Final Score: UCF 104, Villanova 98 (Overtime)
 
Overview
 
Villanova trailed UCF by 11 points in the second half, staged a fierce rally to regain the lead but ultimately fell in overtime to the Knights. Darius Johnson scored 42 points for the Knights, including a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining in regulation that erased an 88-85 Villanova lead.
 
Wooga Poplar netted a career-high 32 points for the Wildcats to go with 11 rebounds. Eric Dixon nearly led Nova back from the edge in the second half, finishing with 29 points and seven rebounds.
 
"That was a tough way to go down and finish off our season," said Interim Head Coach Mike Nardi. "You've got to give a lot of credit to UCF. They just kept battling. We went up, they hit some tough shots. Darius Johnson is a big-time guard. He really hurt us today as you can see with what he finished with."
 
Knights Struck Early
 
UCF favors a fast tempo, and the Knights got what they wanted early, sinking their first three field goal attempts to grab an 8-3 lead before the contest was three minutes old. The Wildcats clawed back and were within 13-10 when the first official timeout was called at the 15:50 mark of the first half.
 
A Tyler Perkins corner 3-pointer closed the gap to 16-15 but the Knights' offense proved challenging to contain. The Knights went up 23-17 in large part because they were 7-of-12 from the field. But Villanova chipped away and three free throws by Jordan Longino brought Nova to within 23-22 at the 11:41 mark of the first period.
 
A deep Poplar 3-pointer gave the 'Cats a 29-28 lead but the Knights' Dior Johnson came right back to score on a drive to give UCF a 30-29 at the under eight minute official timeout (7:45 on the clock).
 
Free Throws Mattered
 
Both teams were boosted by their work at the charity stripe in the first half. Villanova stayed within striking distance via the line despite UCF's seven 3-pointers over the game's first 16:03. The Wildcats were 14-of-15 at the line in that stretch and the UFC margin was 40-35.
 
UCF was nearly as proficient, sinking 11-of-13 over the first 17 minutes of the period.
 
By the time halftime arrived, the Wildcats were within 48-44 thanks in no small part to their work at the line: 19-of-21. That helped offset a shaky shooting effort (11-of-30, .367, and 3-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc).
 
On the day, Nova was 32-of-37 at the line (.865).
 
Second Act
 
Poplar scored the first two points of the second half but UCF reeled off six straight points to expand its lead to 56-46 after 2:30 of the period.
 
When Dior Johnson dropped in a 3-pointer from the right side at the 15:01 mark, UCF had its largest lead of the afternoon, 64-53. The Johnson triple was the Knight's 12^th in 25 minutes of game action. In fact, UCF duplicated its early first half accuracy, connecting on 7-of-12 over the first 8:26 of the second half. It was the fuel to a 68-60 lead over the Wildcats with 11:34 to play in the second half.
 
Six straight points from Dixon brought Villanova to within 70-66 with 9:09 left on the clock. An Enoch Boakye basket closed the gap to 70-68. But a pair of fouls committed in the act of shooting allowed the Knights to stretch their lead to 74-68. Poplar answered with a triple to cut the margin in half with just under seven minutes on the clock.
 
When Boakye sank two free throws with 5:22 left, Villanova led 75-74. A steal by Dixon led to two more Nova free throws before a Jordan Ivy-Curry 3-pointer tied the game at 77. Perkins than drilled a 3-pointer to put the 'Cats up 80-77. There were just more than three minutes on the clock.
 
Perkins then drilled another trip to push the lead to 83-77.
 
UCF sank a two-pointer on its next possession and a foul call on Longino – his fifth – sent the Knights back to the line with 1:49 to play in the period. Darius Johnson, however, missed the front end of a one and one chance. Tyler Hendricks then made a short jumper for UCF to close the gap to 83-81.
 
Dixon responded with a short jumper to make it 85-81. Moustapha Thiam got UCF to within 85-83 on a basket with 24.2 seconds left. Brickus sank 3-of-4 free throws sandwiched around a UCF basket to make it 88-85 with 12.2 seconds left. Darius Johnson sank a 3-pointer with nine seconds left and Villanova was unable to score on its final possession of regulation.
 
Overtime
 
The Knights scored the first five points of overtime to move out to a 93-88 lead one minute into the period. Dixon answered with a two-point goal but the Knights came right back and added a traditional 3-point play. Perkins scored in transition to narrow the deficit to 96-92 as the clock approached two minutes left in the period.
 
Dixon then scored again and it was a 96-94 UCF edge with 1:55 left. Villanova got back to within 100-98 but would get no closer. The final count was 104-98.
 
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What They Said
 
Nardi on 2024-25: "I told these guys this isn't about me. It's about this program. I was fortunate to be put in the position to coach this team. These guys have been great. They've handled this so well. We had everyone play in this, which says a lot about them individually and us as a team. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of the men that they've become this year. They just kept battling.
 
"No matter what the outside expectations were for these guys this year, I don't really think it's fair to put that on them. I think they got better and they battled to the end. For us at Villanova, that's really who we are. They've handled this the best way possible and I'm really proud of them."