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Late APSU Governors rally comes up short in home loss to UT Martin Skyhawks

APSU Sports Information

APSU Men's Basketball - Austin Peay State UniversityClarksville, TN – A late surge from Austin Peay State University men’s basketball fell just short of erasing an 18-point deficit against UT Martin, Thursday, in an 85-79 loss to the Skyhawks.

APSU Men's Basketball loses to UT Martin 85-79 at the Dunn Center Thursday night. (APSU Sports Information)
APSU Men’s Basketball loses to UT Martin 85-79 at the Dunn Center Thursday night. (APSU Sports Information)

The Skyhawks jumped out to a huge lead early thanks in large part to Jacolby Mobley, who finished with a game-high 36 points, including 27 in the first half—part of an efficient (56.7 percent) first half from the floor for UT Martin that put the Govs down 14 at the break.

The Govs began to chip away at the lead early in the second half, cutting it into single digits for good on a Jared Savage three-pointer at the 3:22 mark and within four on a pair of Josh Robinson free-throws with 1:52 remaining.

After Robinson and UT Martin’s Chandler Rowe swapped buckets, the Governors were forced to begin fouling with less than 30 seconds remaining on the clock and UT Martin converted all four free-throws late to preserve the lead.

The Difference

Although the rebounding disparity of -11 was not the largest deficit for the Govs this year, UT Martin turned 12 offensive boards into 11 second-chance points, while Austin Peay’s six offensive rebounds yielded just one point on second opportunity.

Notably

APSU Men's Basketball - Josh RobinsonRobinson finished with a team-high 21 points for the Governors, marking his fifth consecutive 20-point contest. He’s now hitting 82.8 percent (48-for-58) from the free-throw line in league play after tonight’s 4-for-4 performance.

Austin Peay outscored UT Martin 20-16 in points off turnover, the fifth game in a row the Govs have tallied at least 20 points off opponent miscues and the fifth straight game Austin Peay has held the advantage in that category.

Savage’s four three-pointers were his most since December 28th against Western Kentucky.

APSU Men's Basketball - Chris Porter-BuntonFrom the 8:24 mark in the first half to the end of the game, Austin Peay outscored UT Martin 54-52.

Chris Porter-Bunton equaled his career-high with four steals.

Mobley’s 36 points were a season-high by an Austin Peay opponent and equaled Robinson for the most in OVC play this season.  

Murry’s 10 made free-throws equaled a career-high. He’s now averaging 18.6 ppg and hitting 81.1 percent from the charity stripe in OVC play.

APSU Men's Basketball - Kenny JonesUT Martin’s Javier Martinez had 19 rebounds, most by an Austin Peay opponent in 2016-17.

Kenny Jones‘ 7-for-9 performance from the floor was his 14th shooting night of better than 60 percent in 22 games this season and snapped a four-game streak of sub-60 percent shooting.

It boosted his season tally back up to 58.6 percent.

UT Martin committed 25 fouls, most by an APSU opponent this season, enabling the Govs to shoot a season-high 32 free-throws.

Coaching Quotables

Head Coach Dave Loos

On rebounding

“Martinez was about as good on the board as Mobley was scoring. Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other team, and in this case we just didn’t have anybody who could guard Mobley and we just got pounded on the boards.”

On the first half

“We didn’t get to the basket in the first half. We were taking jump shots and that just wasn’t going to work.”

On Jacolby Mobley

“The biggest thing is he’s so quick and he gets his shot off very quickly. In the second half, we trapped him and doubled on hand-offs and ball screens and had a little success with that, but he was just really good tonight.”

Up Next for the APSU Govs

Austin Peay closes out a season-long four-game homestand and the month of January by hosting Southeast Missouri in a 6:30pm, Saturday, contest in the Dunn Center for Military Appreciation Night as well as a celebration of Austin Peay’s Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

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