OKLAHOMA CITY— A new era of Stars' basketball began Friday night inside Abe Lemons Arena when Oklahoma City University tipped the 2025 season off against Randall University. Head Coach Sam Kohnke enters his first season at the helm of OCU. The Stars began the season on a high note, winning against the Saints by 49 points.


TOP PERFORMERS
#1 Alphonse Muteba- 23 PTS, 5 AST, 8-13 FG
#24 Jackson Hopps - 16 PTS, 2-2 3PT, 2 STL, 4-4 FT
#44 Beau Tranter - 13 PTS, 5 AST, 2-2 3PT, 3 REB


First Half: OCU began sluggishly while committing a multitude of fouls early in the game. Carson Thomas for Randall dropped two three-pointers in before the Stars' defense made adjustments against shooters. The Saints' offense shot 35% from the field. Newcomer Alphonse Muteba was the motor for the OCU offense; the junior from Montreal began the game by going 5-for-5 while scoring 13 points. Oklahoma City controlled the glass and won the offensive rebounding battle by a large margin—the Stars snagged 11 offensive rebounds, seven more than Randall. A high percentage of those offensive rebounds were converted into scores, which allowed Oklahoma City to start pulling away from the Saints to close out the first half. OCU was +12 in the second-chance points ledger. From the 10-minute point on until halftime, Kohnke's squad outscored Randall 27-19.

Second Half: Out of the locker room, OCU pieced together a much stronger performance in the second half. The Stars began in a flurry when they took a Saints' turnover the distance of the court. Scoring on the instant offense generated by a Muteba steal was Central Baptist College transfer Jonas Carlisle, who finished the contest with 11 points. In less than 45 seconds, OCU scored five points and added to its 14-point halftime lead. The Stars closed out the game strong, and 14 players saw court action. Leading the second-half scorers was Hykeem Hancock with 11 points. Hancock is a senior transfer who also played for Kohnke at Central Baptist College. OCU went to work in the paint to stabilize the offense during the second half, and the Stars outscored Randall 18-4 in the paint after intermission. 



Chatting with Coach
After the 119-70 victory, the Stars' head coach sat down to talk with Play-By-Play Analyst Joel Ragans. Coach and Joel discussed the amount of defensive pressure applied by the Stars' active hands. 

Kohnke mentioned, "We told our guys not to worry about the score and to keep just doing the right thing. Not to worry about the score." When the gap was widening between OCU and Randall, the Stars could have let up, but Kohnke's team played to the final horn.

"I really want to credit the guys for not letting up, and continuing to build on that second-half lead." 

Head Coach Kohnke also stated that he wanted to give specific recognition to Mutebe, who he credited for the Stars' halftime lead. 



Game Notes

• Oklahoma City's 49-point win is the biggest margin of victory for the Stars in a season opener since 2018 (116-75 vs Manhattan Christian).
• At the 8-minute mark of the second half, Hopps scored the 99th and 100th points of the season for OCU on two free throws.
• OCU had seven different players score 10+ points on Friday against Randall. 

NEXT TIME OUT: Oklahoma City heads to McPherson, Kan., to take on the Hastings College Broncos inside Holman Fieldhouse. The game is a neutral-site contest scheduled for 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30. 


FOLLOW THE STARS
Find all news, scores, highlights, and updates on ocusports.com, Twitter (@ocustars), Instagram (@ocustars), Facebook (Oklahoma City University Stars), and Youtube (@ocustars). Catch every OCU home game and select away games on the SAC Sports Network.