Men's Basketball 3/2/2020 1:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

Central Opens MIAA Tournament Wednesday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Central Oklahoma men's basketball team is set to make its return trip to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association postseason tournament this week with the Bronchos taking on Lincoln at 6 p.m. Wednesday from historic Municipal Auditorium.

Central Oklahoma finished the regular season 11-17 overall and earned the eighth-seed in the 10-team tournament following an 8-11 mark in league play this season. Lincoln went 10-18 this season and earned the nine-seed thanks to a 7-12 MIAA record.

"I'm pretty happy that we made the tournament and I know the guys are really excited about it," UCO head coach Bob Hoffman said. "When we were losing eight in a row it didn't seem like we had a chance but the guys kept believing in each other and kept fighting and here we are. We're excited and we want to be focused and ready to play and see if we can't win some games while we're there."

Central Oklahoma takes a team averaging 69.9 points per game to Kansas City. The Bronchos get that by way of 45.3 percent shooting. UCO shoots 32.5 percent from behind the arc, making 5.8 threes per game. The Bronchos have made a living on the free-throw line this season. UCO, which shoots 73.8 percent from the charity stripe, hit 461 of 625 attempts from the line this season. Both of those numbers are among the national leaders.

Defensively, Central allows 70.5 points per game. The Bronchos hold opponents to 44.4 percent shooting and limit free-throws to just 12 per game.

Dashawn McDowell leads a well-rounded effort by the Bronchos in scoring this season. McDowell's 11 points per game is a team-high. He also leads the team in field goals made (107), field goals attempted (227), free-throws made (83), free-throws attempted (115), and is third on the team in rebounding, pulling down 4.9 per game this season.

Camryn Givens is the second-leading scorer on the team this year at 10.7 points per game. Givens is second in nearly all categories to McDowell but leads the Bronchos in rebounding with 156 boards, an average of 5.8 per game.

Dashon Bell and Justin Nimmer join the crowd in helping UCO on offense. Bell averages 9.8 points per game, is tied with McDowell with 83 made free-throws, and leads the team in assists (94) and streals (37). Nimmer is averaging 8.6 points per game and five rebounds per game.

Wednesday's game will be a rematch between UCO and Lincoln. The Bronchos beat the Blue Tigers 79-65 back on Jan. 6 in Edmond. UCO owns an 8-2 advantage in the all-time series against LU.

The winner of Wednesday's matchup will advance in the tournament to the MIAA Quarterfinals, where top-ranked Northwest Missouri awaits. The advancing team will get NWMSU at 6 p.m. Thursday. A pair of wins by the Bronchos would give UCO a day off on Friday and a trip to the MIAA Semifinals on Saturday. The MIAA Men's Basketball Championship will be played Sunday at 3:15 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#1 Dashon Bell: G; 6' 1"; Senior

#0 Justin Nimmer: G; 6' 6"; Redshirt Freshman

#3 Dashawn McDowell: F; 6' 5"; Junior

#33 Camryn Givens: F; 6' 6"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#1 Dashon Bell
: 6' 1"; Senior
: G

#0 Justin Nimmer
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#3 Dashawn McDowell
: 6' 5"; Junior
: F

#33 Camryn Givens
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: F