UT MARTIN MEN'S HOOPS OPENS MUSIC CITY SWING IN SEARCH OF ITS SECOND STRAIGHT OVC VICTORY

Thursday, January 31

Nashville, Tenn.

7:30 P.M.

UT Martin

Tennessee State

UT MARTIN MEN'S HOOPS OPENS MUSIC CITY SWING IN SEARCH OF ITS SECOND STRAIGHT OVC VICTORY

1/29/2019 2:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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MARTIN, Tenn. – Fresh off its first Ohio Valley Conference victory of the season, the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team looks to continue its momentum at in-state rival Tennessee State on Thursday, Jan. 31. Tipoff from the Gentry Center in Nashville is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m.

This is the first matchup between these two squads in over 13 months, as the Skyhawks claimed a 63-60 overtime win in the Elam Center on Dec. 28, 2017. UT Martin's Jailen Gill was a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor while tallying 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Skyhawks to their fourth win in the last five matchups against the Tigers.

UT Martin (6-13, 1-7 OVC) is coming off its first league win of the season - a convincing 85-69 home triumph over SIUE last Saturday. In that game, the Skyhawks overcame a five-point halftime deficit by outrebounding the Cougars by a 34-27 margin and committing only eight turnovers. Quintin Dove (25 points) and Derek Hawthorne, Jr. (20 points) each produced high-scoring games for a UT Martin squad that shot 65.5 percent (19-of-29) over the final 20 minutes.

The Skyhawks have proven to be hard to keep off the glass, as they lead the OVC and rank 29th nationally with 12.8 offensive rebounds per game. In league play, UT Martin ranks atop the conference with a .361 offensive rebounding percentage.

Tennessee State (5-15, 2-6 OVC) is coming off its third consecutive loss, a 100-62 road setback at OVC co-leader Murray State. Ole Miss transfer Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey led the Tigers in scoring for the eighth time this season while Stokley Chaffee, Jr. narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Kamar McKnight, who scored 11 points off the bench against the Skyhawks last season, paces Tennessee State with 12.4 points per game in OVC play. Earlier this season, he poured in a career-best 30 points at Western Kentucky.

This game will be streamed live on ESPN+ while the radio broadcast can be heard on WCMT 1410 AM/100.5 FM. Those two links - as well as a link for live stats - can be found at the top of the webpage.