Themus Fulks’ cold-blooded 11-second jumper salvaged a five-point collapse and kept UCF’s home fortress intact, while Cincinnati’s 0-3 Big 12 start is now the league’s worst.
ORLANDO — Themus Fulks arrived Sunday averaging 6.6 assists per game, AP’s national leaderboard shows him 13th in the country. With 11 ticks left and the shot clock off, the pass-first point guard became the finisher, burying a top-of-key jumper that lifted No. 25 UCF past Cincinnati 73-72 and kept the Knights’ home record unblemished at 9-0.
The bucket answered a Baba Miller layup that had given Cincinnati its first lead since 9-8 with 30 seconds remaining. After a timeout, UCF cleared the right side for Fulks, who sized up Miller, took two hard dribbles left and rose for the 15-footer. The buzzer-beating try from Jalen Celestine caromed off the back iron, sending 9,432 at Addition Financial Arena into a midnight-white celebration.
Knights Survive Their Own Collapse
UCF led 71-66 with 2:22 to play, but a Moustapha Thiam hook, two Thiam free throws and Miller’s late layup flipped the scoreboard. The Knights’ offense, which shot 57.7 percent from the floor and 6-of-14 from deep, suddenly looked mortal—turning it over twice and missing three straight threes before Fulks’ heroics.
Riley Kugel topped UCF with 19 points, Jamichael Stillwell added 15 and backup center Jeremy Foumena punished his old team with 12 points and eight boards. Foumena’s plus-9 rating in 18 minutes was the best of any Knight, proof that UCF’s depth—ranked top-20 nationally in bench scoring—can survive off-nights from starters.
Cincinnati’s 0-3 Hole Gets Deeper
The Bearcats entered the Big 12’s brutal waters projected 8th by preseason media; they now sit alone in 16th. Sunday’s loss drops them to 0-3 in league play for the first time since 2010-11, when they were still in the Big East.
- Cincinnati shot 3-of-19 (15.8%) from three, its worst long-range clip since last February’s 2-of-21 clunker at Houston.
- Thiam’s 24 points on 10-of-15 were a career high, but the ex-Knight heard boos every touch and missed two critical free throws that could have stretched the lead to three in the final 20 seconds.
- The Bearcats dominated the glass (38-30) and forced 14 UCF turnovers for 17 points, yet still found a way to lose a one-possession game—Cincinnati’s fifth such defeat this season.
Fulks’ Growth Curve
The 6-1 senior transferred in from Louisiana Tech last spring and immediately upgraded UCF’s tempo. Sunday’s 12-assist, zero-turnover line gives him 87 dimes against 27 turnovers on the season—an elite 3.2-to-1 ratio that ranks top-10 among high-major guards. His willingness to take the final shot signals a maturation coach Johnny Dawkins has preached since October: “We need our point guard to be a shot-maker, not just a shot-creator.”
What It Means Going Forward
UCF (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) now owns road wins at Kansas State and Texas Tech plus a home sweep of the league’s middle tier. NET metrics love the Knights’ 5-2 record vs. Quadrant-1/2 opponents; they’ll enter Wednesday’s trip to Manhattan inside the top-20 of every analytic board. A 5-1 start in Big 12 play is realistic with Iowa State and BYU coming to Orlando next week—an outcome that would lock up an NCAA at-large bid by Valentine’s Day.
Cincinnati (8-8, 0-3) faces a cliff. Wednesday’s visit from Colorado is suddenly a must-win; KenPom projects the Bearcats 2-16 in conference play if they drop to 0-4. The schedule softens slightly in late January (West Virginia, UCF rematch, at Oklahoma), but every remaining opponent knows UC can’t close. Thiam’s emergence is a silver lining, yet Wes Miller’s group ranks 324th nationally in clutch-time offensive efficiency—an indictment of shot-selection and late-game poise.
Looking Ahead
UCF’s next test is a road date at Kansas State on Wednesday, the same Wildcats squad the Knights beat 76-70 in December. A win there would match last year’s conference victory total (3) before January ends. Cincinnati, meanwhile, hosts Colorado desperate to avoid an 0-4 spiral that could crater morale before the meat-grinder stretch of Baylor, Houston and Texas looms.
Big 12 standings flip fast—one buzzer-beater can swing the entire bracket. On Sunday, Themus Fulks proved he’s ready to be the one pulling the trigger.
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