ORLANDO – Tarleton State Men's Basketball proved to be a tall task for UCF, but the Knights were able to come away with the victory, 66-51, on Sunday afternoon at the Addition Financial Center.
 
The Texans (3-8) proved to be more than an easy victory on the Knights (7-2) schedule. The Texans led the majority of the first half and were up by five with six minutes to go in the half. In the second half, the Purple and White cut the deficit to three in the final ten minutes of the contest.
 
Bubu Benjamin led the team in scoring for the seventh time this season. He posted 13 points, his 10^th double-digit scoring total in 11 games. Benjamin shot a perfect three-for-three from downtown, all coming in the second half.
 
Chris Mpaka nearly picked up his second double-double of the year, falling just a rebound shy. The junior college transfer tallied 11 points along with nine boards and a block.
 
Izzy Miles posted a defensive effort recording the most steals this season by a Texan, eight. The sophomore also added nine points. In his second game back from injury, freshman Keitenn Bristow registered eight points and seven boards. The Wichita Falls, Texas, native also notched a pair of blocks.
 
The Texans controlled the majority of the first half, forcing the Knights to miss 24 of their first 26 shots. Mpaka tied the game at two on a sweet driving layup through the lane. Trailing 7-4, the visitors took the lead for the first time on an 8-0 run. Bristow cut the deficit to one with a layup to start the outburst. Miles followed up a trio of three-point misses by the Knights with a made layup to give the Texans an 8-7 advantage with 11:47 remaining in the contest.
 
Tarleton built the lead up to five, 12-7 with back-to-back buckets by Benjamin and Mpaka. UCF cut into the lead with four straight points to trail 12-11 with 7:34 to go. Miles scored his sixth point of the half to put the Texans back up, 14-11.
 
The Purple and White traded baskets with the Knights to lead with six minutes to go, 17-13. In the final six minutes, the rim seemed to have opened for UCF.  The Knights broke out on a 10-0 run to retake the lead with five minutes left in the first half.
 
UCF closed the first half on a 6-3 run to lead by eight at the break, 29-21. In the first half, the Texans tied in the rebound battle, 23-23 with a 17-13 advantage on the defensive glass. Most of the Texan offense was run down low in the first 20 minutes with 16 of their 21 points coming in the paint.
 
The Knights hit back-to-back triples in the beginning of the second half to break out to a 12-point lead, 35-23. UCF opened the half on an 11-3 run to take a commanding lead, 40-24 just three minutes into the second half.
 
But, the Texans weren't done yet. Trailing by 16, the Purple and White cut into the lead over the next seven minutes. Tarleton used a hot shooting streak to respond on a 14-2 run and cut the deficit to just four at the midpoint of the half. The first five buckets of the run came from each of the five on the floor. Ronnie Harrison Jr. and Jordan Mizell each contributed four points each during the run. Bristow, Mpaka and Nick Krass each contributed a bucket.
 
After the Texans brought the score within four, the Knights responded with a pair of made free throws. Benjamin brought the Texans even closer with his first made triple of the afternoon. With the Texans inching closer, the Knights broke out on a 7-0 run in a span of 54 seconds to enlarge the lead back to 10.
 
Benjamin traded a pair of triples back-and-forth to keep the lead at 10 in the final four minutes of the contest. The Texans were unable to cut the deficit down to under 10 in the final four minutes of the game. Ultimately, the Knights won the second meeting between the two programs, 66-51.
 
UCF led the battle of the boards, 37-35 and forced more turnovers, 23-17. After UCF's abysmal first half shooting performance the Purple and White outshot the Knights from the floor. The Texans shot 22-for-53, a 41.5 clip compared to the Knights shooting 35.8 percent (19-of-53). Tarleton shot 42.9 percent from deep and held the Knights to just 29.0 percent from three-point land. UCF only made nine of their 31 attempts from beyond the arc.
 
Tarleton State will have eight days before its next contest. The Texans will continue their final non-conference road trip of the season with a pair of contests at UTEP and Oklahoma State on Dec.16 and Dec. 18.