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Shooting Woes Cost Hatters in 80-70 Loss to UCF

Men's Basketball Stetson University

Shooting Woes Cost Hatters in 80-70 Loss to UCF

ORLANDO, Fla. – On a night when Stetson had plenty of opportunities and open looks at the basket, the Hatters were never quite able to get on an offensive run and fell to homestanding UCF 80-70 to open play in the UCF Holiday Classic.

The Hatters (4-7) lost their fourth straight outing this year, and for the 12th consecutive time to UCF (9-3), dating back to 2001.

Stetson got off to a good start shooting, but quickly cooled. The Hatters had battled to an 18-all tie early but were outscored 22-10 over the final 10 minutes of the opening half and trailed 40-28 at halftime.

Stetson played the Knights even in the second half, but were never able to close the deficit, which grew to as many as 18 points mid-way through the second half, to fewer than nine points.

“Our guys are disappointed and I am disappointed because I thought that we played hard enough to win, but we didn't play well enough to win,” Stetson coach Casey Alexander said. “As a staff, what we need to most from this team is great effort. We think that we are getting that, so we are pleased with that part of it.”

The most action-packed part of the game came after both teams opened the second half very sluggishly. After three minutes of play, the teams were a combined 0-for-9 from the floor before UCF's Marcus Jordan, who led all scorers in the game with 26 points, hit one of his four three-pointers.

The teams proceeded to hit six consecutive shots, capped by a Chris Perez layup that cut the UCF lead to 49-37. Perez finished with 15 points in the game for Stetson, hitting just six of 17 from the field, and repeatedly heard the UCF crowd chant “airball” throughout most of the game.

“It was fine that they got on me after I shot an air ball,” Perez said. “That just gives me a lot of energy to keep playing hard. I am not going to let the crowd turn my game down. I am a confident player, and the coaches have confidence in me, so I am going to keep playing no matter what the crowd is saying to me.”

The Hatters continued to battle all the way to the end of the game, closing to within eight at 78-70 with 23 seconds left on a jumper in the lane by former Knight Amara Thompson.

“We are proud of the way we played a tough team, on the road, and got down and battled and believed they could win,” Alexander said. “They played hard to the very end, to the point where we got that last rebound with a chance to cut into the lead.

“There are a lot of intricacies that make the difference between winning and losing, and we have made a ton of progress, but we still have farther to go to get over the hump. I don't know when we will get there, but I am confident that we will.”

Adam Pegg led Stetson with 17 points in the game, followed by Perez with 15, Aaron Graham with 14 and Joel Naburgs with 10. The Hatters came out of the game with a season-low in turnovers with 13, but were outrebounded by the bigger Knights 43-33.

UCF was led by Jordan's 26, followed by Isaiah Sykes with 20, Tristan Spurlock with 13 and Keith Clanton with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

When asked about the possibility of the series between UCF and Stetson continuing beyond this game, the Stetson coach left no doubt of his support.

“We will continue to play them for as long as they want to,” Alexander said. “It is great for Stetson, and I hope that it is good for them. It is good for people in the area. The offer is on the table. They have a great program and it is good for us to be able to play them.”   

The Hatters will play in the consolation game of the UCF Holiday Classic on Friday evening. Stetson will play James Madison, which lost 79-60 to Rhode Island in Thursday's nightcap. Tip-off for the consolation game is scheduled for 9:30 p.m.
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Players Mentioned

Aaron Graham

#20 Aaron Graham

G
6' 4"
Freshman
Joel Naburgs

#12 Joel Naburgs

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Adam Pegg

#41 Adam Pegg

F/C
6' 9"
Junior
Chris Perez

#3 Chris Perez

G
6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
Amara Thompson

#2 Amara Thompson

G
6' 4"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Aaron Graham

#20 Aaron Graham

6' 4"
Freshman
G
Joel Naburgs

#12 Joel Naburgs

6' 3"
Freshman
G
Adam Pegg

#41 Adam Pegg

6' 9"
Junior
F/C
Chris Perez

#3 Chris Perez

6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Amara Thompson

#2 Amara Thompson

6' 4"
Junior
G