Darius Johnson had no shortage of personal motivation ahead of Thursday’s College Basketball Crown quarterfinal.
UCF’s next loss will be the final chapter of his four-year career, and its opponent — longtime conference rival Cincinnati — had beaten Johnson and the Knights five straight times, including a 93-83 backbreaker in Orlando two months ago.
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Yet, Johnny Dawkins — the Knights’ head coach and Johnson’s godfather — reminded his team of one extra incentive before tipoff.
“Our coach always tells us that you’re either going to play for two things — pride or money. Right now, our guys are playing for both,” Johnson told FS1 in a postgame interview.
The Knights, thanks to Johnson’s late-game heroics, will cash out of Las Vegas at least $50,000 richer as a team.
Johnson punctuated a pivotal 10-0 run with eight unanswered points in an 82-second span and led all scorers with 31 points on 11-of-23 shooting as UCF eliminated the Bearcats from the inaugural 16-team tournament with an 88-80 victory.
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“Obviously, I’m an older guy, senior guy, and I’ve got to take the ball into my own hands,” Johnson told FS1. “I’ve been in the position with Coach Dawkins before. He trusts me. My teammates trust me. I’ve just got to go out and make plays. That’s what good players do.”
The Knights (19-16) will play in Saturday’s second semifinal, against either Villanova or USC, at 4 p.m. On the other half of the bracket, Nebraska meets Boise State at 1 p.m.
The College Basketball Crown and its corporate partner Vivid Seats will award $300,000 in Name, Image and Likeness prize money to the champion, $100,000 to the runner-up and $50,000 to both the third- and fourth-place teams.
UCF shot 47% from the field, hitting 10 of 30 attempts from 3-point range, and committed just eight turnovers across the 40 minutes. Taylor Hendricks and Nils Machowski, both of whom entered the NCAA transfer portal before the start of the Crown, shined again in expanded minutes with combined totals of 25 points and nine rebounds.
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Moustapha Thiam provided 13 points and five rebounds, Jordan Ivy-Curry scored seven off the bench and Benny Williams chipped in six points and five boards, including a spectacular putback slam.
Day Day Thomas paced Cincinnati with 19 points, sinking five of its 12 field goals from beyond the arc. Tampa native Dillon Mitchell notched a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, tacking on six assists.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: College Basketball Crown: UCF defeats Cincinnati in quarterfinals
