By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team held a lead for over 33 minutes against Morehead State this evening but a late scoring drought cost the Skyhawks in a 68-60 nailbiter at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
UT Martin (8-19, 4-11 Ohio Valley Conference) led by as many as 10 points in the first half and held a five-point advantage with 5:26 remaining. However, the defending OVC champion Eagles scored the next 13 points of the contest and the Skyhawks could not recover.
KK Curry tied a career-high with 24 points while adding a career-best three steals and six rebounds for the Skyhawks. The 6-6, 205-pound sophomore from Cleveland, Tenn. made 10 of his 18 field goal attempts, including a 2-for-2 effort from three-point range. Chris Nix equaled a career-best with 11 rebounds for UT Martin, who hauled in a season-high 19 offensive rebounds against a NCAA Division I opponent.
Morehead State improved to 20-8 (12-3 OVC) was led by Johni Broome’s 19 points, 12 blocks and nine rebounds. Jaylen Sebree added 13 points off the bench for the Eagles, who survived despite a 15 percent (3-for-20) shooting effort from beyond the three-point arc.
“I thought for the first 36 minutes we played really well,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “Morehead State is a team that’s played in March Madness for a reason. In the last four minutes, our guys tried to compete but were still searching for a way to win and Morehead State has guys who have done it before together. I thought we played extremely hard and gave ourselves a chance to win – that’s what you ask for in conference games. But give credit to Morehead State – they made plays down the stretch and we’ll continue to learn and get better from it.”
Morehead State scored six of the first nine points of the game but UT Martin soon seized control. A KJ Simon three-pointer at the 13:07 mark capped off a 10-2 run and gave the Skyhawks a lead they would not relinquish until 3:08 to go in the second half.
Another 10-2 run by UT Martin swelled its lead out to double figures (23-12) after a Curry trifecta with a little over nine minutes remaining in the opening half.
Nix converted a tough layup at the 1:29 mark to make the score 34-26 before the Eagles tallied two quick buckets late, resulting in a 34-30 Skyhawk advantage at the intermission.
Simon had eight points to pace UT Martin in the first half while Broome’s 11 points led all scorers at the break.
Bernie Andre drilled a trailing three-pointer to open the scoring in the second half, extending the Skyhawk lead out to 37-30. The Eagles closed to within one point on two different occasions over a stretch of 1:13 but UT Martin held firmly onto its lead.
Curry then showed out, reeling off 12 consecutive Skyhawk points in a span of 4:19. His free throw with 9:34 to go padded UT Martin’s lead out to eight at 52-44.
After Morehead State inched to within a single possession (54-51) at the 6:29 mark, Curry scored on a driving layup to make the score 56-51.
However, that would be the Skyhawks’ last point until an Andre free throw with 30 seconds remaining. Curry added a layup while Andre swished another free throw in the final 20 seconds but by that time, UT Martin’s deficit was too large to overcome.
The Skyhawks will hold their 2021-22 home finale on Saturday, Feb. 19 against No. 21 Murray State. The 3:30 p.m. contest will also serve as Senior Day as UT Martin will recognize graduate transfers Andre and Darius Simmons during a pregame ceremony.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information