Winners of five of their last seven, the UT Martin Men's basketball team (13-8, 5-3 OVC) has their sights set on extending their winning streak to three against first-year conference member Lindenwood. The Skyhawks have found themselves in a six-way tie for first place in the OVC standings going into Thursday night.
There's no place like home for this UT Martin team that holds the best home record in the OVC. The Skyhawks have a 10-1 record inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center which ranks tied for fourth all-time in the program's division one history.
Head Coach Ryan Ridder and his squad put on a show last time out for the home crowd. UT Martin came away with a 91-78 win over Eastern Illinois, who swept the Skyhawks last season. Five players were in double figures in points with Parker Stewart, KJ Simon, Chris Nix, Jordan Sears, and Jalen Myers combining for 79 points.
Lindenwood (7-14, 2-6 OVC) comes into Thursday's matchup sitting second to last in the conference standings. The Lions have lost five straight but hold wins over Tennessee Tech and Little Rock, those being two of the three teams that have defeated UT Martin this season. Also, Lindenwood possesses the 4th best scoring defense in the OVC at 71.6 PPG.
Lions Head Coach Kyle Gerdeman will hope to see his team rebound from their 72-63 loss to Morehead State last Saturday. Lindenwood is led in scoring by Chris Childs who ranks 15th in the conference in that category.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. tomorrow. "The Bench" sports talk show will be live at the Elam center at 5, and then Davis Gregory and Jared Davidson will bring play-by-play coverage of the game.