Tuesday, November 4
Las Vegas, Nev.
9 p.m.
UT Martin
1-0,0-0OVC
86
at
81
UNLV
0-1,0-0Mountain West
1
2
F
UT Martin
39
47
86
UNLV
43
38
81
Skyhawks Stymie UNLV For Impressive 86-81 Season-Opening Road Win
11/4/2025 11:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – For the second year in a row, the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team began its season with a signature road victory as the Skyhawks upended UNLV by an 86-81 margin at the Thomas & Mack Center.
After defeating eventual CollegeBasketballInsider.com (CBI) champion Illinois State to start the 2024-25 campaign, UT Martin forced the Runnin' Rebels into 22 turnovers to spoil the traditional Mountain West Conference powerhouse's home opener.
The Skyhawk duo of Andrija Bukumirović and Dragos Lungu were on fire, each pumping in a career-high 23 points apiece. Bukumirović made eight of his 10 field goal attempts – including a 5-of-7 effort from three-point range – while Lungu shot 7-for-11 from the floor, scoring 18 points in the second half alone.
Freshman Matas Deniusas tallied 11 points with a team-best six rebounds in his first career collegiate game while Filip Radaković finished with 10 points (8-of-10 from the free throw line, mostly down the stretch) with team-highs of six rebounds and six assists. Freshman Filip Petkovski also stuffed the statsheet for five points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals as UT Martin shot 36.7 percent (11-of-30) from three-point land.
UNLV's Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn led the way with 18 points while Kimani Hamilton (13 points) and Al Green (12 points) also scored in double figures. The Runnin' Rebels led 43-39 at the halftime break but were held to just 36.4 percent (8-for-22) shooting – including a 27.3 percent (3-of-11) clip from three-point range – over the final 20 minutes.
"I'm kind of speechless but obviously, I'm just so proud of our guys," Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman said. "We talk about belief daily in this program – this feels amazing but in some ways it's not a surprise. I'll always roll with this team – their buy-in, their work ethic and their sacrifices have been very special."
Bukumirović had the hot hand early, scoring UT Martin's first eight points of the contest in a span of 2:13. UNLV didn't take its first lead until nearly six minutes into the game and eventually led by a 39-29 margin with 4:38 remaining before the halftime break.
Another Bukumirović triple late in the first half capped off a 10-2 Skyhawk surge that got UT Martin back within striking distance at the intermission. Bukumirović was responsible for a game-high 16 points at the half while Gibbs-Lawhorn's 10 points guided the Runnin' Rebels.
The fifth Bukumirović trifecta of the night gave the Skyhawks a 49-48 edge with 15:23 to go – a lead that UT Martin held on to for 8:29 of clock time. UNLV briefly held a 66-64 lead with just under seven minutes to go but the Skyhawks responded with 12 unanswered points – ignited by back-to-back treys by Lungu.
The Runnin' Rebels would not get any closer than three points the rest of the way. Radaković helped ice the victory by swishing each of his final five free throw tries over the final 44 seconds.
UT Martin holds its home opener on Sunday, Nov. 9, taking on Kentucky Christian for the second straight season. Tipoff from the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is set for 6:30 p.m.
After defeating eventual CollegeBasketballInsider.com (CBI) champion Illinois State to start the 2024-25 campaign, UT Martin forced the Runnin' Rebels into 22 turnovers to spoil the traditional Mountain West Conference powerhouse's home opener.
The Skyhawk duo of Andrija Bukumirović and Dragos Lungu were on fire, each pumping in a career-high 23 points apiece. Bukumirović made eight of his 10 field goal attempts – including a 5-of-7 effort from three-point range – while Lungu shot 7-for-11 from the floor, scoring 18 points in the second half alone.
Freshman Matas Deniusas tallied 11 points with a team-best six rebounds in his first career collegiate game while Filip Radaković finished with 10 points (8-of-10 from the free throw line, mostly down the stretch) with team-highs of six rebounds and six assists. Freshman Filip Petkovski also stuffed the statsheet for five points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals as UT Martin shot 36.7 percent (11-of-30) from three-point land.
UNLV's Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn led the way with 18 points while Kimani Hamilton (13 points) and Al Green (12 points) also scored in double figures. The Runnin' Rebels led 43-39 at the halftime break but were held to just 36.4 percent (8-for-22) shooting – including a 27.3 percent (3-of-11) clip from three-point range – over the final 20 minutes.
"I'm kind of speechless but obviously, I'm just so proud of our guys," Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman said. "We talk about belief daily in this program – this feels amazing but in some ways it's not a surprise. I'll always roll with this team – their buy-in, their work ethic and their sacrifices have been very special."
Bukumirović had the hot hand early, scoring UT Martin's first eight points of the contest in a span of 2:13. UNLV didn't take its first lead until nearly six minutes into the game and eventually led by a 39-29 margin with 4:38 remaining before the halftime break.
Another Bukumirović triple late in the first half capped off a 10-2 Skyhawk surge that got UT Martin back within striking distance at the intermission. Bukumirović was responsible for a game-high 16 points at the half while Gibbs-Lawhorn's 10 points guided the Runnin' Rebels.
The fifth Bukumirović trifecta of the night gave the Skyhawks a 49-48 edge with 15:23 to go – a lead that UT Martin held on to for 8:29 of clock time. UNLV briefly held a 66-64 lead with just under seven minutes to go but the Skyhawks responded with 12 unanswered points – ignited by back-to-back treys by Lungu.
The Runnin' Rebels would not get any closer than three points the rest of the way. Radaković helped ice the victory by swishing each of his final five free throw tries over the final 44 seconds.
UT Martin holds its home opener on Sunday, Nov. 9, taking on Kentucky Christian for the second straight season. Tipoff from the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is set for 6:30 p.m.
Team Stats
UTM
UNLV
FG%
.436
.460
3FG%
.367
.304
FT%
.563
.757
RB
33
39
TO
14
22
STL
12
8
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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