Jan. 21, 2010
By Isaac Babcock
The Voice
After starting conference play in the win column, the Knights can now count two big losses on their record, bringing them to 1-2 in the Conference USA standings.
Last week didn't treat the Knights (9-8, 1-2) well, at home or on the road. They hosted Marshall (14-2, 3-0) Jan. 13 in front of the second largest crowd in team history.
The Knights exploded out of the gate, outscoring the Thundering Herd 44-35 in the first half, confusing a Marshall team that'd proven dominant so far in the season.
But at halftime, something fell apart with the Knights. Emerging from the locker room, they'd shot 58.1 percent so far in the game. In the second half, that plummeted to 37.1 percent. Only 20 percent of 3-pointers fell when in the first period more than half had found the basket.
"We've got to be more consistent from beginning to end," Coach Kirk Speraw said after the game.
The Knights' scoring collapse was met by the Herd's consistency that saw them overtake early in the half and put on the afterburners from there.
Along the way, Marcus Jordan's high-energy heroics weren't enough to boost his team. He shot a career-high 19 points in the contest, leading his team with relentless drives under the basket. From the outside he proved equally dangerous, nailing all three attempts from outside the arc. He also picked up five rebounds, four assists and two steals in the game.
On Jan. 16 the Knights traveled to Tulsa and received a beating from the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa would launch into an opening scoring tirade that would stretch to 40-20 by the end of the half.
Tulsa (14-3, 4-0) would continue to hold that lead for the rest of the game as the Knights struggled to keep up, eventually falling 90-70.
The Knights were at Houston during press time Wednesday, but they'll return home at 5 p.m. on Saturday to host UTEP (11-5, 2-1). The last time the Knights played the Miners last February, UCF lost 73-68.
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