Johnny Dawkins hoped earlier this week that UCF would start well, settle in and play its own style for its final road game at West Virginia — having gone winless away from home since mid-January.

"Sometimes you end up going on the road, and if you get down early, turn it over and give up easy baskets, they're feeding off it and gaining momentum," Dawkins said following the Knights' 83-70 home win over Oklahoma State. "We need to make sure we take care of the basketball, get off to a sound start.

"Usually taking care of the basketball and rebounding, you give yourself a chance."

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UCF accomplished neither task before halftime, digging a hole too large to climb out of against Javon Small — the Big 12's second-leading scorer — and the NCAA Tournament-bound Mountaineers despite a dominant two-way display over the final 20 minutes.

The Knights chipped a 27-point deficit down to a one-possession game in the final two minutes, but Jonathan Powell buried a clutch 3-pointer to seal West Virginia's 72-65 win. Small had a team-high 25 points with nine assists and seven rebounds, and Amani Hansberry added a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

UCF (16-15) ends Big 12 play with a 7-13 mark, an identical win total to its debut season in the league. The Knights — losers of seven straight games outside of Orlando — will need to produce an improbable, flawless five-game run at next week's conference tournament to steal the automatic bid into the Big Dance.

"You can't make any kind of a run if you don't win," Dawkins said. "Take it one game at a time, and you try and build momentum throughout the tournament."

Seeding is still to be determined for the tournament, which begins at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. UCF is in a three-way tie for 12th place at 7-13 with Oklahoma State and Cincinnati.

After a woeful first-half display, in which it allowed 47 points and committed nine turnovers, UCF kicked into gear. The Knights had 9-0 and 10-0 scoring runs over the first 11 minutes of the second period, though consecutive offensive fouls against Darius Johnson and Keyshawn Hall temporarily halted momentum.

"You can go one of two ways in that situation. You can fold, or you can keep fighting," Dawkins said. "Our guys, for the most part this year, they keep fighting."

With 6:35 left, UCF embarked on a 12-3 run sparked by Moustapha Thiam and JJ Taylor. Johnson, who led all scorers with 27, trimmed the West Virginia lead to 67-64 with a contested hoop off dribble penetration.

Toby Okani missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw on the ensuing Mountaineer possession, but Hansberry hustled for the loose ball. Small reset the offense, kicked to Powell in the left corner and the true freshman hit nothing but net.

UCF missed its last three 3-point attempts, and Small wrapped up the win with a pair of second-chance free throws with 15 seconds left. Hall was limited to six points on 1-of-10 shooting. Thiam had 13 with seven boards, and Taylor contributed 12 points off the bench.