By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team took a seven-point advantage into the halftime break and stretched its lead out to a dozen in the second half but Ole Miss snuck away with a 72-68 victory this evening.
Defense was the Skyhawks’ calling card as UT Martin limited the Rebels to just 38.9 percent shooting (21-of-54) for the contest – including a 26.3 percent clip (5-for-19) from three-point land. However, Ole Miss was able to go on a 33-11 run and convert 25 of its 38 free throw tries (compared to 9-of-15 for the Skyhawks from the charity stripe).
UT Martin (2-3) put four scorers in double-digits, led by Parker Stewart’s 13 points. KK Curry was very active as the junior forward from Cleveland, Tenn. posted a stat line of 12 points, three rebounds and a team-high four steals in 23 minutes of play. Chris Nix (10 points, game-high nine rebounds) and Desmond Williams (10 points thanks in large part to three trifectas) gave the Skyhawks noticeable offensive balance.
Matthew Murrell scored 16 points while Myles Burns (13 points) was the only other double-digit scorer for the Rebels out of the Southeastern Conference.
UT Martin led for 24:29 of clock time in this contest as the game featured nine lead changes and four ties. Stewart gave the Skyhawks the lead with a three-pointer on the game’s opening possession. Another Stewart trey at the 16:35 mark opened up a 12-7 advantage for UT Martin.
Ole Miss went on an 8-2 run to temporarily reclaim the lead but it wasn’t long until the Skyhawks were back in control. Williams buried a pair of three-point jumpers in the span of 47 seconds to make the score 20-15 in favor of UT Martin at the under-12-minute media timeout.
Following six straight points from the Rebels, another three-pointer – this time from Rifen Miguel – gave the Skyhawks a 25-21 advantage. UT Martin soon ended the half with seven of the final eight points – including William’s third longball of the contest at the 1:57 mark – to propel the Skyhawks to a 39-32 lead at the break.
Williams’ nine points were a game-high at the half as UT Martin connected on a scorching 54.5 percent (6-for-11) of its attempts from three-point range. Murrell’s seven points guided Ole Miss.
Curry was responsible for four of the Skyhawks’ first six points of the second half as his layup with 17:38 remaining resulted in UT Martin’s biggest lead of the night at 45-33.
The efficient Skyhawk offense suddenly went cold as UT Martin did not score a field goal for a stretch of almost seven minutes of clock time. During that span, the Rebels went on a 17-2 run until a KJ Simon fast break dunk ended the Skyhawk spell and kept the squad within a single possession at 50-49 midway through the half.
Ole Miss then went on another lengthy run, tacking on a pair of 7-0 runs to go ahead 66-56 at the 4:24 mark. UT Martin did not waver as a Simon layup made it a two-point contest (70-68) with 16 seconds to go. However, the Rebels were able to inbound the ensuing possession cleanly and knock down a pair of free throws to provide the final 72-68 margin.
MARTIN, Tenn. – A game that featured 18 lead changes and nine tie scores fittingly came down to the final possession today as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball squad held on for an 80-79 triumph over Prairie View A&M at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Facing a Panther squad that was coming off a win over Pac 12 opponent Washington State, the Skyhawks (3-3) took the 80-79 lead when Parker Stewart knocked down a go-ahead step-back jumper from the left wing with 1:29 to go. Neither side would score on its next two trips down the floor, setting up the dramatic final possession coming out of a timeout with 12.7 seconds left. Prairie View A&M’s leading scorer Will Douglas – already accounting for 22 points in the game – was bottled up by Stewart and was forced to take an off-balance fadeaway jumper that caromed off the rim and right into Stewart’s hands for the rebound as soon as the final buzzer sounded.
Stewart finished with a team-high 21 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. He was joined in double figures scoring by Jordan Sears (season-high 18 points) and KK Curry (15 points, team-highs of eight rebounds and three steals). Chris Nix added seven points and team-highs of eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks while Desmond Williams (nine points on three treys, three assists) and Rifen Miguel (season-best eight points, four rebounds in just 15 minutes) were also key contributors for UT Martin.
Four Panthers combined for 72 of Prairie View A&M’s 79 points. Following Douglas’ team-high scoring effort was Jeremiah Gambrell (19 points), Kortrijk Miles (16) and Yahuza Rasas (15).
“Prairie View A&M is a great mid-major basketball team – they’ve won three out of the last four SWAC regular season championships,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “I’m so proud of our guys’ resiliency – it was a collective effort by everyone. It’s going to look different every single game but I think it’s extremely important that when your number is called, you’re ready. We played our tails off today.”
Five separate players (Sears, Curry, Stewart, Williams, Nix) combined for UT Martin’s first 10 points as the Skyhawks held a six-point advantage early. After Stewart’s second triple of the game at the 14:36 mark, the Panthers went on a 12-0 run and eventually took a 24-14 lead with 10:50 to go in the first half.
The Skyhawk deficit remained at 10 points with a little over seven minutes remaining before the halftime break. UT Martin soon turned things around with a 14-3 surge as Curry accounted for seven points during that stretch. A Miguel layup at the 3:47 mark made the score 32-31 in favor of the Skyhawks and although Prairie View A&M would briefly retake the lead, UT Martin led 37-36 at the intermission after Williams canned a go-ahead three-pointer with 12 seconds left in the opening half.
Curry had 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first 20 minutes to guide the Skyhawks, who held the Panthers to 38.2 percent (13-of-34) shooting – including a 3-for-11 performance from three-point range. Douglas and Gambrell had 14 and 10 points, respectively, to pace Prairie View A&M.
The Panthers scored seven of the first nine points in the second half but UT Martin went on an 11-2 run – claiming a 54-49 edge following a pair of Stewart free throws with 14:38 left to play.
The Skyhawks stayed on top until six unanswered Prairie View A&M points resulted in a 60-59 Panther lead with 10:19 remaining. UT Martin stayed within four points for the next six-plus minutes of clock time until a pair of Sears free throws nudged the Skyhawks ahead by a 76-74 margin coming out of the final media timeout.
Four lead changes and two ties followed from that point forward. After Stewart’s go-ahead jumper, Sears came up with a big block on a fast break layup that would have given Prairie View A&M a lead with 45 seconds remaining. That was the first of two big stops as UT Martin closed out the victory soon thereafter.
The Skyhawks go back on the road for their next outing, making the short trip to Arkansas State for a nonconference bout on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information