MARTIN, Tenn. – The shorthanded University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team could not find an offensive rhythm this afternoon in a 59-47 setback to Morehead State on Senior Day.
Missing leading scorer Tarence Guinyard because of injury, the Skyhawks mustered their second-lowest scoring output of the season. UT Martin will now enter next week’s Ohio Valley Conference Championship tournament as the No. 8 seed against No. 5 seed Tennessee Tech on Wednesday, March 5 at 6 p.m. in Evansville, Ind.
Andrija Bukumirović topped the Skyhawks (13-18, 9-11 OVC) in scoring for the first time this season with 10 points while adding six rebounds. Vladimer Salaridze chipped in nine points, a game-high seven rebounds and three assists while Josué Grullon (nine points) and Carlos Cortijo (career-best seven assists for the second straight outing) also guided UT Martin.
Morehead State (15-16, 10-10 OVC) put three scorers in double figures, headed by the backcourt duo of Jerone Morton and Tyler Brelsford’s 13 points apiece. Anouar Mellouk added 12 points for the Eagles, who shot 55 percent (11-of-20) in the second half to extend their four-point halftime advantage.
“I thought we guarded ok today but we were disconnected on the offensive end,” Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman said. “Morehead State is a really good defensive team who plays big and physical but we struggled executing. We’ll get better as we turn the page and start preparing for our next challenge in the OVC Tournament.”
Following a pregame Senior Day ceremony that honored the career accolades of Salaridze and David Kamwanga, the first half featured six ties and five lead changes. Neither side opened up a lead larger than one possession through the first 10-plus minutes but that stretch snapped when Afan Trnka buried a three-pointer and Salaridze added a free throw on UT Martin’s next trip down the floor to give the Skyhawks a 14-9 lead at the under-8-minute media timeout.
The action continued to sway back-and-forth until the Eagles ended the opening half on an 8-2 run to claim a 24-20 edge at the intermission. UT Martin held Morehead State to 33.3 percent (9-of-27) shooting overall and 16.7 percent (2-for-12) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
After Bukumirović opened the second-half scoring with a fast break layup to slice the Skyhawk deficit to 24-22, the Eagles scored 10 of the next 12 points and soon led by double figures.
Matija Žužić canned an off-balanced jumper with his foot on the three-point line before Bukumirović swished a jumper in the paint to get UT Martin back within single digits at the 13:14 mark. However, Morehead State went on a 12-3 run immediately afterwards to take its biggest lead of the day (49-31) with nine minutes to go.
Grullon was responsible for five points during a 7-2 run to pull the Skyhawks back within 10 points with 1:54 to go but that was ultimately as close as UT Martin would get.
The Skyhawks open the men’s bracket at next week’s OVC Championship tournament at the Ford Center, matching up with a Golden Eagle squad that won two overtime decisions against the Skyhawks in 2024-25.
