SKYHAWK MEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS 90-43 IN NONCONFERENCE FINALE AT OLE MISS

Tuesday, December 22

Oxford, Miss.

4 p.m.

UT Martin

3-2

Ole Miss

5-1

UT Martin

Ole Miss

Photo by: Petre Thomas/Ole Miss Athletics

SKYHAWK MEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS 90-43 IN NONCONFERENCE FINALE AT OLE MISS

12/22/2020 7:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Boxscore

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team saw nine different players score today but the Ole Miss Rebels claimed a 90-43 victory at the Pavilion at Ole Miss.

Playing their fourth game in the last eight days, the Skyhawks (3-2) were led in scoring by Ajani Kennedy and Anthony Thomas' seven points apiece. Cameron Holden added six points and a team-best four rebounds while Eden Holt and Keston Eskridge each divvied out three assists. Defensively, UT Martin was led by La-Quiem Walker's career-best two blocks and Eskridge's game-high three steals.

Ole Miss (5-1) placed four scorers in double figures while shooting 59.3 percent (35-of-59) from the floor. KJ Buffen and Jarkel Joiner shared the team lead with 16 points each while Matthew Murrell (13) and Austin Crowley (11) also reached the double-digit plateau in the scoring column.

Kennedy kept the Skyhawks in the game early, as the redshirt junior out of Moreno Valley, Calif. was responsible for UT Martin's first five points. The Rebels broke a 5-5 tie with 12 unanswered points until a Hannes Polla lay-in ended the Skyhawks' scoring drought at the 13:12 mark.

Another Kennedy bucket and a Thomas three-pointer followed on consecutive possessions for UT Martin but Ole Miss ended the first half on a 23-7 surge, taking a 47-19 advantage into the locker room.

The Skyhawks were led in scoring by Kennedy (seven points) while Buffen tossed in a dozen points for the Rebels in the first half.

Ole Miss began the second stanza on an 18-2 run as UT Martin's first points of the half came via a Jaron Williams jumper at the 18:10 mark. Trey Fort swished a three-pointer to erase a four-minute scoreless stretch before Walker knocked down back-to-back mid-range jumpers for the Skyhawks.

Holden reeled off six straight UT Martin points and Thomas followed with back-to-back buckets soon thereafter. Holt then knocked down a pull-up three-pointer from the right wing with 1:55 remaining to cap off a 12-2 Skyhawk run. However, the host Rebels proved to be too much as they improved to 4-0 at home this season.

UT Martin will take a week off for the Christmas holiday before returning to action on Wednesday, Dec. 30 on the road against Ohio Valley Conference foe Jacksonville State. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Ala.