TULSA, Okla. _ A sluggish start for an early tip-off Saturday morning doomed the University of Central Arkansas Bears in a 92-72 loss to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at the Reynolds Center.

UCA, coming off two consecutive victories, shot just 33.3 percent in the first half  _ which tipped off at 11 a.m. _ and allowed Tulsa to knock down 51.7 percent, which resulted in a 47-32 halftime deficit. The Bears (3-3) cut their deficit to 11 points on two occassions in the final 20 minutes but could never get closer. Tulsa shot 54.4 percent overall and made 12 of 23 (52.2 percent) from three-point range to improve to 3-3 on the season.  

"I'm not very happy right now,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "I just didn't think our leadership was really good. I didn't think we came out focused. I thought we were but the play showed we weren't. We got punched in the mouth and I thought we were a soft basketball team the first half. Those are just some things we're going to have to work on and correct.'

The Bears fell behind by 10 points in the opening seven minutes as the Golden Hurricane made three three-pointers. Tulsa's first-half lead would reach as much as 23 points before the break.

"I'm really going to have to start using the bench to get people's attention on the defensive end,' said Pennell. "I just didn't think we had some guys who were putting the effort into that end of the floor. And we're going to get that straight, becauuse if we don't, we can't have the year that I think we're capable of having.'

The Bears were outscored just 45-40 in the second half, shooting 42 percent and making 12 free throws. UCA finished with a 43-37 advantage in rebounding, including a season-high 20 offensive rebounds. Senior Mathieu Kamba had 12 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for his sixth career double-double. 

"I thought we rebounded the ball much better and I thought we attacked the offensive glass,' said Pennell. "That part was good. And honestly, I thought the last eight minutes of the first half and the second half we competed. But it's a 40-minute game. You can't take 12 minutes off. The effort was sporadic and we turned the ball over way too much. And it was just carelessness, it wasn't so much of what Tulsa was doing.'

UCA finished with 17 turnovers and just 12 assists. The Bears, who entered the game shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range for the season, were 5 of 19 (26.3 percent). Senior guard Jordan Howard made 3 of 6 en route to a team-high 23 points. Junior Tanner Schmit added 10 points for UCA's only other double-figure scorer. UCA freshman center Hayden Koval, who was averaging 11.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, played just nine minutes because of a injury and did not score.

Corey Henderson topped Tulsa with 24 points (4 of 7 from beyond the arc), while DaQuan Jeffries scored 20 points, Junior Etou 16 and Sterling Taplin 11. Etou had 12 rebounds for the Golden Hurricane. 

The Bears host Morehead State at 7 p.m. Monday at the Farris Center, then play at Little Rock at 6:30 Wednesday night at the Jack Stephens Center.