UT Martin Sweeps OVC Weekly Awards For Second Time In School History
11/10/2025 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – History was made today for the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball program as the Ohio Valley Conference named Andrija Bukumirović as its Player of the Week, Dragos Lungu as the Newcomer of the Week and Matas Deniusas as its Freshman of the Week.
Today's announcement marks just the second time in school history that the Skyhawks have claimed all three OVC weekly awards as Gerald Robinson (Player), Lester Hudson (Newcomer) and Marquis Weddle (Freshman) also accomplished that feat on Feb. 18, 2008.
Bukumirović becomes the 25th player in school history to be named an OVC Player of the Week while Lungu is the 34th different UT Martin representative to claim OVC Newcomer of the Week accolades. Deniusas is only the 13th separate Skyhawk to win OVC Freshman of the Week honors and the first since Parrish Hewitt on Dec. 11, 2017.
This trio helped UT Martin to a 2-0 start to the season for just the sixth time since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992. The Skyhawks also won their first two games in 2024-25, 2020-21, 2010-11, 2002-03 and 2000-01. UT Martin dispatched UNLV on the road by an 86-81 margin in its season opener on Tuesday before soaring to a 97-42 home victory last night against Kentucky Christian.
A 6-7, 200-pound junior wing, Bukumirović averaged 20.0 points per game on a scorching 88.2 percent shooting mark this week – missing only two field goal attempts (15-of-17). That included a 77.8 percent clip (7-for-9) from three-point range while the Sjenica, Serbia native also hauled in 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest. He posted a career-best 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting (5-for-7 from three-point land) at UNLV before collecting a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes as part of a literally perfect shooting night (7-for-7 overall, 2-of-2 from beyond the three-point arc, 1-for-1 from the free throw line) against Kentucky Christian.
A transfer from San Diego, Lungu also averaged 20.0 points on the week on a sizzling 70 percent (14-of-20) shooting output in addition to 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per outing. His Skyhawk career started by tossing in 18 of his game-high 23 points at UNLV in the second half in the big road triumph. It marked the fifth-highest scoring game for a player who was making their UT Martin debut in a season opener in school history. The 6-6, 180-pound redshirt sophomore guard out of Cluj-Napoca, Romania followed that with 17 points (on 7-of-9 shooting) in just 19 minutes against Kentucky Christian.
Deniusas also got off to a great start to his Skyhawk career, earning a start in both contests while averaging 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists over 19.5 minutes per game. The 6-9, 220-pound forward from Vilnius, Lithuania stuffed the statsheet for 11 points, a team-best six rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in the victory at UNLV before once again accumulating 11 points and six rebounds with one assist, one block and one steal in 15 minutes of playing time in the win over Kentucky Christian. For the week, he swished 77.8 percent (7-for-9) of his attempts from the charity stripe.
UT Martin is back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 12 as it travels to Bradley out of the Missouri Valley Conference. Tipoff from Peoria, Ill. is set for 7:30 p.m.
Today's announcement marks just the second time in school history that the Skyhawks have claimed all three OVC weekly awards as Gerald Robinson (Player), Lester Hudson (Newcomer) and Marquis Weddle (Freshman) also accomplished that feat on Feb. 18, 2008.
Bukumirović becomes the 25th player in school history to be named an OVC Player of the Week while Lungu is the 34th different UT Martin representative to claim OVC Newcomer of the Week accolades. Deniusas is only the 13th separate Skyhawk to win OVC Freshman of the Week honors and the first since Parrish Hewitt on Dec. 11, 2017.
This trio helped UT Martin to a 2-0 start to the season for just the sixth time since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992. The Skyhawks also won their first two games in 2024-25, 2020-21, 2010-11, 2002-03 and 2000-01. UT Martin dispatched UNLV on the road by an 86-81 margin in its season opener on Tuesday before soaring to a 97-42 home victory last night against Kentucky Christian.
A 6-7, 200-pound junior wing, Bukumirović averaged 20.0 points per game on a scorching 88.2 percent shooting mark this week – missing only two field goal attempts (15-of-17). That included a 77.8 percent clip (7-for-9) from three-point range while the Sjenica, Serbia native also hauled in 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest. He posted a career-best 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting (5-for-7 from three-point land) at UNLV before collecting a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes as part of a literally perfect shooting night (7-for-7 overall, 2-of-2 from beyond the three-point arc, 1-for-1 from the free throw line) against Kentucky Christian.
A transfer from San Diego, Lungu also averaged 20.0 points on the week on a sizzling 70 percent (14-of-20) shooting output in addition to 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per outing. His Skyhawk career started by tossing in 18 of his game-high 23 points at UNLV in the second half in the big road triumph. It marked the fifth-highest scoring game for a player who was making their UT Martin debut in a season opener in school history. The 6-6, 180-pound redshirt sophomore guard out of Cluj-Napoca, Romania followed that with 17 points (on 7-of-9 shooting) in just 19 minutes against Kentucky Christian.
Deniusas also got off to a great start to his Skyhawk career, earning a start in both contests while averaging 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists over 19.5 minutes per game. The 6-9, 220-pound forward from Vilnius, Lithuania stuffed the statsheet for 11 points, a team-best six rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in the victory at UNLV before once again accumulating 11 points and six rebounds with one assist, one block and one steal in 15 minutes of playing time in the win over Kentucky Christian. For the week, he swished 77.8 percent (7-for-9) of his attempts from the charity stripe.
UT Martin is back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 12 as it travels to Bradley out of the Missouri Valley Conference. Tipoff from Peoria, Ill. is set for 7:30 p.m.
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