UCF eliminates Utah from Big 12 Tournament with 2nd half blitz

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For Utah basketball, it was a new conference but similar result.

Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 15 points, including three of UCF's 10 3-pointers, and the Knights stormed out of halftime with a 22-3 barrage en route to eliminating Utah with an 87-72 loss in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament Tuesday night at the T-Mobile Center.

Darius Johnson added 20 points and five assists, and Keyshawn Hall 23 points and five assists for UCF, the No. 14 seed that advanced to face No. 6 Kansas in Wednesday's second round.

Keanu Dawes poured in a career-high 21 points and 15 rebounds — plus two assists and two steals, but who's counting? — for his fifth double-double in a Utah uniform.

Gabe Madsen, an All-Big 12 honorable mention honoree, added 10 points and four rebounds, and Lawson Lovering scored 11 points with five rebounds, as the Runnin' Utes (16-16) outscored the Knights 42-26 in the paint with a 40-35 advantage on the glass.

But UCF (23-8) shot 71.4% from the field after halftime and canned 10-of-24 3-point attempts in a dominant second-half performance.

"I thought we had a great start to the game and a real sense of urgency early," Utah interim head coach Josh Eilert said. "But the way we shot the ball tonight, you know, 4-for-26 from three, and in a lot of ways that's our identity and the shots didn't fall.

"Consequently, on the other end it seemed like they were throwing it in the ocean. Congrats to them. They made a lot of plays and a lot of runs, especially early in that second half, that we couldn't counter on."

Eilert, whose future with the program is up in the air since the Utes hired former great Alex Jensen as the 17th head coach in program history, said a decision whether to continue the season is yet to be determined. The Utes may be eligible for a spot in the inaugural College Basketball Crown that will send at least two Big 12 teams to Las Vegas as part of a 16-team, single-site tournament sponsored by Fox Sports.

Utah Utes guard Gabe Madsen (55) dribbles the ball down the court during a first round game of the Big 12 Championship between the Utah Utes and the UCF Knights at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Photo: Brice Tucker, Deseret News)

And for several seniors like Madsen, that may be an intriguing possibility.

"If we can keep playing I would love to keep doing that, but we're not going to force anybody to keep playing," Madsen said.

"Just kinda hard, you know, you want that closure, you want to know if it's the last one. It's just been — like you said it's been an interesting final few weeks to the season. Just tried to enjoy it and obviously I — I've had quite an up-and-down year the whole year. … I love this group a lot and if that was the last one, then, you know, it will go down as one of my favorite groups."

Lovering had 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting, and the Runnin' Utes used a massive 19-2 run to lead by as much as 12 midway through the first half.

Dawes added 8 points and 10 rebounds in the first half of his first start since transferring from Rice, and Utah outrebounded UCF 24-13, including eight offensive boards, that led to 12 second-chance points.

The Utes made up for an 0-for-9 start from 3-point range by converting six of their first seven makes near the rim, either on dunks or layups, and eventually outscoring the Knights 26-4 in the paint.

But the big lead didn't last. UCF missed seven of its first eight 3-pointers, but rallied to connect on six of the next 10, including Hall's buzzer beater to pull within one, 40-39, at the break.

"It was a big shot going into the half. Definitely a bucket well needed," Johnson said. "We got down early, but as the team got our feet wet we started to find our groove a little bit more.

"We just started chipping the lead, possession by possession," he added. "I think we cut it to one going into the half, which was big; gave us confidence coming out for the second half."

Ivy-Curry and Hall were cooking, too.

Ivy-Curry, a fifth-year senior from La Marque, Texas, by way of UTSA and Pacific shot 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from the perimeter as the Knights opened the second half on a 22-3 run to lead by as much as 20.

Miro Little's 3-pointer midway through the second half briefly pulled the Utes within single digits — 9 points, that is — with a 7-0 spurt with 9:06 remaining.

Hall shot an efficient 5-of-10 from the field, and drained 9-of-10 free throws for his 20.

But the higher seed could get no closer in its fifth loss in the final six games that included a 76-72 road setback to UCF the day before former coach Craig Smith was fired.