DeAndre Gholston hit a desperation 3-point jumper at the buzzer as Missouri defeated UCF 68-66 Saturday in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Fla.
After UCF's Jayhlon Young missed a 3-point jumper with nine seconds left, D'Moi Hodge got the rebound, raced up court and fed Gholston well high of the key.
Gholston, who scored all 16 of his points in the second half, banked home the winning shot.
Nick Honor had 17 points and Hodge added 15 for the Tigers (10-1).
Ithiel Horton led the Knights (8-3) with 19 points. C.J. Kelly scored 16 points, Darius Johnson had 12 and Taylor Hendricks added 11.
UCF raced to a quick 10-0 lead with Johnson and Kelly scoring five points each.
Honor and Noah Carter hit 3-point jumpers to get the Tigers into the game, then Honor hit three more shots from behind the arc as Missouri surged to an 18-14 lead.
Another Honor 3-pointer capped Missouri's 23-7 game-shifting run.
Johnson stabilized the Knights with a 3-point jumper, but Hodge scored the next six points as the Tigers pushed their lead to 29-23.
Kelly's steal, lay up and free throw capped a 13-4 run that vaulted the Knights ahead 36-33.
The Tigers scored the first 11 points of the second half to take a 46-36 lead. Gholston hit a 3-point jumper and a pull-up jumper, then Hodge drove for a dunk to get Missouri rolling.
Hodge's 3-pointer and Honor's driving layup to push Missouri's lead to 51-37. UCF stopped that run with Brandon Suggs scoring five points on two foul-drawing drives to the basket.
Kelly hit a 3-point jumper and Suggs scored on a fast-break layup to cut Missouri's lead to 54-49, then two 3-pointers by Horton and one by Hendricks tied the game 60-60 with 4:32 left.
Missouri scored the next five points, but the Knights rallied and took a 66-65 lead with Hendricks' 3-pointer with 54 seconds left.
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