PITTSBURGH, Penn. _ The worst shooting day of the season for the University of Central Arkansas Bears turned into a 100-47 victory for the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sunday at the Petersen Events Center.

    The Bears (1-7) shot a season-low 31.7 from the field and made just one three-point basket (1 for 12) in dropping their fourth consecutive game. UCA also shot a season-low 34.8 percent (8 for 23) from the free-throw line. The Panthers (6-1) improved their home record against non-conference opponents to a stellar 123-5 since moving into the Petersen Events Center.

    "My emotions are really mixed right now,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "I thought we started off the game competing better than we did against Oklahoma (on Thursday). Our effort was better. Sometimes you can try really hard and don't think, and that's kind of what I thought we did. I thought we played hard but not very smart.

    "And then I think the grind of losing is catching us, it really is. It's catching me, it's catching our staff, and it's catching our guys. The losses over the last two weeks are starting to mount and it's begun to affect our kids' play.'
 
    UCA finished with no players in double figures for the first time this season. Sophomore guard Jordan Howard was the closest with nine points, just the second time in 37 career games that the reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year was held to less than 10 points. The Bears, who entered the game as the second-best three-point shooting team in the Southland Conference at 37.1 percent, did not make their first and only three-pointer until Howard connected with 9:35 left in the game.

    "We have to go now and get their finals knocked out and then do a lot of work in the film room,' said Pennell. "We haven't been able to spend much time doing that because these games have been coming fast and furious. But we have to show them why some of the mistakes are happening. In the first half, with our turnovers and second-chance points, they (Panthers) had 25 points. And that was half of their points. On the other side of that coin, we had six. If we had kept them to say 12, and our defense was a little bit better, we're in the game.'

    The Panthers held the Bears to a season-low 23 points in the first half. UCA shot just 37 percent from the field (10 of 27) and did not make a three-pointer (0 for 4). Pitt shot 56.3 percent overall and made 6 of 12 from three-point range, including two each from Jamel Artis and Damon Wilson.

    Both teams struggled early on the offensive end, with the Panthers taking an 8-2 lead through the first five minutes. However, a 16-3 run put the Panthers up 39-17 at the 4:40 mark of the first half. UCA got points from eight different players in the opening 20 minutes but Justin Foreman's five points topped the list. Jake Zuilhof had 4 points and 4 rebounds.

    Pitt outrebounded UCA 52-34, with Zuilhof grabbing a game-high nine. UCA also had 17 turnovers to just six assists. Wilson led the Panthers with 20 points, followed by Artis with 17 and Chris Jones with 13.

    "We're a tired basketball team,' Pennell said. "I think right now there are just so many thoughts going through their heads. Right now we're just a fragile team that has to tough it out. Hopefully the time off will give us that opportunity.'

    The Bears will take a 10-day break for final exams before hosting the Little Rock Trojans on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at the Farris Center in their only home game of the first semester.