The University of Central Florida basketball team lost to Texas Christian 68-53 in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

UCF's exciting postseason run ended Tuesday night as the Knights failed to match the energy and the execution of TCU. The Horned Frogs defense suffocated the Knights, holding them to 24 points in the final 24 minutes.

“I think at times when we got down, I felt we were rushing, trying to make it all back on one shot and this is one of the first times in probably a good stretch for us where I felt like we were frantic, like we were getting sped up,” said Knights' coach Johnny Dawkins, with a 24-12 in the first season as UCF head coach.

“They played with a lot of energy and played with a lot of effort in that second half and we just didn’t make the shots that we normally make,” said B.J. Taylor, the Knights' sophomore guard. “Moving forward, we don’t want this feeling and we need to do everything we possibly can to avoid it so we can end the season with a win.”

“We had a pretty good lead and they were cutting it on effort plays, offensive rebounds, maybe we missed a blockout or missed a rotation and they really capitalized on that,” Dawkins said.

This season ends with a loss, but UCF’s program took a big step forward. The Knights won 24 games, tied for the third most in program history. It’s now up to the returning players to attempt to build on this year’s success.