UCF’s new home in 2013 will be in the East Division of the Big East Conference. UCF will join the ranks of the Cincinnati, UCONN, Louisville, Rutgers and rival USF. The Knights football team will play 8 conference games during the season with teams from both the West Division (Boise State, Memphis, Houston, San Diego State, SMU, and Temple) and East Division. The Big East Championship will then be played at the home of the top team. UCF officially joins the Big East in June of 2013.
The UCF Knights (1-0; 0-0 C-USA) went into Tampa last night to take on their rival the USF Bulls (0-1; 0-0 Big East). The Knights handed the Bulls a bloody bashing that ended with an 18-point UCF victory! The Knights also brought about 2,000 fans into Tampa for the game. Here’s the recap of the game from UCF Athletics:
Sykes, who traditionally plays at small forward, shined running the team. He nearly recorded a triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight assists. What a way to start the season for the Knights. Led by an incredible performance at point guard by Isaiah Sykes, UCF opened the campaign with a dominating 74-56 victory at cross-state rival USF Saturday, spoiling the Bulls debut at the renovated Sun Dome. A huge contingent of UCF (1-0) fans were on hand to see the Knights defeat the Bulls, who won a pair of games in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, in Tampa for the first time since 1978. The Knights, who hardly trailed during the evening, shot 50.0 percent overall and finished with a 45-26 edge on the glass. Sykes was one of four UCF players who finished with double digits in scoring. Keith Clanton had 16 points and 16 rebounds. The Knights dominated from the start. UCF led 40-24 at the break after a first half filled with dunks, offensive rebounds and incredible play at the point from Sykes.
The junior had 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and no turnovers in the opening stanza. It was an incredible win for our program and our school, UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. I am very proud of this team. I thought we played a great team (game). We had four guys in double figures tonight and played very unselfishly. The thing I am really proud of is that we played a lot of guys out of position. Isaiah Sykes hasnt played one minute at point guard in his career until tonight. I am very proud of him. UCF shot 45.2 percent in the first half, when it outrebounded the Bulls (0-1) 25-13. The Bulls got within 12 points with 8:28 left in the contest, but the Knights responded with a huge 3-pointer from Kasey Wilson that handed UCF a 59-46 advantage. Sykes did it all for the Knights. In the first half, he found open teammates like Clanton and Sykes for dunks, and scored in a variety of ways. Holding a big lead in the second half, he slowed things down and got to the basket for impressive buckets.
I just stuck to the game plan and focused. Our coaches did a great job in breaking down their film, Sykes said. Our coaches did a good job of preparing our team. UCF limited the hosts to a 36.4 percent shooting performance. Tristan Spurlock totaled 14 points in the winning effort, and Wilson added 13 points and six rebounds. Jawanza Poland led USF with 22 points. UCF and the Bulls will also meet on Jan. 2 in Orlando. The home-and-home series is offering the Knights a preview of the BIG EAST Conference, which the program will join next fall. On Saturday, UCFs banner already hung in the rafters of the Sun Dome among those of the other BIG EAST programs. It was big for us, Clanton said of the win. We knew that they were going to come out with a lot of emotion. Coach told us that we might not shoot it well, but the one thing that we can always control is our hustle.
The Knights will make their 2012-13 home debut on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the UCF Arena against Alabama State. The game is the first of a record 20 home contests this season.
The UCF Knights (8-2; 6-0 C-USA) beat the UTEP Miners (2-8; 1-5 C-USA) last night at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, inching their way up to a Top 25 ranking (the Knights hit #30 in the AP poll today). The Knights struggled a bit offensively and defensively. But in the end, a run from Latavius Murray solidified the Knights’ tough fought victory. The Knights remain atop of Conference USA’s East Division and will undoubtedly host the Conference USA Championship game on December 1st if they can wrap up a win against the Conference’s West Division leader Tulsa (8-2; 6-0 C-USA) on Saturday. That game airs on Fox Sports Network at Noon. Below, take a look at highlights from UCF’s win over UTEP from UTEP’s Point After:
Photo Courtesy Orlando Sentinel.
Former White Tie Affair frontman Chris Wallace has gone solo with a pretty fun and cool pop album entitled Push Rewind. The first single”Remember When” was recently released and has been receiving a lot of radio airplay. Check out the video for the single below. Push Rewind is available nationwide and for digital download from iTunes and Amazon.com from ThinkSay Records.
Seeking revenge for the beat down they received last season in Dallas, the UCF Knights (7-2; 5-0 C-USA) dominated the Mustangs of SMU (4-5; 2-2 C-USA) from start to finish in a Homecoming celebratory game in-front of a crowd of almost 35,000 of UCF’s faithful. The Knights punctuated their game plan with an incredibly effective trick play in which quarterback Blake Bortles through a lateral to receiver (and former quarterback) Jeff Godfrey, who then through the touchdown pass to Latavius Murray. The fans went crazy after the play and the stadium grew more raucous by the minute! The Knights also received 15 votes in both the AP and Coaches’ Poll, indicating that consistent wins over their next two opponents (UTEP this Saturday and Tulsa a week from Saturday) will probably land them in the Top 25 and result in them being a nationally-ranked team. It would also solidify the team as the East Division Champions and secure their home stadium as the site for the Conference USA Championship game on December 1st. Below, check out Conference USA’s Point After for highlights of UCF’s 42-17 win over SMU below:
Photo Courtesy Orlando Sentinel.
