ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team kept its composure down the stretch on Monday night and earned every bit of its 58-49 win over a UCF team that entered the night with a 7-1 overall record and had won four straight.

*Penn knocked down 11 three-pointers, the fourth time this season reaching double figures in that category.

*Penn had just nine turnovers for the second consecutive game, a season low.

*Junior Sam Jones made his first start of the season and finished with a team-high 15 points on five three-point baskets.

*Senior Matt Howard nearly had a double-double, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds. He also had two assists.

*Freshman AJ Brodeur scored 10 points -- his seventh straight double-figure scoring game -- and also filled the box score with six rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists and three steals.

Penn was down 10-8 early, but scored seven straight to take a 15-10 lead on a run that was punctuated by a three-pointer from Matt MacDonald. Buckets were hard to come by throughout the half for both teams, but the half ended successfully for the Quakers as Jones and then Howard knocked down back-to-back treys to give Penn a 28-24 lead at the break.

The Red and Blue then scored the first eight points of the second stanza, Howard opened with five points and then Jones hit another trey. Jones then responded to a Matt Williams three-pointer with yet another trey, then hit another three to make the score 42-32 with 12:31 to play. However, UCF scored seven straight and made it 42-39 as the period hit the midway point.

This time, it was MacDonald who hit a trey, and then Brodeur beat his man for a layin to make the score 47-39. UCF again had an answer, scoring five straight to make it 47-44, but then Tyler Hamilton hit an acrobatic layup to push the Quakers' lead back up to five. 

Nearly three minutes passed before anyone scored, as MacDonald made a layup to put Penn up 51-44, and then after a UCF trey Brodeur hit a pair of layups around a missed Knights free throw to make the score 55-47 with just over a minute to play. Penn missed the front end of consecutive 1-and-1s before sealing the win at the charity stripe.

Penn is off until after Christmas; the Quakers will host neighborhood rival Drexel on December 28 and Fairfield on December 30. Both games will tip off at 4 p.m.