Cincinnati Bearcats vs Central Florida Knights Match Player Stats On Mar 07, 2019

B.J. Taylor scored a game-high 22 points -- including six in the final two minutes -- to propel No. 25 UCF to a 58-55 home victory over No. 20 Cincinnati on Thursday night in Orlando, completing back-to-back wins over the top two teams in the American Athletic Conference.

The Knights (23-6, 13-4 AAC), coming off a victory over league-leading Houston, snapped any hopes the Bearcats (25-5, 14-3) had of a second consecutive AAC regular-season title.

Taylor broke a tie with a layup, and then again with two free throws, all in the final two minutes. After Cane Broome missed a 3-point attempt, Taylor's layup with 17 seconds remaining put the Knights up 57-53. Another deep try by Broome just before the buzzer came up short, sealing UCF's fourth win in a row and seventh in eight games.

UCF center Tacko Fall, who stands 7-foot-6, added 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Cincinnati's Tre Scott scored a team-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The Bearcats' fourth leading scorer, Scott had to compensate for poor outings from Cincy's top three scorers, including Jarron Cumberland, who scored 10 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Eight of those points came in the second half.

Scott also had nine rebounds and three assists for Cincy.

UCF took a 29-21 lead into halftime after pummeling the Bearcats on the boards. The Knights grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Cincy overall, 25-15, before the break.

The Knights used an 8-0 run to open up their biggest lead of the half, 29-19, with 2:04 remaining.

Taylor led a balanced scoring effort for UCF, posting nine points. Fall had six points, while Aubrey Dawkins and Collin Smith each scored five.

UCF shot just 41.9 percent from the floor, but Cincy was worse, hitting just 31 percent of its shots.

Scott scored more than half of Cincy's points, tallying 11 on 5-of-8 shooting, eclipsing his season average of 8.6 points per game in the first 20 minutes. The rest of the team was just 4-for-21, including Cumberland, who finished with just two points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Scott also had five boards and two assists in the half.

Cincinnati closes out the regular season at home against Houston on Sunday. The Knights travel to play Temple on Saturday for its final game before the AAC Tournament.

--Field Level Media