The UCF Knights (6-2; 4-0 C-USA) handed a crushing 54-17 defeat to the Thundering Herd of Marshall (3-5; 2-2 C-USA) on Saturday in Huntington, West Virginia. The Knights stifled Marhall’s prolific offense, which ranked #4 in the country prior to Saturday’s matchup and also put a screeching hault to Marshall’s talented quarterback Rakeem Cato, who was #2 in the nation in pass completions and passing yards. Here’s a quick synopsis from Orlando Sentinel‘s Paul Tenorio:
As Latavius Murray caught the screen pass in the third quarter and turned up field, left guard Jordan McCray came across and leveled a Marshall safety, knocking the defender out of the play as Murray coasted 20 yards into the end zone. While Murray and QB Blake Bortles stood out offensively on Saturday night, McCrays block was an example of the play up front that spurred the offense to its best performance of the season. I thought they did some different things that we werent expecting, OLeary said of Marshall. Our offensive line coach, Brent Key, made some adjustments, really didnt take a lot, just a different line call to control some of the movement they were putting on us.
UCF coach George OLeary praised the unit multiple times during his weekly television show on Sunday. The adjustments worked, and the Knights controlled the game the rest of the way. I got to give credit to the offensive line, thats where it starts, Murray said after his second straight standout performance. I think they keep blocking the way they are, there are yards to be made. The offensive line generated a great push against Marshall, and as a result UCF racked up its most impressive numbers this year. The Knights had season-high marks in rushing yards (278), yards per rush (6.9), passing yards (290), yards per pass (13.2), total offense (568) and yards per play (9.2).
The Knights move back to campus this Saturday to celebrate Homecoming by taking on the Mustangs of SMU (4-4; 2-1 C-USA). SMU is a talented team that will most likely give the Knights their biggest remaining challenge before they head into Tulsa (7-1; 4-0 C-USA) on November 7th. Below, take a look at highlights of Saturday’s one-sided victory of Marshall from Conference USA’s Point After:
Picture and Story Highlights Courtesy Orlando Sentinel.
Two walk-on football players were greeted by a pair of police officers with life-changing news this season during a team meeting. Watch the video below as two football players learn they’ve been selected for scholarships for their play on the team. Priceless:
The new musical Kinky Boots, with music and lyrics by pop superstar Cindy Lauper under the direction of Harvey Fierstein, is starting its out-of-town run in Chicago. The show will begin previews on Broadway on March 3, 2013 at the Al Hirschfeld Theater. The show is a light-hearted comedy about a struggling shoemaker who revives his career by designing and manufacturing sturdy shoes for drag performers. Take a look at some clips from the show from Playbill below:
This could get quite interesting. Playbill is reporting that the co-author of Broadway’s smash hit musical Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is authoring a tell-all book about his experience developing the show. The production was plagued during its preview with a handful of actor and stuntmen injuries; and after Julie Taymor refused to alter the strange story of the original bow that was universally panned by critics and left audiences scratching their heads in confusion, she was let go. Of course, Mrs. Taymor didn’t leave quietly and she sued the producers for her work that she claimed remains in the final production that is now in its second year running on Broadway. I’ve seen the show 5 times and can personally attest it is one of my favorites. The music is rockingly cool (it’s written by the lead men of U2), the sets are breath-taking, and the costumes and entire production is downright opulent and incredible! Here’s the story from Playbill.com:
As first reported in the New York Times, “Song of Spider-Man” was acquired by Jonathan Karp, the publisher and executive vice-president of Simon & Schuster, himself librettist and lyricist of the Off-Broadway musical How to Save the World A spokesperson for the publishing company independently confirmed the Berger book plan with Playbill.com, sharing the cover art. The publication date is to be determined.
Berger co-wrote Spider-Man‘s book alongside Tony winner Julie Taymor, who was eventually let go from the production in 2011. Playwright and comic book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa was then enlisted by the musical’s creative team to make revisions to the book alongside Berger.
The UCF Knights (5-2; 3-0 C-USA) bested the Memphis Tigers (1-6; 1-2 C-USA) 35-17 Saturday night at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee in a Conference USA showdown that was nationally broadcasted on College Sports Station. The Knights’ defense took and gave in the win; they forced turnovers at the right times; but they also gave up a large number of yards against the Tigers, who have struggled offensively and have only collected a meager 3.3 yards per carry prior to Saturday’s matchup against UCF. The Knights take on the Thundering Herd of Marshall this Saturday at 8:00pm in Huntington, WV. The game will be nationally broadcasted on CBS Sports Network. Check-out highlights from Saturday’s gridiron clash between UCF and Memphis below:
Conference USA’s Highlights of UCF vs. Memphis
Photo Courtesy Orlando Sentinel
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