LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team got into an early hole and could not recover tonight, falling by a 77-57 margin in Ohio Valley Conference action at Little Rock.
Four Skyhawks wound up scoring in double figures as the trio of Jacob Crews, Koby Jeffries (season-high) and Jalen Myers shared the team lead in scoring with 12 points apiece. Issa Muhammad compiled 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds for UT Martin (14-10, 7-4 OVC), who was hampered by season-lows in scoring (57 points) and three-point field goals made (three).
Little Rock improved to 13-11 with a 7-4 OVC mark thanks to five double-digit scorers. Bradley Douglas (17 points), Makhel Mitchell (14), DeAntoni Gordon (12), Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (12) and KK Robinson (10) carried the Trojans offensively while Crocker-Johnson also hauled in 11 rebounds.
“The story of the game was rebounding,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “Give Little Rock a lot of credit – they are a good team that’s going to be tough to play in March. We know we’re a good team too – we just didn’t have quality looks and it wasn’t our night. I was encouraged by our group at the end – we stuck together and fought until the end. We’ll get some rest and put this one behind us.”
A pullup 15-foot jumper from Crews got UT Martin on the scoreboard under a minute into the contest. Little Rock scored the next 10 points but back-to-back dunks from Jordan Sears and Muhammad shaved the Skyhawk deficit to 15-8 with a little over 15 minutes remaining until the halftime break.
Following an old-fashioned three-point play by Sears, UT Martin received a lift out of Myers as the junior from Huntsville, Ala. accounted for seven consecutive Skyhawk points over a 4:33 span.
After Myers’ third straight bucket, the Trojans went on an 8-0 run. UT Martin was responsible for the final five points of the first half as Crews drained a three-pointer from the left corner and Sears scored on a strong take to the rim to make the score 40-25 at the break.
Sears and Myers shared the Skyhawk lead with seven points apiece in the first half while Crocker-Johnson and Mitchell each had eight points to top Little Rock.
Desmond Williams scored on a left-hand drive on UT Martin’s first possession in the second half, trimming the Trojan lead to 40-27. A layup from Muhammad with 14:26 left to play kept the Skyhawks within 13 points but Little Rock soon went back ahead by a 58-38 margin with a little over 11 minutes to go.
Jeffries (six) and Muhammad (four) combined to score UT Martin’s next 10 points but ultimately, another Trojan run – this time 10 unanswered points – prevented the Skyhawks from making up ground.
Myers scored seven of UT Martin’s final nine points of the contest but the deficit was too large to overcome.
The Skyhawks complete their four-game road stretch on Saturday, Feb. 10 with a nationally televised matchup against OVC foe Western Illinois. Tipoff from Macomb, Ill. is set for 11 a.m. on ESPNU.
