Dior Johnson pours in 25 points to power UCF over Georgia Southern 84-70
Dior Johnson racked up 25 points and Arturo Dean chipped in with 21 as UCF got past Georgia Southern 84-70 on Friday night
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dior Johnson racked up 25 points and Arturo Dean chipped in with 21 as UCF got past Georgia Southern 84-70 on Friday night.
Johnson had his eighth straight game with 20 or more points, dating back to Feb. 26 when he was at Tarleton State. The junior spent his freshman season at UCF before transferring to Tarleton, then transferred back ahead of this season.
Johnson and Dean were both efficient from the floor, shooting 10-of-17 and 9-of-12, respectively. John Bol grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds as UCF out-boarded Georgia Southern 47-35.
The Knights (4-0) never trailed as Johnson scored the game's first basket 1:10 in. A 6-0 run to close out the first half put UCF up 36-27.
UCF pulled away in the second with a 10-0 run that lasted just 1:15. Dean scored five points during the spurt.
Isaiah Malone added 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting for UCF, and Riley Kugel had six assists along with seven rebounds.
The Eagles (1-3) were paced by Dallas Gardner's 25 points, but he struggled to 7-for-21 shooting. Gardner also had 11 rebounds — five on the offensive end.
UCF leads the series 5-1 since the programs first met in 1982, when UCF was a Division II program. The Knights are undefeated against the Eagles since moving up to Division I in 1984.
Georgia Southern: hosts Middle Tennessee on Tuesday.
UCF: hosts Mississippi State on Tuesday.
___
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full men’s basketball coverage here
Popular Reads
ABC News Live