By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the first time in nine years, the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team poured in triple digits on the scoreboard against an Ohio Valley Conference opponent as the Skyhawks put on an offensive clinic in a 100-91 victory at Tennessee Tech.
Today’s result was UT Martin’s first 100-plus point game against a NCAA Division I opponent since a 104-79 win at Northwestern State on March 19, 2015 in the first round of CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. It was the program’s first 100-plus point performance in OVC play since a 100-81 triumph over Tennessee State on Jan. 13, 2014.
The Skyhawks also accomplished a rare individual scoring feat today as three players scored at least 20 points for the first time since Jan. 11, 2020. Parker Stewart shot 8-of-9 from three-point range on his way to a 32-point outing, just two point shy of his career-best tally set against McNeese earlier this season. KJ Simon posted his third double-double of the season with 22 points, 10 rebounds while also adding a career-best six assists and two blocks. Chris Nix was also huge in the post, piling up 20 points (on 9-of-12 shooting) with five rebounds and a career-best four assists.
Jordan Sears rounded out UT Martin’s double-digit scorers with 12 points and a career-high eight assists. The Skyhawks established season-highs in field goal percentage (.593, 35-of-59) and three-point field goal percentage (.667, 10-for-15) – the latter of which is a school record in a game with double-digit makes. UT Martin also shot 87 percent (20-of-23) from the free throw line, improving to 18-11 overall and 10-6 in OVC play (tied for the third-most OVC wins in school history).
Tennessee Tech (13-16, 9-7 OVC) produced four scorers in double figures as Jaylen Sebree’s 25 points and 10 rebounds led the way. Brett Thompson chipped in 24 points while Jayvis Harvey and Ty Perry finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Golden Eagles.
“It looks different every night – we didn’t anticipate coming on the road and scoring 100 points but I’m so proud of this group,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “Tennessee Tech jumped us early and we had a chance to get a little frazzled on the road but we didn’t. We’ve been telling our team all year that how you respond to adversity is going to dictate the direction for the rest of our season. This group is fun to coach right now.”
Simon boasted the hot hand early, scoring 11 of UT Martin’s first 15 points through the first 5:52. However, the Golden Eagles were able to take an eight-point advantage (26-18) into the under-12-minute media timeout.
Stewart then caught fire, reeling off 11 straight Skyhawk points to get UT Martin back in the game. Moments later, the Skyhawks went on an 18-3 run that included eight more points out of Stewart. Sears put the finishing touches on the run with four consecutive points to boost UT Martin’s lead out to 52-40.
With only four seconds remaining in the first half, Sears drove the lane and found Nix for an open layup to make the score 56-44 at the break – the most Skyhawk first-half points against a NCAA Division I opponent this season.
Stewart already tossed in 19 points in the first half while Simon had 16 points of his own for UT Martin, who shot 63.3 percent (19-of-30) overall and splashed seven of its nine attempts from three-point land. Sebree (13 points) and Thompson (10) led Tennessee Tech in the opening 20 minutes.
The Golden Eagles started the second half on a 6-2 run but Stewart delivered a pair of trifectas in a 63-second span to halt the Tennessee Tech momentum.
With 11:45 to go, the Golden Eagles pulled within seven points at 70-63 but it was Stewart once again who splashed a dagger three-pointer less than a minute later to nudge the Skyhawk lead back out to double figures.
UT Martin soon used an 8-0 run to double its lead from eight to 16 after a Simon left-handed take to the rim resulted in a 83-67 Skyhawk lead with 6:47 left to play.
A fadeaway jumper by Stewart at the 2:54 mark gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the day at 95-78. Desmond Williams knocked down a free throw with 49 seconds remaining to get the Skyhawks to the century mark for the fourth time this season.
UT Martin returns to the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center for a nationally televised Senior Night matchup on Thursday, Feb. 23 against Tennessee State. Josh Endicott, Rifen Miguel, Simon and Stewart will each be honored for their career contributions during a pregame ceremony before the 8 p.m. tipoff on ESPNU.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information