Western Illinois visits UT Martin after Sears' 26-point showing

Wed, Jan 10, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)

Western Illinois Leathernecks (10-6, 3-0 OVC) at UT Martin Skyhawks (9-7, 2-1 OVC)

Martin, Tennessee; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UT Martin hosts the Western Illinois Leathernecks after Jordan Sears scored 26 points in UT Martin's 79-72 loss to the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

The Skyhawks are 5-1 in home games. UT Martin leads the OVC averaging 84.4 points and is shooting 45.1%.

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The Leathernecks have gone 3-0 against OVC opponents. Western Illinois is third in the OVC with 27.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Drew Cisse averaging 7.6.

UT Martin scores 84.4 points, 18.1 more per game than the 66.3 Western Illinois allows. Western Illinois has shot at a 43.6% clip from the field this season, 1.9 percentage points above the 41.7% shooting opponents of UT Martin have averaged.

The Skyhawks and Leathernecks match up Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jacob Crews is shooting 42.3% from beyond the arc with 2.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Skyhawks, while averaging 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds. Sears is averaging 19.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals over the last 10 games for UT Martin.

Ryan Myers averages 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Leathernecks, scoring 12.5 points while shooting 45.7% from beyond the arc. James Dent Jr. is averaging 12 points over the past 10 games for Western Illinois.

LAST 10 GAMES: Skyhawks: 5-5, averaging 84.2 points, 40.6 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 6.0 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.3 points per game.

Leathernecks: 8-2, averaging 72.8 points, 44.2 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 5.8 steals and 5.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.