NORMAL, Ill. – Five University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball players scored in double figures this evening as the Skyhawks knocked off Illinois State in an impressive 67-65 road victory.
The win gave head coach Jeremy Shulman his first victory at UT Martin in his Skyhawk debut and also snapped a pair of streaks. UT Martin won a season-opening road contest for the first time since Nov. 22, 2003 (had previously lost its last 13) and prevailed for the first time in six tries against a Redbird squad that was picked fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll.
The Skyhawks led by as many as 14 points in the second half and held a 63-52 advantage with 1:35 to go but had to fend off a furious Illinois State rally down the stretch. UT Martin was able to sink four free throws in the final 26 seconds to hang on for the victory.
All nine Skyhawks who played tonight made their UT Martin debuts. Josué Grullon poured in a game-high 18 points to go along with nine rebounds while Tarence Guinyard (12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals), Vladimer Salaridze (11 points, 12 rebounds), Adan Trnka (11 points, four rebounds, three assists) and Carlos Cortijo (10 points, two blocks) led the Skyhawks offensively.
The Redbirds were held to 29 percent shooting (18-of-62), including a 19.5-percent effort (8-for-41) from three-point land. Jack Daugherty scored a team-high 15 points off the bench while Chase Walker (13 points), Ty Pence (12) and Landon Wolf (10) additionally scored in double figures for Illinois State.
“I’m just really proud of our guys,” said Shulman, who was hired on March 27 as the 13th head coach in UT Martin history. “To go out on the road against a very well-coached team like Illinois State and get the win when it was most of our guys’ first game at the Division I level was a great start to our process. I thought we really buckled down defensively and our guys executed on the offensive end in the second half. Down the stretch it wasn’t the prettiest but we stayed connected through the stress and that’ll be a learning experience we can take forward.”
A Guinyard trifecta from the left wing was the first bucket in the Shulman Era and got the Skyhawks on the scoreboard just 42 seconds into the contest. The Redbirds went on an 11-2 run midway through the first half before Grullon got hot with six straight points in the span of 58 seconds.
Back-to-back treys from Lamine Niang and Guinyard before a driving layup by Cortijo helped UT Martin trim its deficit to 31-29 at the halftime break. Grullon had 10 points in the opening half while Daugherty’s 12 points guided Illinois State.
Trnka caught fire coming out of the locker room, pumping in 11 of the Skyhawks’ first 18 points in the second half to help UT Martin take a double-digit lead (47-37) with 10:42 to go.
Grullon drilled a three-pointer from the right corner a little over a minute later to give the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the evening at 51-37.
The Redbirds used a 10-2 surge to pull within six points with 6:32 remaining but UT Martin was able to nudge its lead out to 63-52 following a pair of Guinyard free throws with 1:35 left to play.
Illinois State cut the Skyhawk lead to one point on two separate occasions but Stefano Faloppa (one) and Grullon (three) combined to calmly swish four free throws late. The Redbirds were able to get a look at a potential game-tying bucket right before the buzzer but Matija Žužić walled up defensively and Grullon came down with the rebound to seal the victory.
UT Martin holds its home opener this Thursday, Nov. 7, taking on first-time opponent Kentucky Christian on Education Day. Tipoff from the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is set for 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
