Bronchos struggle offensively, fall to Washburn 65-51

The University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos fell to the Washburn University Ichabods 65-51 Thursday evening in Topeka. Broncho guard Cam Givens led all scorers with 17 points in 33 minutes, followed by Washburn guard Jalen Lewis who scored 14 points across 35 minutes of action.

UCO got down to an early 7-0 deficit in the first three minutes of the game before Cam Givens scored a quick five points followed by a Dashon Bell steal and layup to bring the score even with 16 minutes left in the first half. 

The Broncho bench was active early in the game with ten players seeing the court in the first half. 

UCO trailed 23-28 after the first half led in scoring by Cam Givens who poured in ten points on six shots. Forward Alex Ogunseye was 3-3 from the field in 10 minutes of action during the first half scoring six points. 

The Ichabods scoring was distributed across seven of their eight players to see the court providing three or more points over the course of the first twenty minutes. 

The Broncho defense was stout to begin the second half, allowing just two points in the first four minutes. The Ichabods responded with two quick three-pointers extending their lead to nine with 12:51 left in the game.

UCO forward Seth Hurd got into foul trouble in the first half leading to him fouling out with 8 minutes left in the game. He played fifteen minutes before exiting the game. 

The Bronchos never got the offense to operate at full capacity despite playing well defensively. Cam Givens was one of two scorers to reach double digits for Central Oklahoma alongside forward Dashon Bell who scored 12 points. 

As a team, the Bronchos shot 34 percent from the field as well as just 14 percent from behind the three-point arc (3-21). Washburn shot 53 percent from the field and 38 percent from three. 

The Bronchos are now 7-12 on the season and 4-6 in the MIAA.

The Bronchos struggled to score tonight, but there is more to these games than just wins and losses. The team wants to set a culture under new Head Coach Bob Hoffman that will carry through this season and into the future. 

Broncho Head Coach Bob Hoffman spoke about the building of culture in the basketball program, “We talk about having championship practices, championship film sessions, and having championship games and possessions, and just how to put it all together.” 

“This athletic department has had success across many of their sports,” Hoffman said. “I hope to be able to keep that tradition alive.”

The Bronchos will be playing again this Sunday, January 26th, against the Emporia State Hornets at 3:30 p.m. It can be streamed on MIAA.com and will be broadcasted on 1560 AM in central Oklahoma.