The Skyhawk men’s hoops squad (3-2 overall) wrapped up non-conference play with a walloping by the Ole Miss Rebels (5-1 overall) to the tune of 43-90 defeat in Oxford, Mississippi.
The Skyhawks struggled mightily to produce any consistent offense. Junior forward Ajani Kennedy and freshman guard Anthony Thomas both led the Skyhawks in points with seven each. UTM failed to feature any players with double-digits in either points or rebounds. The starting lineup for the blue and orange only managed to record 25 points.
Notable statistical performances from individual Skyhawks include junior forward Cameron Holden’s team-leading four rebounds and junior guard Kenton Eskridge’s team-leading three steals.
On the other hand, the Rebels featured four double-digit scorers led by forward KJ Buffen and guard Jarkel Joiner’s 16 points each. In addition, Ole Miss dominated the Skyhawks in the paint with 47 points to UTM’s 18. The fast break and turnovers sank the Skyhawks’ ship as well, surrendering 15 points and 26 points in each aspect, respectively.
A three-pointer and a layup by Kennedy tied the Skyhawks and Rebels up 5-5 at the 17:34 mark in the first. The Rebels would go on to break the tie at the 16:54 mark and never let it go.
It took a three from Thomas at the 9:48 mark for the Skyhawks to eclipse 10 points, but by that time, UTM was already down 12-24. The Skyhawks only managed seven more points for the remainder of the first and faced a daunting 19-47 deficit going into halftime.
The Skyhawks were unable to close the gap in the second, as the Rebels led by over 50 points at times and ultimately won out with a 47 point deficit over UTM.
The Skyhawks entered Christmas break following the outing against the Rebels, and will return to action on Dec. 30 with a road matchup against OVC opponent Jacksonville State (5-2 overall) in Jacksonville, Alabama.
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