The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

[superjames1992]

WVU isn't very good this year, it seems.

Congratulations on the 11-1 start.

[doncoryell]

Wow! That's not bad. 7 of 9 teams from WAC are in the Mid-Major top 25.

[Deuce2223]

Quote: Originally Posted by doncoryell

Wow! That's not bad. 7 of 9 teams from WAC are in the Mid-Major top 25.

I love it. Boise State 11-2 and Gonzaga 11-4

[nolan887]

Quote: Originally Posted by superjames1992

WVU isn't very good this year, it seems. Congratulations on the 11-1 start.

I think they are better than what they seemed in their game against me. As you know I like to send the ball down low so their big men were in some foul trouble and it happens to be this year that their three leading scorers are their PF, C and backup C. The Big East is like a revolving door with who's good so I'm sure their be on top again within the next few seasons.

Quote: Originally Posted by doncoryell

Wow! That's not bad. 7 of 9 teams from WAC are in the Mid-Major top 25.

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

I love it. Boise State 11-2 and Gonzaga 11-4

Definitely interesting to see but now they get to beat the crap out of each other for the rest of the season and knock each other off of the top 25 haha.

[nolan887]

KNIGHTS PUSH WINNING STREAK TO 10, OPEN CONFERENCE PLAY STRONG

UCF Knights 12-1 (1-0) at ECU Pirates 8-6 (0-1)

Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum

Greenville, NC

January 7, 2014

Greenville, NC - The UCF Knights absolutely dismantled the ECU Pirates tonight. The game was out of hand from the start as UCF went up 15-0 in the first two minutes and went into halftime shooting 66% from the floor and a 30 point lead with the score 54-24. Three Knights players had double figures in the scoring column in Bone, Shannon, and Boyce. The Knights' press baffled the Pirates forcing 12 first half turnovers while UCF committed 0. The Knights would slow their offense down in the second half in an attempt to keep the big lead and it worked. ECU was fired up after halftime, but could only cut the lead to 15 by the time the final buzzer sounded. Pearson Shannon had a game high 20 points and the Knights defense held every ECU starter under 10 points.

"We kind of cashed it in during the second half which really got to me, but we did come out on top," Coach Nolan commented. "It is definitely nice to come out with a win in our first conference game especially in this hostile Greenville environment. They eat, breathe, and sleep basketball around here. We did a great job all around of staying out of foul trouble and not turning the ball over. Even the bench players were doing pretty well in those regards. I would really like to see our players play harder even with a big lead and that is something we will be working on this season. Games are 40 minutes long, and when you don't give 40 minutes of effort, you don't deserve the win."

Next up on slate for the Knights are the Rice Owls. Rice is 6-4 on the season, 1-1 in C-USA play thus far. They have a fairly inexperienced lineup with only one starting senior, but are coming off of a big win against Memphis. The Owls play team basketball on offense and have no players averaging double figures, so the Knights will have to play great defense on everyone on the court. Coming back to Orlando on a ten game win streak, the Knights will hope to keep their fans happy with another home victory.

Central Florida (12-1) at East Carolina (8-6)
January 7, 2015 1 2 F Central Florida 54 16 70 East Carolina 24 31 55 Top Performers Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 20 Pts, 2 Reb, 1 Stl Michael Boye - 12 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Stl East Carolina - Stats Jakob Cooley - 14 Pts, 5 Reb, 2 Stl Alfred Jegdic - 9 Pts, 3 Reb, 7 Ast, 1 Stl	Team Stat Comparison UCF ECU FG Made-Attempted 22-47 22-55 3P Made-Attempted 4-10 8-17 FT Made-Attempted 22-29 3-4 Rebounds 23 30 Assists 14 15 Steals 12 4 Blocks 1 1 Turnovers 6 16

[nolan887]

KNIGHTS WIN DESPITE EMBARRASSING FIRST HALF

UCF Knights 13-1 (2-0) vs Rice Owls 6-5 (1-2)

UCF Arena

Orlando, FL

January 14, 2014

Orlando, FL - Coach Nolan must have gave one heck of a halftime speech because his Knights did not show up to play for the first 20 minutes of tonight's game. The UCF defense that we have heard so much about was nowhere to be found and none of the Knights players could hit a shot to save their life. Shooting 20% going into the half, it looked like the Knights would disappoint their first sellout crowd in over three years. The second half was a complete different story as J.J. Bone pumped up the players and fans by hitting a 3 pointer on the inbound pass to start the half. J.J. Bone would go on to hit 3 of his 4 3pt shots to end the game with 11 points. Pearson Shannon had 4 first half points, but really got going in the second half, ending the night with a game high 20. The Owls were deadly from 3 and their starting SG and SF were 3-6 and 2-6 respectively from deep. Although the Knights won by nine points, the game was much closer than it looked. The Knights ended the game on a 20-5 run in their come-from-behind victory.

