Central Florida @ Pennsylvania preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 12, 2016 ) Pennsylvania 58, Central Florida 49

Central Florida and Pennsylvania head west to meet on Thanksgiving in the first round of the three-day Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, Calif. Both schools are coming off their third victories of the season, with the Knights squeaking past Charleston 72-71 and the Quakers pulling off a stunning 81-75 upset at Providence.

The Quakers' triumph was their second this season on the road at a Power 5 conference as they shocked Alabama 81-80 in the opener, the beginning of an up and down succession of games for Penn. "Me, Dev (Devon Goodman) and AJ (Brodeur), the three of us seniors, we've played in that type of environment," senior guard Ryan Betley told reporters after the Providence win. "This is our fourth season doing that, so I don't think that really affects us at all. We're used to it, and it's just a matter of relaying that to our younger guys and keeping them calm and keeping them in the moment." For Betley and friends to put an end to the win-one-lose-one trend, they will need to find a way to close out a UCF team that is battle tested as well, with all three victories coming by just four points or less as the Knights have trailed with 10 minutes left in every game. "We've been challenged like that all year," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins told reporters. "We've been down, but our guys have always found a way to fight their way back into games. They've shown a lot of resilience; they've shown they have big hearts."

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU.

ABOUT UCF (3-1): Different players continue to step up each outing for the new-look Knights and seniors Collin Smith (15.8) and Dazon Ingram (10.3) are the only two averaging double digits for scoring, with Smith topping the team in two games, including 23 in the win over Charleston, and Ingram one. The duo also leads the way in rebounds with Smith totaling 5.5 per game and Ingram 5.0, but the team heads into this matchup ranked 10th in the American Athletic Conference with just 36.5 boards per game. Freshman Darin Green Jr. has also emerged as a major contributor, topping the team in steals with five while sitting third in scoring with 9.5 per game on 36.4 percent shooting from long distance (8-of-22).

ABOUT PENN (3-2): The seniors continue to power the Quakers this season, with Brodeur (18), Betley (13.3) and Goodman (11.6) ranking as three of the team's four double-digit scorers. Freshman Jordan Dingle rounds out the foursome (17.0) after scoring 16 of his 19 points in the second half against Providence, while Betley had a game- and season-high 22 points in addition to eight boards. Brodeur comes off his third straight double-double, notching 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds against Providence as he extended his double-digit scoring to 30 straight games, the fifth-longest streak in school history.

TIP-INS

1. The Quakers and Knights have split their only two meetings, both played at UCF, with Penn winning the last matchup 58-49 in December 2016.

2. Brodeur has 20 assists this season, nearly double the next Quaker as Goodman has 11.

3. The winner of this contest will face the Arizona-Pepperdine victor on Friday while the two losing teams will match up.

PREDICTION: Penn 72, UCF 70