By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team put together one of its best defensive performances of the season this afternoon but Tennessee State came out on top, 69-61 at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks swatted away 12 blocked shots, establishing a school record in that category (previously blocking 11 shots on five different occasions – the latest coming in 2020). UT Martin limited the Tigers to 37.5 percent shooting and allowed only three 3-pointers (tying a season-low for any Skyhawk opponent this season) but Tennessee State made 85.7 percent of its 21 free throw attempts.
KJ Simon produced a stat line of a game-high 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, four blocks and three steals for UT Martin, who is now 8-16 with a 4-8 record in Ohio Valley Conference play. Chris Nix made eight of his 11 shots on the way to 18 points and a pair of blocks while KK Curry (10 points, two blocks) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Skyhawks. Bernie Andre chipped in a team-high 10 rebounds and two blocks for UT Martin, who shot 82.6 percent (19-for-23) from the free throw line.
Tennessee State (10-14, 5-7 OVC) was led by Kassim Nicholson’s 17 points and 13 rebounds. Marcus Fitzgerald, Jr. added 17 points for the Tigers in a game that was tied nine times and featured five lead changes.
“I thought we had a lack of discipline for the entire game but it really kind of showed in the last four minutes,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “We knew it was going to be a fight and I felt like we didn’t give ourselves a chance down the stretch to be successful. At the end of the day, Tennessee State out-toughed us – we’re a better team than we showed today. We show spurts of being a really good basketball team but that’s part of the process – we’ll stay together, figure it out and get back to work.”
UT Martin got off to a fast start as Simon took the opening tip straight to the rim for a layup just five seconds into the contest. The Tigers went on a 7-0 run before Nix got going – delivering six straight points before a Simon trey at the 15:06 mark evened the score at 11-all.
Tennessee State soon went on a 12-4 run to take a 28-17 advantage with under six minutes remaining in the first half. The Skyhawks answered eight back with 11 unanswered points as four different UT Martin players (Nix, Simon, Andre, Curry) provided points during that stretch.
A pair of free throws from Andre at the 1:08 mark resulted in the fourth tie of the opening half but the Tigers were able to manage a 32-30 lead at the break.
Simon and Nix already reached double figures in the scoring column at halftime, tossing in 12 and 10 points, respectively. Nicholson’s eight points paced Tennessee State.
A hook shot by Nix served as the first bucket on either side in the second half, knotting the score at 32-32. The Tigers scored the next six points of the game before an 8-0 Skyhawk surge as six of those points came from the charity stripe. A pair of Nix free throws at the 14:40 mark made the score 41-39 in favor of UT Martin.
Tennessee State came back with 13 of the next 15 points, nabbing a 52-43 lead in the process. The Skyhawks kept chipping away, eventually taking the lead after a 15-5 run that spanned nearly six minutes. Simon was responsible for nine of those points, including an old-fashioned three-point play that gave UT Martin a 58-57 lead with exactly four minutes left to play.
However, the Tigers wrapped up the game on a 12-3 run – making eight free throws in a row to hold off the Skyhawk comeback attempt.
UT Martin goes back on the road next week, starting a two-game swing through Illinois with a Thursday, Feb. 10 matchup against SIUE at 7:30 p.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information