By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Darius Simmons topped the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team in scoring for the third straight contest this evening but the Skyhawks fell by a 73-61 margin at Conference USA opponent Middle Tennessee.
A graduate guard out of Raleigh, NC, Simmons shot an even 50 percent from the field tonight – knocking down six of his 12 field goal tries for 17 points. That included a 3-of-5 effort from three-point land and a perfect 2-for-2 performance from the charity stripe.
Simmons was joined in double figures scoring by Koby Jeffries (11 points) and KJ Simon (10 points, game-high seven rebounds). UT Martin (3-5) forced the Blue Raiders into 13 turnovers but uncharacteristically shot 18.2 percent (4-of-22) from beyond the three-point line.
Middle Tennessee improved to 7-1 as Eli Lawrence accounted for a game-high 19 points. Donovan Sims had 15 points to go along with game-highs of seven rebounds and four assists while Tyler Millin contributed 11 points for the Blue Raiders.
The Skyhawks were the aggressors early, holding Middle Tennessee without a field goal for the first 4:05. Simons converted back-to-back buckets for UT Martin in the process – including a highlight reel dunk off a dish from David Didenko to make the score 6-1 in favor of the Skyhawks.
The Blue Raiders responded with eight unanswered points until a Mikel Henderson trey at the 12:08 mark evened the score at 9-all. Two more ties followed before a Grant Hurst layup and Chris Nix jumper gave UT Martin a 15-13 advantage 11 minutes into the contest.
Simmons went off for the Skyhawks’ next seven points but Middle Tennessee took advantage of a 9-0 run to claim a 34-27 lead going into the halftime break.
Despite the fact that it trailed, UT Martin outshot the Blue Raiders (42.9 percent to 38.7 percent) in the opening 20 minutes. Simmons had a team-high seven points for the Skyhawks while Lawrence’s 13 points paced Middle Tennessee.
Simon knocked down a pair of free throws for the first points of the second half. Simmons then buried two straight triples to trim UT Martin’s deficit to 40-35 at the first media timeout.
A pull-up jumper by Henderson and a driving layup from Simon helped the Skyhawks make it a one-possession contest (44-41) with 11:45 remaining. However, the Blue Raiders went on a 12-2 run in a 3:19 stretch to go on top by a 56-43 margin.
Simmons canned a pair of free throws and KK Curry made a jumper in the paint to get UT Martin within 11 points with six minutes to go but that was ultimately as close as the Skyhawks would get the rest of the way.
Jeffries went on a scoring spree late as the freshman guard out of Olive Branch, Miss. tossed in UT Martin’s final six points of the contest but the Skyhawk deficit was too large to overcome by that point.
UT Martin puts the finishing touches on a three-game road trip this Saturday, Dec. 4 when it heads to Macomb, Ill. to face Western Illinois. Tipoff time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information