SKYHAWK MEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS 72-58 IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE AT MOREHEAD STATE
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vs. #6 Seed SIUE/#7 Seed Southern Indiana
3/2/2023 | 9 p.m.
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Full Schedule #6 Seed SIUE/#7 Seed Southern Indiana History MOREHEAD, Ky. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team received a game-high scoring effort out of this afternoon but it wasn't enough as the Skyhawks fell 72-58 at Ohio Valley Conference regular season champion Morehead State.
Forced to wait over an hour after the conclusion of its game to see where the team would be seeded in next week's OVC Championship tournament, UT Martin (18-13, 10-8) will be the No. 3 seed and play the winner of No. 6 SIUE/No. 7 Southern Indiana at 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 2 in Evansville, Ind. It will mark the first OVC Championship tournament appearance for the Skyhawks since 2019.
Sears paced UT Martin in scoring for the 13th time in 2022-23 – all coming in the final 20 games – with 17 points today. joined him in double figures scoring with 10 points while the Skyhawks also received a lift off the bench from (eight points, team-high five rebounds in 14 minutes).
Morehead State (21-10, 14-4) received 17 points out of Jake Wolfe while Alex Gross managed a double-double (16 points, 17 rebounds) to go along with seven blocks. Drew Thelwell and Mark Freeman also reached double figures scoring with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
"Morehead State is a really good basketball team – they're the standard of our league and there's a reason why they're celebrating a regular season championship," UT Martin head coach said. "They were able to control the tempo – we weren't able to get out in transition and ultimately we just struggled to score. We've had one heck of a regular season and we have a chance to play in Evansville – our group is resilient and we look forward to the opportunity next week."
A steal and fast break layup from at the 19:12 mark of the first half got the scoring underway for both sides. Nix scored four straight points before a Simon dunk evened the score at 8-all early.
The Eagles went on a 13-2 run to go on top by double figures a little over midway through the opening half but the Skyhawks quickly closed their deficit to only four (24-20) after a Nix layup with six minutes remaining before the halftime break.
Moments later, a steal and fast break layup kept the margin at four but Morehead State was able to take a 32-24 advantage at the half.
The UT Martin trio of Nix, Simon and Sears each had a team-high six points at the intermission while Thelwell's 11 points guided the Eagles.
Williams splashed a deep trey from the left wing only 36 seconds into the second half but Morehead State grabbed a 41-31 lead with 17 minutes remaining.
The Skyhawks then began attacking the rim as 10 of their next 13 points came via four layups. A layup at the 11:44 mark shaved UT Martin's deficit to just four (48-44) with 11:44 left in the contest.
The Eagles scored 12 of the next 14 points before an old-fashioned three-point play from Miguel ended the Skyhawk drought at the 7:38 mark.
A little under three minutes later, Stewart canned a three-pointer to trim Morehead State's lead back to single digits (65-56) but that would prove to be as close as UT Martin would get the rest of the way.
The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team received a game-high scoring effort out ofthis afternoon but it wasn't enough as the Skyhawks fell 72-58 at Ohio Valley Conference regular season champion Morehead State.Forced to wait over an hour after the conclusion of its game to see where the team would be seeded in next week's OVC Championship tournament, UT Martin (18-13, 10-8) will be the No. 3 seed and play the winner of No. 6 SIUE/No. 7 Southern Indiana at 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 2 in Evansville, Ind. It will mark the first OVC Championship tournament appearance for the Skyhawks since 2019.Sears paced UT Martin in scoring for the 13time in 2022-23 – all coming in the final 20 games – with 17 points today.joined him in double figures scoring with 10 points while the Skyhawks also received a lift off the bench from(eight points, team-high five rebounds in 14 minutes).Morehead State (21-10, 14-4) received 17 points out of Jake Wolfe while Alex Gross managed a double-double (16 points, 17 rebounds) to go along with seven blocks. Drew Thelwell and Mark Freeman also reached double figures scoring with 15 and 13 points, respectively."Morehead State is a really good basketball team – they're the standard of our league and there's a reason why they're celebrating a regular season championship," UT Martin head coachsaid. "They were able to control the tempo – we weren't able to get out in transition and ultimately we just struggled to score. We've had one heck of a regular season and we have a chance to play in Evansville – our group is resilient and we look forward to the opportunity next week."A steal and fast break layup fromat the 19:12 mark of the first half got the scoring underway for both sides. Nix scored four straight points before a Simon dunk evened the score at 8-all early.The Eagles went on a 13-2 run to go on top by double figures a little over midway through the opening half but the Skyhawks quickly closed their deficit to only four (24-20) after a Nix layup with six minutes remaining before the halftime break.Moments later, asteal and fast break layup kept the margin at four but Morehead State was able to take a 32-24 advantage at the half.The UT Martin trio of Nix, Simon and Sears each had a team-high six points at the intermission while Thelwell's 11 points guided the Eagles.Williams splashed a deep trey from the left wing only 36 seconds into the second half but Morehead State grabbed a 41-31 lead with 17 minutes remaining.The Skyhawks then began attacking the rim as 10 of their next 13 points came via four layups. Alayup at the 11:44 mark shaved UT Martin's deficit to just four (48-44) with 11:44 left in the contest.The Eagles scored 12 of the next 14 points before an old-fashioned three-point play from Miguel ended the Skyhawk drought at the 7:38 mark.A little under three minutes later, Stewart canned a three-pointer to trim Morehead State's lead back to single digits (65-56) but that would prove to be as close as UT Martin would get the rest of the way.