By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball squad featured balanced scoring this evening but it wasn’t enough as the host SIUE Cougars managed a 71-63 win at the Vadalabene Center.
Bernie Andre scored a team-high 12 points and was joined in double figures by Koby Jeffries (11 points), Mikel Henderson (10 points, game-high three steals) and KK Curry (10 points, game-high eight rebounds). KJ Simon added nine points and a team-best four assists but the Skyhawks (8-17, 4-9 OVC) shot 36.1 percent and were outscored 17-4 in fast break points.
SIUE (8-17, 2-10 OVC) was led by Shaun Doss, Jr.’s 16 points. Courtney Carter tallied 14 points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists while Shamar Wright tacked on 11 points.
“Give SIUE credit – that’s a team that’s gone through some adversity and I didn’t think we matched their intensity,” UT Martin head coach Ryan Ridder said. “Every night is going to be a battle and you can’t be casual like we were at the start of the game – we have to be much better with our principles. They scored 34 points in the paint and 15 points at the free throw line – it’s tough to win when you give up 49 points that way.”
A hook shot by Chris Nix got the Skyhawks on the scoreboard, giving UT Martin an early advantage. The Cougars responded with a 7-2 run before a pair of Jeffries free throws and a bucket inside from Nix nudged the Skyhawks ahead by an 8-7 margin at the first media timeout.
Following a Henderson three-pointer from the right wing at the 14:34 mark, SIUE went on a 12-1 run to take a 21-12 lead. UT Martin scored seven of the next 10 points – six of which came on a dunk and a pair of layups – to creep within five points (24-19) with 7:44 remaining before the halftime break.
The Skyhawks then found success from deep – nailing a trio of three-pointers for their next three buckets. Andre swished a deep trey from the right wing to start the hot stretch before Jeffries buried a pair of trifectas in a 1:47 span. That ignited a personal 8-0 run for Jeffries to close out the half as he converted a reverse layup right before the buzzer – slicing UT Martin’s deficit to 36-30 in the process.
Jeffries’ 10 points paced the Skyhawks in the opening half while Doss led all scorers with 11 points at the break for the Cougars.
Henderson had the hot hand to start the second half. The Kansas City, Mo. native sank a deep right wing three-pointer and a pull-up mid-range jumper to get UT Martin within a single point (36-35) 80 seconds into the period. Simon then scored five straight points – off a driving dunk and right wing trey – to even the score at 40-all at the 16:41 mark.
SIUE accounted for the next five points but the Skyhawks clawed back to tie the game at 49-49 after a Josiah Morris three-pointer and Henderson floater late in the shot clock.
Just as they did after UT Martin tied it for the first time in the second half, the Cougars pieced together the next five points of the contest. A Nix free throw and left-wing trey from Andre with 4:46 left pulled the Skyhawks within one point at 57-56.
However, SIUE scored eight of the next 11 points and UT Martin would not get any closer than four points in the final 3:25. The Cougars prevented a Skyhawk comeback attempt by converting eight of their 10 free throw tries down the stretch.
UT Martin completes its two-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 12 when it heads to Eastern Illinois. Tipoff time from Lantz Arena is set for 3:30 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information