By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball squad left it all on the floor but came up just short against one of the nation’s top teams today, falling 62-60 to No. 21 Murray State at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
It was an emotional day from the start as the Skyhawks held Senior Day festivities prior to tipoff. Bernie Andre – who reached the 1,000 collegiate point plateau in the first half today – and Darius Simmons were recognized for their career contributions.
UT Martin (8-20, 4-12 Ohio Valley Conference) followed with its most inspired efforts of the season. The Skyhawks led by six points at the halftime break and also held a five-point advantage with three minutes to go. UT Martin led by a 60-59 margin with 23 seconds remaining before the Racers (26-2, 16-0 OVC) converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 10 seconds left. The Skyhawks got a look at a potential game-winning three-pointer just before the buzzer but KJ Simon’s attempt grazed the back rim as Murray State escaped with the win.
Simon was effective throughout the afternoon, pouring in a game-high 24 points to go along with nine rebounds. It marked the 10th outing with at least 20 points this season for the junior guard out of Orlando, Fla.
Koby Jeffries also added eight points and five rebounds with game-highs of five assists and two blocks for the Skyhawks, who shot 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from three-point range.
The Racers placed three scorers in double figures, led by Tevin Brown’s 18 points. KJ Williams added 16 points while Justice Hill accumulated 10 points for Murray State, who overcame a 33.9 percent (20-of-59) shooting effort to extend its longest winning streak in the nation at 16 games.
“I’m proud of our effort,” UT Martin head coach Ryan Ridder said. “We come out and we play 40 minutes as hard as we can and try to play basketball the right way. Murray State is not only one of the best teams in our league but in all of college basketball. It’s frustrating at times because I know this basketball team is much better than its record indicates but to our guys’ credit, they don’t look at that – they punch the clock and try to find a way to get better every day.”
The Skyhawks were clearly the aggressors early, scoring the first seven points of the game – the final five of which came from Simon. The Racers battled back to even the score at 9-all but UT Martin responded nicely with a 10-3 run, capped off by a David Kamwanga hook shot in the paint that made the score 19-12 at the 11:14 mark.
After Murray State closed to within one point at 26-25, the Skyhawks ended the first half on a 7-2 run. Jeffries made a layup and Kamwanga knocked down a pair of free throws on UT Martin’s next possession. Following a Mikel Henderson free throw, Jeffries scored on another driving layup with nine seconds remaining to make the score 33-27 at the halftime buzzer.
The Skyhawk backcourt tandem of Simon and Jeffries each had eight points in the first half as UT Martin shot a sizzling 65 percent (13-for-20) in the opening 20 minutes. Williams’ eight points guided the Racers at the break.
Murray State began the second half on a 12-2 run, taking its first lead of the contest at the 16:40 mark of the second half. The Racers eventually claimed a seven-point advantage (54-47) at the under-8 media timeout.
Facing their largest deficit of the day, UT Martin fought right back with a 12-0 surge. Josiah Morris began the extended run with a three-pointer before Kamwanga sank a second-chance layup. A Simon mid-range stepback jumper tied the ballgame at 54-54 before Henderson buried a deep trifecta to tilt the lead back in favor of the Skyhawks. Simon swished a pair of free throws with 3:18 remaining to extend UT Martin’s lead out to 59-54.
Murray State collected the next five points of the game, tying the contest at 59-all with 91 seconds remaining. Both teams came up with defensive stops before Simon was fouled and made the first of two free throws.
Coming out of a Racer timeout, Williams was responsible for an old-fashioned three-point play, which was only Murray State’s second made field goal in the final nine minutes of the game.
Following Williams’ made free throw, Simon received the inbounds pass and dribbled to the left wing before hoisting a stepback trey that appeared on target but rimmed out as time expired.
The Skyhawks go on the road for their final two games of the 2021-22 regular season, starting with a Thursday, Feb. 24 matchup at Southeast Missouri.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information