Despite four starters reaching double figures in the scoring column for the UTM men’s basketball team, the Skyhawks struggled offensively in an 84-62 loss at the hands of Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) co-leader Murray State.
UTM shot 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the floor, including a 3-for-18 performance from beyond the three-point arc. As a result, the Skyhawks fell behind 43-24 at the halftime break and could not get any closer than 15 points in the second half.
Quintin Dove led UTM (5-11, 1-4 OVC) in scoring for the fifth time this season, tallying 18 points on the night. Derek Hawthorne, Jr. collected 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds while Parker Stewart (15 points) and Steve Wooten, Jr. (12 points) also helped pace the Skyhawks.
The Racers (12-5, 5-0 OVC) also placed four scorers in double-digits this evening, led by Tevin Brown’s 20-point effort. KJ Williams (14 points, 12 rebounds) snared a double-double off the bench to join Jaiveon Eaves (14 points) and Demond Robinson (10 points) as the top scorers for Murray State.
“Early on, we didn’t have a few assignments correct on our defensive rotations and you can’t do that against a good team like that,” UTM head coach Anthony Stewart. “We can’t hang our heads too long with Austin Peay coming here in less than 24 hours. We’ll talk in the locker room and we’ll be working hard in the film room to correct some things.”
A floater in the lane by Wooten opened the scoring for the Skyhawks and evened the score at 2-all at the 18:38 mark. Wooten added a three-pointer before Hawthorne accounted for five consecutive UT Martin points but the Racers soon opened up a 23-10 lead. Dove tossed in five points during a 7-0 Skyhawk run that made the score 23-17 at the 7:46 mark before Murray State scored 14 of the next 16 points on its way to a 43-24 advantage at the break.
Hawthorne had a team-best eight points for UTM in the opening half while Eaves’ 12 points carried Murray State.
Five of the Skyhawks’ first seven points of the second half came via Hawthorne while Stewart scored four straight points to whittle UTM’s deficit to 50-35 with 15:30 left to play. However, the Racers proved to be too much as that was as close as the Skyhawks would get the rest of the way.
UTM will look to recover when it closes out its four-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 18. Tipoff against the Austin Peay Governors is set for approximately 4 p.m. (following the women’s game).
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