"Great to see the players respond in the second half like that after an absolutely terrible first half," Nolan commented. "The second half last week and the first half this week were absolute garbage, and I was sure to let my players know that during halftime. J.J. [Bone] really got hot again tonight and fired our players up with that three to start off the second half. They kept leaving Gilbert open when they switched to their 2-3 and he can hit that shot when hes open as he showed with his three three-pointers. Were hoping to play better than this on Saturday at UTEP. If we play like we did today we can kiss the conference title goodbye, but with wins over great teams this season, I think we just had little bump in the road."

The Knight's next game is in El Paso against a solid UTEP team. The Miners are 8-7 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. UTEP has won six of their last seven games and hope to get any of their four starting seniors going to gain their first conference home win. Last home game for UTEP was a seventeen point loss to the Houston Cougars, the number one team in the conference. With a fast paced offense and stellar big man play, this game looks to be an even match and an offensive shootout.

Rice (6-5) at Central Florida (13-1)
January 14, 2015 1 2 F Rice 35 24 59 Central Florida 25 43 68 Top Performers Rice - Stats Wesley Aguiilar - 13 Pts (3-6 3pt), 4 Ast, 2 Stl Fabien Haigler - 10 Pts (2-6 3pt), 1 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 20 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Blk J.J. Bone - 11 Pts (3-4 3pt), 2 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Stl	Team Stat Comparison Rice UCF FG Made-Attempted 21-53 22-47 3P Made-Attempted 7-17 8-13 FT Made-Attempted 10-13 16-26 Rebounds 23 32 Assists 17 15 Steals 5 7 Blocks 6 2 Turnovers 8 7

[nolan887]

UTEP CLOSES OUT UCF, SNAPS 11 GAME WIN STREAK

UCF Knights 13-1 (2-1) vs UTEP Miners 9-7 (3-1)

Don Haskins Center

El Paso, TX

January 17, 2014

El Paso, TX -When Pearson Shannon or Michael Boyce get off to a slow start, the other one usually picks up the slack. When both get off to a slow start, the UCF Knights are in big trouble. Both Shannon and Boyce were cold for the first ten minutes of the game today, and the Knights couldn't get anything going on the offensive or defensive side of the floor for most of the first half. UTEP big man Lou Clemmons was a monster on both ends of the floor and took advantage of sloppy UCF post play cleaning up with 22 points and 9 rebounds on the day. Bone and Shannon got going in the second half for the Knights, but it was too little too late as the Miners would not give up the lead in the second half. Shannon ended the night with 30 points, the game high as usual.

"I don't know whats gotten into us," Coach Nolan commented. "This is two games in a row now that we looked like **** in the first half. If we go into halftime down seven points it sure as hell is tough to get back into the game. We really need to step it up on both ends of the floor and I am already feeling sorry for UAB for what we are about to do to them."

Next up for UCF are the UAB Blazers. The Blazers are currently in 11th place in C-USA with a conference record of 0-3 and an overall record of 3-9. The Blazers come into Orlando on an eight game losing streak and the Knights will hope to capitalize with a big win. UAB is led by senior center Rick Cannon who averages 16 points and 8 rebounds per game. It will be interesting to see if Nolan has enough faith in his freshman Mike Boyce to match up with him or if he will let senior Shannon Pearson try to lock him down. Something of interest headed into the game next week is that Coach Nolan has never lost back to back games as head coach at UCF during his two year tenure. If the fans are lucky, they will be in for a game of redemption come Wednesday night.

Central Florida (13-2) at Texas-El Paso (9-7)
January 17, 2015 1 2 F Central Florida 27 38 65 Texas-El Paso 34 37 71 Top Performers Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 30 Pts, 2 Reb, 4 St, 2 Blk J.J. Bone - 14 Pts, 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl Texas-El Paso - Stats Lou Clemmons - 22 Pts, 9 Reb, 3 Blk Kordel Bruce - 11 Pts, 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl	Team Stat Comparison UCF UTEP FG Made-Attempted 24-58 24-56 3P Made-Attempted 3-11 2-11 FT Made-Attempted 14-26 21-22 Rebounds 29 29 Assists 10 20 Steals 11 10 Blocks 6 4 Turnovers 11 15

[nolan887]

NOTE: to anyone following, don't watch Glory Road while playing UTEP... really bad idea.