The University of Central Oklahoma basketball team looks to improve from January to March. Hosting a (6-8) record many fans and players wonder what’s going on this year, what’s not working out? Well… There are a few things that are a problem, one of which is defense and just a classic case of new pieces to the team that everyone is trying to get used to.
What’s going on?
Defensively there has to be improvement, UCO is gives up an average 75.4 points per game and 44.4 percent shooting overall. That’s not good for any team in college to give up, but it’s twice as bad when UCO is still averaging 73.1 points per game. That shows that scoring isn’t the problem, it’s defense. Scoring wise, UCO’s “big three,” averages 37.6 points per game which is a little more than half of the teams points. It would be good to see bench players score more along with Trai Jordan, who could be at the top of the league offensively and defensively. The key to success is getting Jordan the ball down low, and for him to shoot free throws a little more and a little better (60 percent off only 10 attempts). In support of that topic, Trai only averages 6.9 points per game off 61 shots which is about 4.3 attempts per game.
On a good note…
The key new players on this squad is Cornell Neal who averages 13.7 points per game and Kendahl Amerson who averages 13.4 points per game. These two players, with major contributions from sophomore guard Garen Wright, who also adds a little over 10 points per game to top off the big three.
Based on the way this season started off, if this team can finish at .500 or better, that’s a good season. For those of you that aren’t satisfied, there are a few new key faces on this team and oh yeah, a new coaches staff. Keep calm, this team has the potential to be really good. Hopefully this year ends better.