UCF Knights face tough string of foes

With a season spiraling out of control, the Knights are about to head into their toughest string of conference games so far while on a three-game losing streak.

In the span of seven days the men’s basketball team has lost to UConn (14-4, 2-3) 84-61, Rutgers (8-10, 2-3) 85-75, and SMU (14-4, 3-2) 58-46. And in a conference stacked with some of the NCAA’s toughest teams — three of the American Athletic Conference’s teams are in the Top 25 — the Knights are looking at a tough road to make a comeback.

In shooting percentage they’ve suffered the most. In their three-game skid they averaged 32.6 percent overall, well off the wild 60.3 percent they shot in a blowout of Jacksonville on Dec. 17. In most of the Knights’ wins shooting percentage has been a big factor. They’ve yet to lose a game in which they shot better than 45 percent this season. But they’ve never won a game in which they shot less than 40 percent.

Head coach Donnie Jones blamed “young mistakes offensively” as the big factor that led the Knights to their loss against SMU at home. The loss of leading scorer Isaiah Sykes midway through the game didn’t help either. He left the game with a head injury and possible concussion after a collision near the basket just after the second period began.

In Sykes’ wake, the Knights only had one shooter in double digits on the scoreboard. Sykes had been averaging 15.4 points per game this season.

The Knights did not say how long Sykes would be off the court. They’ll be traveling to Cincinnati to face the No. 19 Bearcats (17-2, 6-0) at 9 p.m. Jan. 23. Then at 7 p.m. on Jan. 29 they return home to host the No. 17 Memphis Tigers (13-4, 3-2) — the highest ranked team in the AAC according to the AP Top 25 poll.