By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – Four University of Tennessee at Martin players eclipsed double figures in the scoring column today as the Skyhawks soared to their first victory of the Ryan Ridder Era, 94-66 over Miami-Hamilton.
KK Curry had his second bigtime performance in as many tries during the early stages of the 2021-22 campaign, piling up 22 points (on 8-of-13 shooting), nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 26 minutes. He joined KJ Simon (20 points, six rebounds, three steals), Darius Simmons (19 points, four rebounds, four assists) and Chris Nix (13 points on 5-of-5 shooting, seven rebounds, two blocks) in double-digit scoring as UT Martin improved to 27-3 in home openers since joining the Division I ranks in 1992.
Mikel Henderson (nine points), Koby Jeffries (nine assists against zero turnovers) and Josh Endicott (eight rebounds in 15 minutes) also heavily contributed to the Skyhawk success this afternoon as UT Martin won the rebounding battle (54-30) and outscored the Harriers by a 42-14 margin in the paint.
A United States Collegiate Athletic Association member out of Ohio, Miami-Hamilton (5-0) also placed four scorers in double figures. Kaleb Taylor managed 18 points while Ryan Marchal (17), King Goss (17) and Jamison Bradley (11) followed closely behind.
“In our program, we’re always going to celebrate winning,” Ridder said. “I thought to start we came out a little casual – maybe that was first game at home nerves – but obviously we did enough to find a way to win. It’s no secret that we have some weapons on offense but we have to be able to utilize those gifts.”
Simon came out on fire, tossing in the Skyhawks’ first 10 points of the contest. That included a three-pointer on the game’s opening possession, another trey, a dunk and a floater in the lane all within the first four-plus minutes.
A 9-0 run led to UT Martin’s first double-digit advantage of the contest as a pull-up jumper from Henderson made the score 17-7 with 11:49 remaining in the opening half.
Miami-Hamilton got within six points at the 7:14 mark but back-to-back triples from Simmons and David Didenko pushed the Skyhawk lead back out to double figures.
UT Martin ended the first half on a 9-2 surge as a Curry dunk with just under a minute to play resulted in a 45-32 advantage at the intermission.
Curry and Simon shared the team lead with 14 points apiece in the first 20 minutes while Goss’ 12 points paced the Harriers.
After Miami-Hamilton got within eight points before the first media timeout of the second half, Simmons went off. The graduate guard from Raleigh, NC splashed a pair of three-pointers during a 12-2 run, extending the Skyhawk lead out to 60-42.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Nix at the 11:33 mark pushed UT Martin’s advantage to 68-48. That started a stretch where the 6-9, 215-pound forward accounted for all 13 of his points during a nine-minute span. His layup off an offensive rebound with a little over five minutes remaining capped off an 11-0 Skyhawk run.
A Henderson free throw with 2:06 to go resulted in UT Martin’s biggest lead of the day at 34 points (94-60) as the Skyhawks coasted to the finish line.
UT Martin heads to the Sunshine State for its next three outings as it will take part in the four-team Paradise Classic in Boca Raton, Fla. on Nov. 19-21. The Skyhawks are scheduled to face tournament host Florida Atlantic, Troy and North Dakota over the course of the three-day event.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information