NCAAB Game Preview - UCF at Wichita State

Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:00 PM EST

The hot streak No. 17 Wichita State had been on since mid-December came to an abrupt end last week. The Shockers dropped consecutive conference games to SMU and Houston.

The Shockers look to regroup on Thursday, when Central Florida visits Charles Koch Arena for a showdown between two teams in need of an American Athletic Conference win.

Wichita State responded to a loss to Oklahoma on Dec. 16 with seven straight wins. During the streak, junior forward Markis McDuffie, last season's leading scorer, returned from an injury that kept him out the first month of the season.

And with McDuffie working his way back into the rotation, the Shockers played some of their best basketball of the season, climbing all the way to No. 5 in the AP Top 25.

That momentum ended last week, though.

Wichita State (15-4, 5-2 in the AAC) lost to hot-shooting SMU at home and followed that up with an offensive stinker in a 73-59 loss at Houston on Saturday.

Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said he gave his team Sunday off and was pleased with what he saw from his team leading up to Thursday's game.

"We had a good practice, good video session," Marshall told reporters on Tuesday. "We got after it pretty hard for about an hour and a half."

UCF (13-6, 4-3 AAC) is coming off a hard-fought win at South Florida, but has lost two of three overall and got bad injury news this week. Tacko Fall, the Knights' 7-foot-6 junior center, has been ruled out for the season following shoulder surgery.

In their first game without Fall, UCF was able to squeak out a 71-69 win over South Florida.

"With the injuries, we needed guys to step up and be a little bit better, and I think everyone was," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game, per the Orlando Sentinel.

B.J. Taylor had 25 points to lead to lead the Knights in only his second game back since missing two months because of a foot injury. Taylor was injured in the season-opener.

Taylor led UCF in scoring last season, averaging 17.6 points per game.

"Very good player," Marshall said of Taylor. "The guy makes plays; makes shots. We're seeing more and more teams that have guys that do that on a consistent basis at a very high level, and he is one of those guys."

This will be the first ever meeting between UCF and Wichita State, which is in its first season in the American Athletic Conference after 72 years competing in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Shockers won their first five AAC games before stumbling against SMU and Houston.

The back-to-back losses sent the Shockers plummeting down the rankings to No. 17 and their coach talking about toughness in Tuesday's press conference.

"Be more aggressive," Marshall said. "Be on the floor for loose balls, fight harder on the glass, fight harder when you are cutting and not letting people bump you off your cuts. There's a variety of ways."