Duke Legend Orchestrates Statement Upset Victory at Home

Originally posted on FanNation Blue Devil Country
By Matt Giles | Last updated 1/11/24

Former legendary Duke basketball guard and longtime Blue Devil assistant Johnny Dawkins, now in his eighth season as head coach at UCF, desperately needed a big-time victory. Well, he got one on Wednesday night, as his unranked Knights (10-4, 1-1 Big 12) picked up a 65-60 home win over third-ranked Kansas (13-2, 1-1 Big 12).

It marked UCF's first win over a ranked opponent since Dawkins guided the Knights to a victory over Florida State in 2020. And it was only the second win in program history over a squad ranked in the top five (the first came against UConn in 2011; now 2-11 in such matchups).

Naturally, the UCF faithful stormed the court afterward.

The Knights, notching the first win on their inaugural Big 12 slate, are one of four squads to defeat a top-five team this week. As one can see in the posted video below, perhaps none of those other head coaches exhibited more exuberance from pulling off an upset than Dawkins:

Two weeks ago, Burner Ball college hoops insider "Trilly Donovan" noted that Dawkins sat on the hot seat at UCF, as the school hasn't returned to the NCAA Tournament since falling to Mike Krzyzewski's 2018-19 Duke basketball team in the Round of 32.

On Saturday, the Knights fell at unranked Kansas State, 77-52, in their Big 12 opener.

Now, Dawkins and his inspired bunch look to build off their impressive performance when they host No. 18 BYU (12-3, 0-2 Big 12) at 4 p.m. ET Saturday.

Johnny Dawkins, whose 2,556 points in college (1982-86) trail only JJ Redick among all-time Blue Devils, is now 297-206 overall as a head coach between his eight seasons at Stanford and ongoing tenure at UCF (141-91).

This article first appeared on FanNation Blue Devil Country and was syndicated with permission.

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