UCF Bench Dominates in Season Opener

By Saul Pacheco: SPM FL Writer
Posted Monday, November 17, 2008

ORLANDO, FLA - November 16, 2008 – This is the first time these two teams have ever met in their schools' history as the University of Central Florida hosted the North Carolina A&T Aggies at the UCF arena, with a crowd of 3,508 on hand.

UCF turned the ball over nine times and North Carolina A&T followed the leader with eight turnovers in the first half alone. This led each team to rely on their bench to make a difference in the game.

UCF head coach Kirk Speraw addressed going to the bench early saying, “We needed a quicker lineup on the floor and we have the depth in our bench to do it.”

Much of UCF’s help came from freshman guard Isaac Sosa who finished with 18 points and zero turnovers, after struggling in the exhibition game versus Flagler College. Sosa said, “I struggled in the game versus Flagler College and tried not to make the same mistakes I did last game.”

Kinights' forward A.J. Tyler added 11 points and forward P.J. Gaynor put up 10 points off the bench.

North Carolina A&T looked to senior forward Nicholas Wilson, who led the team in scoring with 17 off the bench, as their leading scorer last year, Ed Jones, was held to 3 for 11 shooting for eight points.

Conference USA player-of-the-year candidate and senior guard Jermaine Taylor led the UCF Knights in scoring, posting a double-double for the 53rd time in his career as a Knight. Jermaine put up 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the team. With nine minutes left in the game, Taylor’s highlight was a pass from guard Taylor Young for a dunk that put UCF up by eleven.

Speraw also discussed some of Jermaine Taylor’s improvements, “Jermaine has really taken advantage of that baseline shot, which really shows his development.”

Jermaine enters this season coming off a 646 point season last year, the most by a Knight since the program joined Division I play in 1984. He ranks 12th all time at UCF in career points after the win today.

UCF boasted 44 rebounds, 18 of them being offensive rebounds, resulting in 20 second-chance points.

The Aggies struggled on the boards, collecting only 25, resulting in just 7 second-chance points.

UCF shot 50 percent from the field with much of the success due to shot selection. Coach Speraw commented, “We would like to get open opportunities as close to the basket as possible. But, if there is an opportunity for a 3-pointer, we’ll take that too.”

The North Carolina A&T Aggies, now 1-1, will look to regroup taking on the Talladega Tornadoes at the Corbett Sports Center at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19th.

UCF will be on the road facing the Valparaiso Crusaders Tuesday, November 18th at 7:05 p.m.

The Jermaine Taylor photo is used courtesy of UCF Athletics.