ORLANDO, Fla. — The Bearkats started fast then came to a screeching halt by repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot Saturday night at the UCF Arena.

Sam Houston State jumped out to a 12-4 advantage with just under 12 minutes to go in the opening period, but a series of turnovers helped Central Florida go on an 18-0 run to take a 22-12 lead.

The Kats turned the ball over 16 times in the first half (26 for the game), and the Knights converted those mistakes into 18 points, setting the stage for an 86-70 victory.

Sam Houston (6-7) shot 46 percent and held Central Florida (9-4) to only 40 percent shooting from the floor. But the Knights hit 7 of17 (41 percent) from 3-point range and sank 35-of-42 attempts, or 83 percent, from the line to secure the win.

Junior guard Corey Allmond led the Kats with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Lance Pevehouse, who also knocked down four treys, and junior forward Preston Brown each chipped in 12 points. Junior point guard Ashton Mitchell dished out nine assists to go with eight points.

“Sixteen first-half turnovers, including seven in a row, caused us to struggle offensively and we didn’t take good care of the basketball,” SHSU head coach Bob Marlin said. “Our defense was good enough and as frustrated as our team was at halftime, I told them our defense was good enough to win the game if we take care of the ball.

“In the second half, we come out and have seven turnovers and shoot 56 percent from the floor. We guarded them pretty good but lost this game by 21 points at the free throw line. We were 14-of-17 and they were 35-of-42. It was 21-0 at one time from the free-throw line.”

Allmond and senior guard DeLuis Ramirez combined to shut down UCF leading scorer Jermaine Talyor in the first half, holding him to only three of his game-high 26 points in the period. Taylor, who went 14-of-16 from the line in the contest, didn’t score his first basket until the 1:40 mark when he picked off a pass and raced down court for an easy layup.

But Taylor’s lack of scoring didn’t matter because the Kats kept turning the ball over and the Knights kept taking advantage.

UCF freshman Chris Baez got the 18-0 run started with a pair of free throws at the 11:33 mark before back-to-back SHSU giveaways resulted in a layup by forward Tony Davis, who scored 10 points, and a 3-pointer by guard Isaac Sosa.

Central Florida capped off the spurt with consecutive treys by Sosa, who finished with 13 points, and Baez to go up 22-12 with 8:30 left in the first. After a two-handed dunk by Brown momentarily stopped the run, Davis scored six in a row at the line to make it 28-14.

SHSU senior forward Arthur Zulu and freshman Drae Murray each hit a floater and Allmond knocked in his second 3-pointer of the half to help the Bearkats outscore the Knights 7-5 in the final three minutes to go into the break down 33-21.

“We just didn’t let the offense work for us and were a little anxious out there early,” Allmond said. “We have to be more patient and let the offense work. We played good defense for the most part in the first half and held Taylor to three points. But we can’t win with 16 turnovers in the first half. It is impossible to win like that.”

The Bearkats got as close as nine in the first six minutes of the second half. Sophomore guard Josten Crow started a 7-2 run with a steal and a layup. Zulu then hit a turnaround hook in the lane and Pevehouse capped it with a 3-pointer to make it 41-32.

But then things once again fell apart for Sam Houston State. Central Florida answered with a 10-0 run. Sophomore forward A.J. Tyler hit a trey and scored on a putback, while Taylor knocked down three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot and hit a short jumper to push the lead to 51-32 with 12:34 left.

The Bearkats made one final push to try and get back in it. Allmond connected on back-to-back 3-pointers, Brown hit a free throw and Crow scored on a layup to get within 14. Mitchell later hit a trey and scored three more, the old fashioned way, to cut the lead to 66-54 at the 5:37 mark.

Sam Houston State pulled to within 11 with just over three minutes to go on a 3-pointer by Pevehouse but just couldn’t get out of the early hole it battled from most of the game.

“We couldn’t take care of the ball, and they got too many fast-break points out of it,” Brown said. “We didn’t want to start the year like this, but we’ve got to pick it up. We’ve got a week to practice and get ready for our first conference game. We have to get over this because it is the past.

“We are always going to fight, we just have to correct some of these mistakes.”

The Kats turn their attention to next weekend when they open conference action on the road at Stephen F. Austin on Saturday at 2 p.m.