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Western Illinois University Athletics

WIU at UCF
WIU Athletics
37
Western Ill. WIU 2-2,0-0 Summit League
70
Winner UCF UCF 2-1,0-0 AAC
Western Ill. WIU
2-2,0-0 Summit League
37
Final
70
UCF UCF
2-1,0-0 AAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Ill. WIU 18 19 37
UCF UCF 37 33 70

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | WIU Athletic Communications

WIU falls at Central Florida

Leathernecks with week off before visiting UT-RGV

ORLAND, Fla. – Playing their fourth game in a week, the Western Illinois men's basketball team was able to hang around with Central Florida early in Monday's meeting in Orlando. But, a 21-4 UCF run over the final 11 minutes, 14 seconds of the first half led to a 70-37 Knight victory that dropped WIU to 2-2 this season.
 
The Leathernecks trailed 16-14 after a three-pointer by Steph Gabriel (six points) but UCF would go on an extended run to break open the game and pull away from Western Illinois.
 
Jesiah West led the scoring for the Leathernecks, finishing with a team-high 12 points. KJ Lee, starting in place of the injured Trenton Massner, added 10 points. Lee and West each finished with seven rebounds while Quinlan Bennett had a squad-high 10 boards. Vuk Stevanic chipped in with six points.
 
The Leathernecks struggled against the pressure defense of UCF, going 15-54 (27.4 percent) from the field and 2-21 (9.5 percent) from three. Western Illinois did do a good job on the offensive glass, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds which led to 15 second-chance points.
 
UCF's depth and physicality were the difference though as the Knights had 39 bench points and 38 points in the paint. UCF also turned 18 Leatherneck turnovers into 22 points.

UCF took a 37-18 lead into half and kept up the pace, extending the advantage to as large as 34 late in the second half. 
 
Western Illinois now has a week off before hitting the road to take on Texas-Rio Grande Valley next Monday at 5 p.m.
 
 
 
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