Basketball
Central Arkansas tops Oral Roberts as Robinson pours in 29
Ty Robinson set a career high with 29 points as UCA opened the season with an 85-55 win over ORU.
CONWAY, Ark. — Oral Roberts turned the ball over 18 times Monday night, and Central Arkansas cashed in for 26 points off those mistakes.
It’s tough to lose many games that way.
Ty Robinson did a big share of the damage. The 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman finished with a career-high 29 points as UCA rolled to an 85-55 win over Oral Roberts in the season opener at the Farris Center.
Robinson was sharp from outside, hitting 4 of 5 from 3-point range. He went 9 of 10 at the free-throw line.
His four steals didn’t make Oral Roberts’ night any easier.
The Bears are 1-0. ORU dropped to 0-1.
Oral Roberts had a rough time shooting the ball. ORU made 30% of its shots and just 16.7% from 3-point range.
Beauchamp and Marshall chip in
Robinson wasn’t the only one hitting shots.
Harry Beauchamp made six field goals, three of them 3-pointers, and finished with 15 points.
Rylie Marshall added 11. He hit 4 of his 6 shots, including 3 of 5 from deep.
Luke Moore handed out six assists to go with six points and two steals.
Simm-Marten Saadi pulled down seven rebounds, scored seven points and had three assists.
UCA shot 45.2% from the floor and 33.3% from beyond the arc.
The Bears hit 76.2% of their free throws. ORU made just 59.1%.
ORU’s 18 giveaways added up
Oral Roberts did outrebound UCA 42-41.
That was about the only stat ORU won. The Bears had 12 steals to ORU’s seven.
UCA turned it over 12 times. Oral Roberts had 18.
Those mistakes came in handy when ORU got within 66-50 in the second half.
Saadi and Robinson each hit a 3, and the Bears forced four turnovers between the 5:42 and 3:57 marks.
Moore’s jumper and Marshall’s fast-break layup in that stretch made it 76-52.
UCA scored the last nine points of the night. Beauchamp had a layup and Marshall knocked down a 3. Camarion Bead and Isaiah Templeton each made two free throws.
How the lead got built
Robinson’s 3-pointer started the scoring, and Oral Roberts answered to tie it 5-5.
From there, the Bears scored 10 in a row.
Saadi scored twice during that run, with 3-pointers from Beauchamp and Robinson mixed in, and UCA was up 15-5.
ORU got as close as 16-10 before the Bears started firing from outside again. Beauchamp hit two more 3s, and Marshall and R.J. Young added one apiece for a 32-23 lead with 7:07 left in the half.
Moore and Robinson scored late in the half, and Robinson set up Beauchamp for a layup at the horn. UCA took a 47-31 lead to the locker room.
The Bears kept pushing after the break. Robinson scored at the line and inside. Marshall hit a transition 3 off a Moore assist, and Beauchamp finished a pass from Bead to make it 55-33 with 15:47 left.
Oral Roberts answered with seven straight to get within 55-40, but Robinson scored twice in the paint around a Cole McCormick fast-break layup. UCA was back up 61-40 with 12:28 to play.
The Bears head to Oxford, Mississippi, on Friday to face Ole Miss. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
