UTM works part time in loss

Posted: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 12:00 pm

A 12-minute stretch in the fourth quarter doomed UT Martin in a 72-59 loss to Tennessee State Thursday night at the Elam Center.
“We just go through stretches where we’re not focused, we seem uninterested on both ends and we don’t take care of the ball,” UT Martin head coach Jason James said. “We miss shots on our end, and they hit shots on their end. It’s been our story all year. We just have stretches where we lack focus, and games are getting away from us.”
All of those things conspired to beat the Skyhawks.
Between 18:18 and 6:14 of the second half, UTM (3-19, 0-9 Ohio Valley Conference) saw a 29-all tie turn into a 60-40 deficit, the 31-11 TSU run ignited by a 15-2 burst that saw the Skyhawk miss five shots while Patrick Miller hit three field goals for the Tigers.
Until that 12:04 blemish, the Skyhawks were poised to break their league winless streak and pick up their first win of 2012.
Despite a 10-0 run by Tennessee State that put the Tigers in front 20-10 at 9:45 of the first half, UT Martin kept the game close and trailed by just a point at halftime.
In fact, the Skyhawks answered TSU’s run with one of their own, outscoring the Tigers 15-2 to take a 25-22 lead at 2:19.
Gary Love hit a 3-pointer, and Mike Liabo hit four times from the free throw line to get UTM within a point, and then Corderio Maclin scored back-to-back buckets to put UTM in front.
Tennessee State (12-10, 5-4) scored the last four points of the half, and then Dane Smith tied the game twice in the opening minutes of the second half.
Miller led the Tigers’ game-breaking burst, and although UTM outscored the Tennessee State 19-12 the rest of the way, the Skyhawks could not get any closer than 12 points in the final six minutes.
Smith led four UTM players in double figures with 13 points. Liabo and Myles Taylor each scored 11, and Maclin added 10 points for the Skyhawks.
Austin Peay 92, UTM 73
Jeremy Washington, Troy King and Mike Liabo scored double-digit points for UT Martin, but it wasn’t enough to offset host Austin Peay and John Fraley Saturday night in the Dunn Center.
Washington scored 10 points, while King came off the bench to score 15 points and Liabo knocked down 18 points.
Published in The WCP 1.31.12