC standings. They’ll now need SMU to lose one of their remaining games if they want to gain a share of the AAC regular-season title. Cincinnati will need to do its part, though, and win out, first against Houston Thursday night.