26 Dec 2024 Shorthanded Bears fall to No. 14/15 Sooners
NORMAN, Okla. — The No. 14/15 team in the country, the Oklahoma Sooners, led the University of Central Arkansas Bears by just seven points with 16 minutes to play Sunday before pulling away for an 89-66 victory at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The Bears, playing without five players due to injury and other issues, battled the Sooners for 40 minutes but ran out of gas down the stretch against the undefeated Sooners (12-0). OU was UCA’s fifth, and final, Power 4 opponent in its first 12 games.
“We’re playing so hard with a short bench just to stay in games, and it’s hard,” said UCA Head Coach John Shulman. “And it’s just a reality. But I thought we gutted-it-out. [We were] down seven at the half but then we came out and we got fatigued with eight scholarship guys. Right now we’re in an absolute scramble.
“But now we’re done with that. Now it’s time for everybody to chill out for a second, enjoy some time with family, because your family is way more important than an Oklahoma-Central Arkansas game. And then let’s finish off the year the right way on the 29th.”
The Bears stayed within striking distance in the first half behind the hot-shooting hand of redshirt freshman Ben Fox, who was 4 of 4 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. UCA trailed by just seven at halftime after shooting 45.2 percent from the field and going 6 of 6 at the free-throw line.
Oklahoma senior Duke Miles had a career-high 20 points in the first half, going 7 of 10 from the field, 3 of 5 from the arc and 3 of 3 at the free-throw line. Miles finished with a game-high 29 points, one of three Sooners in double figures. OU was 10 of 29 from three-point range and 13 of 14 at the free-throw line.
UCA got 16 points from freshman guard Layne Taylor, 13 from lone senior Elias Cato and 12 from Fox. The Bears shot 37.5 percent from the field for the game and made nine threes.
The Sooners, coming off a Top 25 win over Michigan, outscored the Bears 40-20 in the paint and 20-9 in points off turnovers.
“(OU head coach) Porter (Moser), who I’ve known for a long time, said this after the game,” Shulman said. He said, ‘Sometimes you can’t look at the scoreboard.’ He was like, you outplayed us in every aspect. They just have better players than us right now. They have really good players, and a lot of them. And that’s why they’re ranked 14th in the country.
“But we have good players, too. A lot of our good players are not in uniform, but that doesn’t stop you from playing hard and trying to compete, and I thought we definitely did that today.”
After a four-day break for the holiday, UCA returns to practice on the 27th in preparation for its final non-conference game of the season. The Bears will host Southwestern Christian at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29. UCA then opens Atlantic Sun Conference play at home on Thursday, Jan. 2 against Eastern Kentucky at the Farris Center.
