UCF beats Villanova 104-98 in OT, will play Nebraska for College Basketball Crown championship

By Canadian Press on April 5, 2025.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Senior Darius Johnson scored 10 of his career-high 42 points in overtime to lead UCF to a 104-98 victory over Villanova on Saturday in a College Basketball Crown semifinal.

The Knights (20-16) will play Nebraska in the championship game on Sunday. The Cornhuskers (20-14) beat Boise State 79-69 in an earlier semifinal.

Johnson also had seven assists and five rebounds for UCF. Jordan Ivy-Curry hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 with seven rebounds. Deebo Coleman hit three 3-pointers and scored 13.

Wooga Poplar led the Wildcats (21-15) with 32 points and 11 rebounds. Eric Dixon added 29 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Perkins pitched in with 18 points and six rebounds.

Johnson scored 13 second-half points and hit the game-tying 3-pointer with eight seconds left in the second half to send the game to overtime. Johnson shot 2 of 3 from the floor and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line in the 5-minute OT.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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