Men’s basketball starts season with back-to-back wins

The UCO men’s basketball team started their season with commanding victories last weekend, while the women’s team’s rough first quarters led to losses.

Broncho men’s basketball began their weekend Friday night with a 90-74 win against the University of Mary. Central pulled away with a 16-0 run in the second half when the score was 67-66, and from then on the University of Mary stood no chance.

Senior guard Isreal Hart led Central’s scoring with 21 points. This was Hart’s first game with the Bronchos after transferring from Seminole State College and sitting out his 2023-2024 season with UCO.

Every starter scored in the double digits, and the bench ended with 11 points. The Bronchos continued this offensive momentum on Saturday when they scored 54 points in the first half against Northwestern Oklahoma State College and ended the game with a 92-77 win.

JV Seat, a junior transfer from Abilene Christian University, scored 22 points with two rebounds and two steals, while Jordan Thompson, a transfer from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, scored 20 points with nine assists, four rebounds, and two steals.

The Bronchos were efficient on offense, shooting 62.5% in the first half and 50.8% for the entire game. “The guys did a good job of coming out ready today,” head coach Bob Hoffman told University of Central Oklahoma Athletics. “It was important that we start good and the guys were great. And, to get the big lead and stay in front, that’s hard to do, but they were great and this will help us continue to get better.”

Central Oklahoma women’s basketball fell short after starting their Friday night with a 13-20 first quarter and their Saturday afternoon with an 8-18 opening. Despite generating solid offense in subsequent quarters, it wasn’t enough to come back from their deficit.

The team ended Friday night with a 63-68 loss against St. Cloud State University and finished Saturday with a 62-73 loss against Southwest Minnesota State University. Senior guard Korie Allensworth scored 20 points in both games of her first weekend with the University of Central Oklahoma. 

The women will look for redemption at Drury University this Wednesday and the men will chase their third consecutive win against West Texas A&M at 6 p.m. this Thursday at Hamilton Field House.