What to know as FSU plays Tulane, UCF plays Tulsa in OB Classic doubleheader Saturday
South Florida fans of the UCF Knights and FSU Seminoles get a chance to see their men’s basketball teams on Saturday afternoon in the Orange Bowl Classic doubleheader at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.
UCF (7-2) plays Tulsa (4-6) in the first game at 2 p.m., followed by FSU (7-3) vs. Tulane (5-6) at approximately 4:30 p.m.
The Knights, under coach Johnny Dawkins, make their third appearance in the Classic. Last time they played the event, in 2022, the Knights nearly beat Missouri, a team that made a run into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
UCF, with a NET ranking of 92 and Ken Pom ranking of 80 is favored over Tulsa (311 NET, 246 Ken Pom).
Senior guard Darius Johnson is averaging 15.4 points and 4.8 assists per game and is a tenacious defender. He had seven steals against California Baptist, tying the most by any Division I player this season. He averages 3.1 steals per game. He is a threat from beyond the arc and went 8 of 10 from three-point range in a 28-point performance against Milwaukee last month.
Jordan Ivy-Curry, a transfer from Texas-San Antonio, is UCF’s leading scorer with 16 points per game. Keyshawn Hall, who played at UNLV and George Mason before joining UCF, is contributing 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Another Knight to watch 7-2 Senegalese center Moustapha Thiam, the first five-star recruit in school history. Thiam was ranked as the No. 1 center in his class and the No. 14 overall recruit according to ESPN before reclassifying.
UCF will face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, who last played the Classic in 2012 against FSU.
The team is led by third-year head coach Eric Konkol, a former University of Miami assistant under Jim Larranaga. Keaston Willis leads the Golden Hurricane with 13.8 points per game and scored 23 in a 70-66 loss to Southern last weekend. Ian Smikle, a 6-9 and 250 pound freshman from West Palm Beach, is another player to watch.
In the second game, FSU fans will get to see the Seminoles in their 14th appearance in the Classic. FSU is 9-4 in OB Classic games.
Leonard Hamilton, the former UM coach, is in his 23rd season as the Seminoles head coach. His team has just four returning players from last year, so the team has been developing chemistry through the first part of the season. Five of their seven wins have been by double digits.
Defense has been Hamilton’s hallmark since his days at Miami, and that has not changed. FSU leads the ACC in steals (100) and blocks (51). The Seminoles have four players with 10 or more steals, led by Chandler Jackson (18) and Jamir Watkins (16), who is averaging 17.7 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Malique Ewin has scored in double figures in seven straight games, including 23 points against NC State in an 84-74 overtime road loss on Dec. 7. Watkins had 24 points in that game, going 16 of 17 from the free-throw line.
FSU has had trouble shooting from distance. In its three losses, the Noles went 7 of 20 vs. Florida, 6 of 19 vs. LSU and 3 of 16 vs. NC State.
Tulane, led by coach Ron Hunter, is in the Classic for the first time. The Green Wave is coming off an 86-58 win against Southern Miss. Players to watch include Kaleb Banks, Rowan Brumbaugh, Kam Williams, and Greg Glenn III, a Pompano Beach native who went to Calvary Christian Academy and played his freshman season at Michigan.
The UCF vs. Tulsa game will be televised on ESPNU and FSU vs. Tulane will be on ACC Network. Tickets are available at orangebowl.org/basketball/