HOUSTON, Texas – Despite the fact that the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team swished a season-best 13 three-pointers and went a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line tonight, the Skyhawks fell by a 98-78 margin to Rice out of the American Athletic Conference.
The 13 treys came on a 43.3 percent shooting clip and were two more than UT Martin’s previous season-high tally, set three times (at Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 17, against North Alabama on Nov. 22, at Chicago State on Nov. 25). Meanwhile, the Skyhawks’ 100 percent shooting effort from the charity stripe was the first time the squad sank double-digit tries without a miss since also going 11-of-11 against Austin Peay on Feb. 8, 2021.
Jacob Crews led UT Martin (5-3) with 22 points to go along with seven rebounds in 29 minutes of playing time. Justus Jackson contributed 13 points in 20 minutes off the bench while Issa Muhammad (11 points, nine rebounds) and Jordan Sears (eight points, career-best nine assists) narrowly missed double-doubles. Desmond Williams nailed a trio of three-pointers on the way to a season-high nine points for the Skyhawks.
Rice (2-5) was led by 29 points from Travis Evee while Mekhi Mason (17 points) and Alem Huseinovic (11 points) also reached double digits in the scoring column.
Buckets by Crews (mid-range jumper in the paint) and Muhammad (dunk off a feed from Sears) gave UT Martin an early lead but the Owls came back with an 18-5 run and never looked back.
Crews converted a pair of free throws at the 11:38 mark of the first half to keep the Skyhawks within striking distance (20-13) but Rice immediately scored 14 unanswered points.
Over a six-minute span during the first half, UT Martin drilled four treys to get back in the game. Jackson made the first two trifectas and was followed by Muhammad and Sebastian Mendoza.
Crews scored on a second-chance layup with a little over a minute left in the half to trim the Skyhawk deficit to 42-35 before the Owls took a 47-37 lead into the locker room at the break.
Muhammad (nine points) paced UT Martin in the opening half while Evee’s 18 points guided Rice.
The Skyhawks’ first bucket of the second half was a Crews triple but the Owls pieced together a 14-0 run thereafter.
Jackson ended UT Martin’s drought with a mid-range jumper with 14:55 remaining. Crews would go on to score 10 of the next 12 Skyhawk points – capping off his personal run with an old-fashioned three-point play with 11:30 to go.
However, another Rice run – this time a 13-2 surge – officially put the game out of reach. Williams splashed three treys while Jackson and Koby Jeffries each added a long-range make in the final five minutes but UT Martin’s deficit was too large to overcome.
The Skyhawks head 150 miles east for their final game of this lengthy road trip, taking on McNeese on Saturday, Dec. 2. Tipoff from Lake Charles, La. is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
