If Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco, Darius Johnson left his in Las Vegas.
UCF’s senior point guard scored 73 points to help the Knights advance to Sunday’s College Basketball Crown Tournament championship game. That included a career-high 42 points in a thrilling 104-98 overtime win over Villanova in Saturday’s semifinals.
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Nothing was going to keep him from trying to lead UCF to its first postseason title, nothing except a nagging hamstring injury.
Johnson looked the shell of his former self, going 1 for 11 from the floor with just 4 points in 20 minutes.
Without Johnson, UCF struggled to find much offense, particularly in the second half and the Knights ran out of gas, losing to Nebraska 77-66.
Jordan Ivy-Curry scored a season-high 29 points and Nils Machowski added 13.
The Huskers used a 23-3 run midway through the second half to erase a double-digit deficit and take command of the game with seven minutes remaining.
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Connor Essegian and Brice Williams scored 21 points to lead three Nebraska players in double figures, with Juwan Gary adding 20.
Nebraska took the lead at 8-5 with 15:41 remaining and continued to extend their advantage over the next five minutes, fueled by Brice Williams’ impressive 11-point performance. The Huskers reached their largest lead at 23-11 but went scoreless from the field in the final five minutes of the half. During that stretch, the Knights mounted a 24-12 run, tying the game at 35 by halftime.
Johnson managed only 2 points from a pair of free throws, finishing the half 0 for 4 from the field in 11 minutes of play.
UCF opened the second half with a 14-0 run, giving the Knights their largest lead at 49-35, but Nebraska (21-14, 7-13 Big Ten) went on its impressive 23-3 run, retaking the lead and never looking back.
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UCF (20-17, 7-13 Big 12) ended its season just short of claiming its first postseason title.
This postseason run was even more impressive because the Knights were without their top scorer, Keyshawn Hall. Hall led the Big 12 in scoring with an average of 18.8 points per game. Hall was one of eight players to enter the transfer portal after the window opened on March 24.
Two transfer players — Tyler Hendricks and Machowski — returned to action despite being in the portal.
The win guarantees the Huskers a $300,000 payday as part of an NIL ambassadorship program, with UCF earning $100,000 as the runner-up.
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
