UCF men’s basketball is preparing for its upcoming game against VMI on Saturday, following a series of strong performances early in the 2025-26 season.
Senior Jamichael Stillwell made program history by being named to the Big 12 Starting Five, marking the first time a UCF player has earned this weekly league honor. Stillwell recently logged his second double-double of the season in a win over Pittsburgh, contributing 12 points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes. He also recorded UCF’s first double-double of the year against Oakland with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
The Knights secured victories at the Legends Classic held at Daytona Beach’s Ocean Center, defeating Pittsburgh 77–67. The team outperformed Pitt on the boards and shot over 52 percent from the field while limiting their opponent to under 39 percent shooting. Riley Kugel was named MVP of the Legends Classic after scoring 18 points and recording four assists. Themus Fulks also tallied 18 points and matched his career high with three three-pointers. Stillwell added another double-double performance during this tournament.
In another recent game, UCF overcame Quinnipiac with a score of 102-91 at Addition Financial Arena. Five players reached double figures: Jeremy Foumena (18), Kugel (16), Jordan Burks (13), John Boll (13), and Chris Johnson (11). After falling behind by ten points early in the second quarter, UCF responded with a seven-point run and went on to hold Quinnipiac scoreless for nearly seven minutes. Foumena’s consecutive dunks helped secure a lead that UCF maintained through strong defense and rebounding.
Currently, UCF ranks third nationally in three-point shooting percentage at 47.7 percent. Riley Kugel leads the team with sixteen made threes—third-most in the Big 12—and ranks thirty-first in NCAA three-point percentage at 57.1 percent. Carmelo Pacheco follows closely with thirteen threes (fourth in Big 12) and holds a fifty-second ranking nationwide for his three-point accuracy.
Last season, UCF was among national leaders for both attempts and makes from beyond the arc, achieving its highest scoring offense under head coach Johnny Dawkins and setting a program record for made threes during postseason play.
On November 14th, UCF defeated Texas A&M at Reed Arena by twelve points after overcoming an early deficit powered by back-to-back threes from Jordan Burks, who finished with a career-high twenty-one points. In last season’s opener against then-ranked Texas A&M, UCF rallied late to secure one of its eleven all-time ranked wins—nine under Coach Dawkins.
Riley Kugel joined teammates Themus Fulks and Devan Cambridge as members of college basketball’s “1K Point Club” after reaching his thousandth career point against Oakland on November seventeenth—a game where he scored eighteen points for his fifth consecutive double-digit outing.
The Knights demonstrated depth against Florida A&M when twelve different players scored—a feat not seen since January earlier this year—with twenty-four team assists marking their best output since December last year. They hit thirteen three-pointers at sixty-five percent accuracy—their best mark from deep since December two years ago when attempting twenty or more shots from distance.
UCF opened its current campaign with an eighty-two to seventy-eight victory over Hofstra on November third, improving Coach Dawkins’ home opener record to nine wins in ten seasons leading the Knights. Themus Fulks directed playmaking duties while adding sixteen points; Jordan Burks contributed seventeen along with key defensive plays; Riley Kugel posted nineteen points including five first-half triples—a personal best.
This season has seen significant contributions from new arrivals as well: ten newcomers debuted during opening night against Hofstra, with several delivering career-best performances including Kugel’s five threes, Burks’ seventeen points and seven rebounds, and John Bol’s seven-point showing.
As they look ahead to Saturday’s matchup versus VMI, the Knights aim to continue building momentum based on balanced scoring, perimeter efficiency, and strong defensive efforts established throughout their opening stretch.
