ST. CHARLES, Mo. – A near triple-double by University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball star Jordan Sears highlighted the Skyhawks’ 106-82 Ohio Valley Conference triumph at Lindenwood this evening.
Sears went off for career-highs across the board, finishing his night with 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. He also knocked down a career-best seven treys (in 11 tries) as part of an 11-for-18 shooting effort while also swishing all eight of his free throw attempts. His scoring performance was the eighth-best point total in UT Martin’s NCAA Division I Era (since 1992) as the junior out of Daytona Beach, Fla. moved into second place for most 30-plus point games (seven) in the school’s Division I history.
The Skyhawks’ 106 points tonight tied the program’s previous high score for an OVC contest (also accomplishing that feat in a home win over Tennessee State on Jan. 11, 2003). UT Martin shot 63.9 percent (39-for-61) from the field – the best mark for the program in an OVC outing since connecting on 67.2 percent (41-of-61) in the same 2003 game against Tennessee State.
Jacob Crews pulled down his eighth double-double of the season with 28 points (on 9-of-14 shooting) and 12 rebounds, adding two steals and two blocks. Issa Muhammad tallied 10 points with eight boards while KK Curry (nine points), Sebastian Mendoza (nine) and Koby Jeffries (eight) provided solid scoring punch for the Skyhawks, who shot 63.9 percent (39-for-61) from the field. That included a sizzling 71.4 percent (20-of-28) effort in the second half as UT Martin generated 59 points over the final 20 minutes.
The victory tonight improved the Skyhawks to 18-10 overall and tied the 2007-08 squad for the second-most OVC victories (11) in school history. It also equaled the program record for most OVC road wins in a single season (six – tied with the 2008-09 and 2007-08 teams).
The Lions (8-20, 2-13) placed five scorers in double figures, led by Keenon Cole’s 17 points. He was followed by Darius Beane (13), Jeremiah Talton (12), Colin Ruffin (11) and Jaylon McDaniel (10).
“Jordan was obviously really good tonight,” UT Martin head coach Ryan Ridder said. “We got the game going at our tempo and got loose a couple times in transition. We have a really good basketball team right now – our guys are enjoying and embracing the journey. It makes it a lot of fun when those guys in the locker room care about each other.”
Curry scored four of the Skyhawks’ first six points of the game but the Lions began the game making eight of their first 13 field goal attempts, taking a 20-14 lead a little over six minutes in.
UT Martin forced misses on Lindenwood’s next six shots, allowing the Skyhawks to go on a 10-0 run. Crews accounted for the first four points of the run before Jeffries added four himself – giving UT Martin a 26-21 edge with a floater in the lane midway through the opening half.
The Lions came back to briefly take a two-point lead with six minutes remaining before the break but Sears soon caught fire. He collected 14 points in a span of 4:28 – including four treys – to help the Skyhawks claim a 47-40 lead at the half.
Sears’ 18 points topped all scorers while Cole had 14 points to guide Lindenwood.
After the Lions got within four points early in the second half, Crews and Sears drilled three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to extend UT Martin’s advantage to 54-44 with 17:54 remaining.
The Skyhawk lead grew to 16 points (66-50) when Curry converted a contested fast break layup at the 13:30 mark. Lindenwood would not get any closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
A Mendoza bucket inside opened up a 21-point lead (82-61) for UT Martin with 8:25 to go. Williams knocked down a three-pointer to wrap up the scoring and give the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the evening (24 points).
UT Martin wraps up its road swing on Saturday, Feb. 24 when it heads to Southeast Missouri. Tipoff from the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. is set for 3:45 p.m.
