Central Florida cranks up the heat in hoops win over Redmen
(Freshman point-guard Vincent Dufour goes up against Marcus Jordan, the 20-year-old son of NBA hall-of-famer Michael Jordan. PHOTO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)
MONTREAL -- Sophomores Tristan Renaud-Tremblay and Simon Bibeau scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, for the McGill Redmen but five players reached double figures in scoring for visiting University of Central Florida as the Knights registered an easy 100-58 victory in preseason men's college basketball at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.
Junior Keith Clanton of Orlando, Fla., combined with seniors P.J. Gaynor of Jacksonville and Dwight McCombs of Chicago to tally 16 points apiece for UCF. Teammates Isaiah Sykes added 14 and Rod Davis had 13, while Marcus Jordan, the 20-year-old son of NBA hall-of-famer Michael Jordan, contributed nine.
UCF, a Division 1 school that plays in the NCAA's Conference-USA, swept their three-game tour of eastern Canada, including an 88-66 victory over a collegiate all-star squad at Champlain College in St. Lambert on Wednesday and a 93-84 victory over the Carleton Ravens in Ottawa, Friday.
The Knights led McGill from start to finish, including a 26-9 margin after the opening quarter, a 53-22 advantage at the half and a 72-44 edge after three stanzas. UCF had a 41-27 margin in rebounds, a 14-6 edge in steals and a 22-14 advantage in turnovers. They went to the foul-line 40 times, compared to 14 by McGill.
"Maybe it was a little unfair having our young kids play a team of this calibre early in the season but it's part of the growing process," said Dave DeAveiro, in his second season as head coach of the Redmen. "You got to go through some failure to be successful and so we take it as a learning tool. It's just a part of the process. You don't win a championship on August 13 playing against Central Florida."
Renaud-Tremblay, who came off the bench to play 20 minutes, was McGill's most consistent performer. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound junior forward from Montreal shot 9-for-9 from the floor and went 1-for-4 from the foul-line. He added three rebounds and one steal.
"Tristan did today what he needs to do... keep it real simple," said DeAveiro. "When he tries to do too much, he gets in trouble. When he keeps it real simple, he does well like he did today."
Bibeau, a sophomore point-guard from St. Bruno, Que., made five of nine shots, including a 4-for-4 effort from three-point range. He made both foul shots and pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
UCF shot 55 per cent from the floor, 50% from the arc and 55% from the free-throw line, while McGill shot 39%, 50% and 64%, respectively.
"We wanted to be able to work on our press up here and I was pleased with the effort we gave defensively," UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. "Our guys played hard the whole trip and hopefully this will give us an edge once the season starts in October."
The Redmen, which lost 90-66 to Illinois State on Friday, dropped to 0-2 in preseason play. They will take on the visiting University of Akron Zips at Love Competition Hall on Sunday at 4 p.m.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012
