By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball squad nearly led for the entire game this evening against UNC Asheville, dialing up a 79-68 triumph over the Bulldogs at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks held a lead for 39:14 of clock time, leading by as many as 19 points over a UNC Asheville squad that was tabbed to finish second in the Big South Conference preseason poll. UT Martin connected on 53.2 percent (33-for-62) of its field goal attempts – its second-highest mark of the season – and held a distinct advantage in points in the paint (48 to 26) and fast break points (15 to 4).
KJ Simon went off for a career-best 30 points on 13-of-22 shooting, becoming the first Skyhawk since Derek Hawthorne, Jr. (against Southeast Missouri on Feb. 29, 2020) to pour in at least 30 points in a game. A junior guard from Orlando, Fla., Simon additionally contributed four rebounds, four steals two assists and a block.
Making his first start since Nov. 24, Chris Nix accumulated 12 points, a career-high 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks for his first double-double in a UT Martin uniform. Bernie Andre tallied a season-best 14 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench for the Skyhawks, who improved to 4-7 overall.
The Bulldogs (6-5) placed four scorers in double figures, led by Quay Kimble’s 20 points. Trent Stephney (11), Tajion Jones (10) and Coty Jude (10) also posted double-digit scoring efforts but the swarming UT Martin defense held UNC Asheville to just 39.7 percent shooting (23-of-58).
“This group is really about the process and tonight was big for us because not only did we put our best 40 minutes together but we beat a really good team,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “It was fun to watch our guys compete and we had different guys step up tonight. I’m fired up for them to experience that feeling of victory tonight.”
A Koby Jeffries driving layup just 17 seconds into the contest officially kicked off the scoring for UT Martin. A trifecta from Simon nudged the Skyhawk lead out to 13-7 at the first media timeout.
Another triple from the left hand of Simon doubled up the Bulldogs (18-9) at the 13:40 mark of the first half. David Didenko canned a three-pointer with 10:48 remaining before the halftime break to give UT Martin its first double-digit lead of the contest at 27-17.
After an Andre fast break layup boosted the Skyhawk lead to a dozen, UNC Asheville went on a 17-4 run to take its only lead of the game (34-33) with 5:53 to go before the halftime break. That lead was short-lived as UT Martin unleashed 12 unanswered points to close out the first half with a 45-34 advantage.
Simon’s 17 points led all scorers at the intermission while Kimble posted 11 points to pace the Bulldogs in the opening 20 minutes.
The Skyhawks carried over an impressive streak into the second half. By the time that UNC Asheville converted a layup at the 15:29 mark, UT Martin had held the Bulldogs without a field goal for a span of 10:24. That defensive intensity allowed the Skyhawk lead to balloon out to 19 points after Simon soared to the rim for a fast break layup with 13:35 left to play.
Simon soon pumped in six straight UT Martin points, reaching the 30-point plateau with 7:46 to go in the contest.
KK Curry made a driving layup at the 5:32 mark to keep the Skyhawk lead at a comfortable 16-point margin but UNC Asheville had one last run in them – scoring nine of the next 11 points. With the Bulldogs closing within single digits at 73-64, Nix came up huge – muscling up for a pair of layups in traffic to essentially ice the victory.
UT Martin goes back on the road for its next three games, beginning with a Saturday, Dec. 18 matchup at Evansville. Tipoff time from the Ford Center is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information