ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Calvin Newell and Isaiah Sykes scored 24 points apiece as Central Florida capitalized on its advantage at the free-throw line to beat Rice 78-67 Wednesday night in Conference USA action.
Tied at 32 at intermission, the Knights (13-5, 3-1) made 21 of 26 free throws in the second half, compared to 8 of 14 for the Owls.
UCF came out of the break with a 16-7 run, capped by Tristan Spurlock's 3-pointer. After extending the lead to 12 points, the Knights saw Rice climb back to 56-54 with 7:52 left.
The Owls (4-14, 0-4) were still within three points with 5:15 remaining when UCF hit six straight free throws. After Tamir Jackson's three-point play closed the gap to 66-60, Sykes made a layup and Newell a 3-pointer.
Spurlock added 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for UCF, which has won four its last five.
Jackson's 15 points led Rice.
| Scoreboard | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
| Rice (4-14) | 32 | 35 | 67 |
| UCF (13-5) « | 32 | 46 | 78 |
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| Rice Owls | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| S. Gearhart, F | 24 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| T. Jackson, G | 38 | 7-12 | 1-1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| M. Guercy, G | 35 | 3-7 | 2-4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| A. Ramljak, G | 35 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 14 |
| J. DeBose, G | 28 | 5-7 | 3-3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| K. Washington | 19 | 1-5 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| B. Firozgary | 11 | 1-1 | 3-4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| R. Wilson | 6 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| D. Peera | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 24-47 | 9-16 | 21 | 14 | 24 | 67 | |
| 51.1% | 56.3% | ||||||
| UCF Knights | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| T. Spurlock, F | 34 | 5-12 | 3-3 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 14 |
| K. Clanton, F | 32 | 0-3 | 3-7 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| I. Sykes, G | 37 | 7-13 | 9-10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 24 |
| C. Newell, G | 36 | 6-12 | 7-8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 24 |
| D. Walker, G | 23 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| K. Wilson | 25 | 1-2 | 4-5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| M. Williams | 12 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| R. Days | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 21-49 | 27-35 | 38 | 13 | 17 | 78 | |
| 42.9% | 77.1% | ||||||
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