U.T. Martin men hitting their stride

MARTIN, Tenn — The winter weather may be cooling down West Tennessee, but the U.T. Martin Skyhawks are heating up.

Friday night’s 74-70 win over Arkansas State made for their third straight victory and they say they’re just getting started.

While they’re still under .500 at 6-7, the Skyhawks have played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the Ohio Valley Conference, that includes games against teams like Mississippi State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Players said that tough scheduling is starting to pay off.

“Us knowing that we’re right there with some of the top teams, just gives us confidence to come back home and play conference games with the same amount of confidence as we went against higher supposed competition,” UTM senior forward Twymond Howard said.

“We learned a lot about ourselves in those games,” UTM Head Basketball coach, Heath Schroyer said. “I think when you play against really good competition, you learn a lot.”

In just his second season at U.T. Martin, Coach Schroyer said they expect to be competing with the best in the Ohio Valley Conference.

“Keep chugging along everyday. Why not us?” Coach Schroyer explained. “Why can’t UTM be in the same conversations with the Belmont’s and the Murray’s and the EKUs?”

“Now that we’re winning, we can appreciate that and just keep it going,” senior forward Myles Taylor explained. “We never try to lose 2 games in a row, but we got a 3 game winning streak. We’re trying to keep that going as long as we can.”

The Skyhawks will put their win streak on the line Monday night when they host Alcorn State at home.