Vanderbilt left Orlando on Saturday night with a resounding win over UCF, but Commodores coach Mark Byington came away impressed with the Knights’ scoring leader.
UCF will attempt to bounce back when it plays host to Florida A&M on Tuesday.
After seeing his Commodores win 105-93 but having to fight off the home side, which cut a 27-point deficit to nine late in the game, Byington praised the play of UCF’s dynamic Riley Kugel. The senior guard previously played for Florida and Mississippi State.
“Riley Kugel is an extremely talented player,” the second-year Vanderbilt coach said. “We know him from the SEC already, so that’s not a surprise. But I think with this system and this style, I mean, he’s going to have a heck of a year, so he causes a lot of problems.”
UCF (1-1) received a game-high 25 points on Saturday from Kugel, who hit 4 of 5 from 3-point distance.
The Knights could not contain the hot Commodores, who shot 55.9% from the floor, including 38.9% (14 of 36) from long range to build the huge advantage.
“I was really proud of our guys’ fight,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins of the comeback bid. “Because when you get down as much as we got down in that game in the second half, adversity can reveal who you are individually and as a team. And I thought our guys showed a lot of grit and fight being down by a large margin in the second half.”
The Rattlers (0-2) have been on the short end of a pair of blowouts — 102-67 at South Florida and 92-72 at home against Kennesaw State.
Coach Charlie Ward said his team needs to be better on both ends of the court, stressing a strong need for better shot-making.
The first-year coach believes playing a Power 4 team such as UCF will only strengthen his squad.
“These teams, they are going to help us (and) sharpen us. The wins are going to come,” Ward said. “We’re playing some high-level competition, and our guys are competing, and that’s going to bode well long term.”
Devere Palmer Jr., who didn’t play in the Rattlers’ season opener, collected 16 points and six rebounds against the Owls. Among players who appeared in both of the team’s contests, Tyler Shirley has a team-best 14-point average. Micah Octave tops the squad with 8.5 boards per game.
