ORLANDO, Fla. — Keyshawn Hall scored 26 points and Darius Garland scored 23 points and UCF held on to beat Kansas State 80-76 on Wednesday night.
Moustapha Thaim just missed the most rare of triple-doubles scoring 11 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking eight shots. It was the second straight win for the Knights (15-13, 6-11 Big 12) following a seven-game losing streak.
Max Jones scored 22 points, reserve C.J. Jones scored 12 points, Brendan Hausen 11 and Dug McDaniel 10 for Kansas State (13-15, 7-10). The Wildcats now have lost four straight following a six-game win streak.
Hausen made a deep 3-pointer and then was fouled getting poked in the eye by UCF's Mikey Williams with 14 seconds to go. Hausen made the free throw to reduce the the Wildcats' deficit to 78-76. Hall sealed it with a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining. Hausen missed a deep 3 attempt on Kansas State's next possession.
Benny Williams' layup with 5:48 remaining put the Knights ahead 69-58 before the Wildcats countered with a 7-0 run over the next 1:30 to draw within 69-65.
UCF led for most of the first half until McDaniel's layup gave the Wildcats a 29-28 lead with 5:51 before halftime. UCF closed the first half with a 10-0 run and led 41-34.
The Wildcats host Colorado on Sunday. UCF travels to TCU on Saturday.
