ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jordan Ivy-Curry scored four of his game-high 18 points in the final three minutes as UCF grabbed the lead late and held off Purdue-Fort Wayne 75-68 in a nonconference game on Friday night.
UCF led 34-33 at intermission, but the Mastodons played with the lead for a big portion of the game.
Quinton Morton-Robertson’s jumper to start the second half put Purdue-Fort Wayne in front, where it stayed for all but 20 seconds of the half until Ivy-Curry scored coming out of the official time out with 3:51 left to put the Knights in front. Moustapha Thiam knocked down a jumper a half-minute later to make it 68-64. Morton-Robertson’s layup to halve the deficit with 2:17 left were the last points Purdue-Fort Wayne would score.
Ivy-Curry hit just 5 of 12 shots from the floor and was 0 for 6 from beyond the arc for UCF (2-0), but he was a perfect 8 for 8 from the free-throw line. Keyshawn Hall had a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, and Thiam added 13 points and six boards. The Knights shot 42.4% from the field as a team (25 of 59) but connected on just two of their 20 3-point attempts.
Eric Mulder and Morton-Robertson each scored 11 points to lead Purdue-Fort Wayne (1-1). Jalen Jackson chipped in another 10. The Mastodons were 28 of 65 from the field (43.1%) and were 8 of 29 from distance.
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