Santos Posts Career-Best Scoring Tally As Skyhawks Down Southern Indiana

Thursday, February 5

Martin, Tenn.

7:30 p.m.

UT Martin

19-5,11-2OVC

Southern Indiana

5-18,2-11OVC

Southern Ind.

UT Martin

Santos Posts Career-Best Scoring Tally As Skyhawks Down Southern Indiana

2/5/2026 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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MARTIN, Tenn. – Redshirt freshman Pedro Santos pumped in a career-best 19 points in 20 minutes off the bench to pace the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team to another Ohio Valley Conference win tonight, 76-54 over Southern Indiana.

A 6-7, 195-pound guard out of Porto, Portugal, Santos also snagged seven rebounds to go along with two steals this evening. He became the ninth different Skyhawk to lead UT Martin in scoring this season as he reached double figures in the points column for the seventh time in the last 14 contests.

Fellow freshman Matas Deniusas added 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Skyhawks, who improved to 19-5 overall with an 11-2 OVC record. Filip Radaković (11 points, game-high four assists) completed the double-digit scorers for UT Martin as the Skyhawks led by as many as 30 points while collecting their 11^th consecutive victory inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.

The Screaming Eagles (5-18, 2-11 OVC) were led by Amaree Brown's 14 points. Southern Indiana was limited to 28.1 percent (16-of-57) shooting and was outrebounded by a 52-32 margin, allowing UT Martin to a 32-14 edge in points in the paint and 22-8 advantage in second-chance points.

"What a great defensive job by our guys," Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman. "We really guarded and rebounded and I thought we shared the ball well – it was a great effort. To have 22 offensive rebounds is phenomenal – out of all of our stats, I'm most proud of that number. We have made that rebounding intensity part of our culture and our guys have really bought into that."

Four separate UT Martin players scored as part of an early 9-0 run as Santos (tip-in layup), Radaković (floating jumper and a free throw), Vladimir Khryapa (free throw) and Filip Petkovski (three-pointer) contributed to the surge that boosted the Skyhawks out to a 20-9 lead.

After the Screaming Eagles trimmed their deficit down to three points with four minutes left in the opening half, UT Martin scored 11 of the final 13 points before the intermission. A Khryapa triple concluded the first-half scoring and gave the Skyhawks a 38-26 advantage at halftime. Deniusas and Josiah Dunham topped their respective squads with game-highs of eight points apiece at the break.

UT Martin held Southern Indiana without a field goal for a 4:59 stretch in the early stages of the second half, building up a 52-28 lead in the process. Santos then scored six consecutive Skyhawk points before Radaković buried a stepback trifecta from the left wing that barely evaded the shot clock and gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the evening (65-35) with 5:53 left to play.

The Screaming Eagles would not get any closer than 18 points the rest of the way as the Skyhawks never trailed throughout the entire contest.

A nationally televised outing is on tap for UT Martin as the Skyhawks play host to OVC rival Morehead State on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tipoff time from the Elam Center has been bumped up to 3 p.m. (following the noon women's basketball contest) as the game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.