NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Boosted by the return of senior forward Issa Muhammad, the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team compiled its third straight win in the Gentry Center as the Skyhawks soared to a 91-75 victory over Tennessee State.
An Atlanta, Ga. native who missed the last four games due to injury, Muhammad came back with a vengeance – scoring a career-best 23 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds.
Muhammad was joined in double figures by the UT Martin trio of Jacob Crews (19 points, seven rebounds), Jordan Sears (14 points, season-best seven rebounds, five assists and season-high five steals) and Kenny White, Jr. (13 points, three assists). The Skyhawks improved to 8-6 with a 1-0 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play after leading for 36:24 of clock time while outscoring the Tigers 44-20 in the paint and 21-7 on fast breaks.
Tennessee State (7-7, 0-1 OVC) was paced by Michael Shanks’ 22 points. EJ Bellinger collected a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds while Jason Jitoboh (11 points) and Jaylen Jones (10 points) also helped guide the Tigers, who were previously 5-0 at home before tonight.
“It’s so good to get a road win, especially against an extremely talented and well-coached Tennessee State team,” UT Martin head coach Ryan Ridder said. “It’s always challenging after the holiday break but I have to give our guys credit – they came in and played their tails off. We collectively played really well and I thought our defensive effort in the second half was really good.”
Crews got the Skyhawks going early, scoring six straight points in the span of 15 seconds to give UT Martin an 11-8 advantage. The Skyhawks went on a 10-2 run coming out of the under-16-minute media timeout, ignited by an old-fashioned three-point play by Sears.
A stepback triple from Crews at the 12:02 mark nudged UT Martin’s lead out to 26-16 and forced Tennessee State to burn its second timeout of the contest.
After the Tigers pulled within five points, a straightaway three-pointer from Justus Jackson and a bucket inside by White pushed the Skyhawk advantage back out to double digits (35-25) at the under-8-media timeout.
A quick 11-2 spurt from UT Martin – capped off with back-to-back treys from Jackson – extended the Skyhawk lead to 46-31 with a little under four minutes to go before the halftime break.
Tennessee State wrapped up the first half with 10 of the final 13 points as UT Martin took a 53-46 advantage into the locker room. Muhammad was responsible for game-highs of 12 points and six rebounds at the half as the Skyhawks equaled a season-high for first-half scoring. Shanks had a team-best nine points for the Tigers.
Crews scored UT Martin’s first four points of the second half before a Sears bucket inside once again pushed the Skyhawk lead out to double figures (59-49).
After Tennessee State trimmed its deficit to four points with 11:31 remaining, the UT Martin duo of Muhammad and White combined to score the next 12 Skyhawk points. As a result, UT Martin held a 73-62 advantage with just under nine minutes left to play.
The Tigers got within six points at the seven-minute mark but that was ultimately as close as they would get. The Skyhawks went on a 15-2 run as Sears poured in six of those points to ice the win. Fittingly, it was Muhammad who knocked down UT Martin’s final bucket – a three-pointer from the left wing with 31 ticks left.
The Skyhawks will make the 85-mile trek east for their next contest, paying a visit to OVC in-state rival Tennessee Tech. Tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 30 is set for 3 p.m.
