THURSDAY'S SCORES
UT Martin 94, @Tennessee State 78
@Belmont 102, Southeast Missouri 62
UT MARTIN 94, TENNESSEE STATE 78
NASHVILLE - Five different University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball players scored in double figures as the Skyhawks improved to 2-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play with a 94-78 victory at Tennessee State.
UT Martin (6-8) begins an OVC season with a 2-0 mark for just the third time in school history, also accomplishing that feat during the 2002-03 and 1997-98 campaigns. Tonight’s result is also the first time in the school’s NCAA Division I Era (since 1992) that the Skyhawks won their first two conference road games.
Bernie Andre led UT Martin in scoring for the first time this season, pumping in a season-best 24 points on 7-of-10 shooting. That included a 4-for-5 effort from beyond the three-point arc and a 6-for-7 effort from the charity stripe.
KJ Simon was next in line for the Skyhawks in the scoring column, piling up 21 points to go along with a career-best five blocks, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Mikel Henderson contributed 13 points, a team-high four assists and career-best three steals while the frontcourt duo of Chris Nix (12 points) and Josh Endicott (12 points, team-high six rebounds) gave UT Martin five double-digit scorers for the first time this season.
Overall, the Skyhawks’ 94 points were 15 points higher than their previous season-high against a Division I opponent and most in an OVC game since a 96-90 home win over Tennessee Tech on Jan. 13, 2016. UT Martin established season-highs in free throws made (20) and shot a blistering 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from three-point range, committing only five turnovers and leading for 38:41 of clock time.
The Tigers (5-8, 0-1 OVC) were led by 25 points out of Carlos Marshall, Jr. The trio of Jalen Dupree (15 points), Kassim Nicholson (12) and Marcus Fitzgerald (12) also scored in double figures.
UT Martin started the contest on a 7-0 run as a pull-up trey from Andre and a turnaround hook from Andre were sandwiched around a pair of Nix free throws. Simon buried a triple from the right wing at the 14:11 mark to extend the Skyhawk advantage out to 12-4.
Tennessee State took its only lead of the game with 9:13 left to play in the opening half but it was short-lived. Josh Endicott swished a turnaround jumper 19 seconds later to spark a 10-0 UT Martin run, which included three-pointers from Henderson and Andre.
A Simon free throw with 4:15 remaining in the first half provided the Skyhawks with their first double-digit lead of the night (37-27). UT Martin followed with a 12-3 run over a 3:10 span, which concluded with a deep left-wing three-pointer from Henderson off a fast break. That spurt helped buoy the Skyhawk advantage to 49-34 at the intermission.
Andre had already reached his previous season-high in scoring (14 points) in the first 20 minutes. Marshall’s 15 points topped the Tigers.
Tennessee State converted a three-pointer for the opening bucket of the second half but UT Martin charged back for seven unanswered points – the last five coming from Andre. An open layup from Nix at the 17:53 mark provided the Skyhawks with their biggest lead of the night at 58-38.
UT Martin held on to a double-digit lead until a 7-0 Tiger run trimmed the Skyhawk advantage to 71-62 with 10:24 remaining. Simon came right back with an 18-foot jumper and a three-pointer from the left wing to push UT Martin’s advantage back out to 76-62.
After Tennessee State once again closed the gap to nine points with 5:38 to go, Henderson tallied back-to-back buckets. The 6-1 sophomore canned a straightaway trifecta and then scored on a strong take to the hoop to make the score 87-73.
The Skyhawks officially put the game away with a 7-0 run inside the final three-plus minutes. Endicott knocked down a pair of free throws while Simon splashed a trifecta and pull-up floater in the paint to pad UT Martin’s lead to 18 points with just 1:42 to go.
BELMONT 102, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 62
NASHVILLE - Belmont University men's basketball defeated Southeast Missouri, 102-62, Thursday night from the Curb Event Center.
It marked career victory No. 200 for Belmont head coach Casey Alexander, who is 100-23 in his last 123 games over the last four-plus seasons.
While a winter storm in Nashville and the surrounding area delivered snow and ice, it was Belmont who delivered an unrelenting combination of high percentage shots and purposeful defense.
Will Richard highlighted a 6-0 Belmont run in the opening 65 seconds of the game. Southeast Missouri got back into the game behind the shooting of Eric Reed, Jr., taking a momentary 21-19 lead eight minutes in. But from there, Belmont unleashed a 16-0 run to take control.
Ben Sheppard and Grayson Murphy extended the margin to 37-23 with 7:26 left in the first half.
Belmont (11-3, 1-0 OVC) limited Southeast Missouri to two field goals over a 10-minute stretch as baskets from Richard, Sheppard, Nick Muszynski and Michael Shanks made the score 50-28.
Muszynski scored five consecutive points to open the second half as Belmont was able to feature all 12 players in uniform. JaCobi Wood, Even Brauns and EJ Bellinger assumed the scoring torch in the second half. A Bellinger layin off an assist from Frank Jakubicek made the score 98-52 with 3:29 remaining.
All told, Belmont shot 60 percent (42-of-70) from the field. The Bruins set a new Curb Event Center single-game record with 42 made field goals.
Muszynski and Richard led five Bruins in double figures with 17 points each. Sheppard scored 16, while Murphy had 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Bellinger scored a career-high 10.
Reed, Jr. led Southeast Missouri (6-10, 1-2 OVC) with 22 points, all in the first half.