ORLANDO — Jamichael Stillwell turned toward the oncoming student section, bounced off the ground and braced for impact. Something he hoped to experience at least once in a college basketball career was happening before his very eyes.
UCF’s fans stormed the court for the second time in three Januarys at nationally ranked Kansas’ expense.
“I used to look at those on TV,” Stillwell said. “It was really live to be in one of them. It was fun.”
The Knights (12-1) reeled off their 11th consecutive win, opening Big 12 play with an 81-75 upset of the No. 17 Jayhawks (10-4) at Addition Financial Arena on Saturday, Jan. 3. Orlando native Riley Kugel paced three UCF players in double figures with 19 points.
UCF scored its 12th all-time win against a ranked opponent, its 10th during Johnny Dawkins’ decade as head coach.
“We beat a good basketball team, of course — just the tradition, the coaching, the players. Just really proud of our players for playing 40 minutes,” Dawkins said. “They showed a lot of heart throughout the game because Kansas is a team that is terrific. I thought our guys did a great job of sustaining effort on the court. I thought we finished strong at the end of the game when Kansas made a really good run to tie the ballgame up. … Those are things we talked about as a team prior to us going away for Christmas break, how we have to play. And I thought they reflected that today in how we finished the game.”
Kansas mounted a 9-0 rally late in the second half to knot the score, anchored by Melvin Council Jr., who had all 20 of his points after halftime. Jordan Burks gave UCF the lead for good with a crucial 3-pointer from the left corner with 41 seconds to go.
Here are three takeaways from a Quad 1 home win that could well vault UCF into the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll early next week.
Riley Kugel flashes early-season form against Kansas
On March 31, 2024, Kugel committed to play for Bill Self and the Jayhawks as a transfer after a two-year stint at Florida; he later reopened his recruitment and instead signed with Mississippi State. The 6-foot-5 senior guard produced, perhaps, his best game since the opening month of the season against Kansas, though.
He was aggressive early off the dribble and accurate from beyond the arc. He made four of his first five shots from the field, breaking double digits in the game’s opening 14 minutes.
“We were disappointed that it didn’t work out,” Self said. “He’s better with the ball, probably, than what I envisioned him two years ago being. But he’s really talented. He can stretch it, and he can drive past you, too.”
Kugel closed out the game on the fastbreak in the dying seconds. Chris Johnson broke free from the Jayhawks’ full-court press attempt and located Kugel along the left sideline. Rather than wait for the foul, he made a beeline for the rim to score and draw contract from Council.
Tacking on the free throw, Kugel effectively put the score beyond reach — ahead by four with 9 seconds on the clock.
Kansas star Darryn Peterson returns, limited in 2nd half
Projected 2026 NBA lottery pick Darryn Peterson made his anticipated return to the Jayhawks’ lineup, drawing a loud cheer from a surprisingly partisan section of the stands. Taking part in just his fifth game of the season due to a nagging hamstring injury, the freshman set a new career-high scoring in the first half alone.
Peterson had 23 of his 26 points before the break but played just five minutes after it. Self planned for the 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard to miss portions of Saturday’s game but remains hopeful the issue will not linger all year long.
“We — doctors, everybody — wanted him to be on a minutes restriction in the first half. It’s hard to do when (Council)’s got fouls, and Elmarko (Jackson)’s knee is hurting,” Self said. “We didn’t really have anybody to put in there. Obviously, he kept us in there in the first half.
“The second half, I thought he started out fine, and then it started bothering him. We expected for something like that to happen, but we were hoping it would be a situation which I could control a little bit better by minimizing his minutes in the first half. … I think a lot just depends on his legs and how he feels.”
Peterson made 8 of 17 attempts overall, including a 5-for-10 mark from 3-point range.
‘Glue guy’ Devan Cambridge bridges rebounding gap
Kansas maintained a 21-16 edge on the glass at halftime, but veteran swingman Devan Cambridge helped bridge the gap with an impactful second half.
Cambridge, a sixth-year senior who played just six times for Texas Tech in 2024-25 due to injury, had eight points and eight rebounds in 11 minutes after halftime. He came up clutch at the line, hitting 6 of 7 free throws, including the game’s final pair of points with 1.9 seconds left.
“Devan’s our glue guy,” Dawkins said. “We love him. He’s one of our captains, he’s one of our leaders. And he just does whatever you ask him to do out there on the floor, whether it’s as a starter or whether it’s coming off the bench. He’s the same, no matter what. He just provides great energy and really does fit well with whatever group we have on the floor.
“I was happy for him, having sit out last year, that he missed some of these opportunities. I just know how tough that can be as you start to get your sea legs back under you and as you start to get your timing back right. He’s been going through that in the (non-conference), so I’m glad to see him emerge and have a night like he had tonight.”
UCF’s depth, a key reason for its early-season success, showed up again with an 18-5 advantage in bench points. Nine players logged at least 13 minutes on the court.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF basketball upsets No. 17 Kansas, storms court in Orlando
Reporting by Chris Boyle, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
