Skyhawks Have 5 First Time Opponents

Editor: The following is part of a press release from utmsports.com.

(Martin, TN) – Six teams who made the postseason last year will grace the University of Tennessee at Martin 2018-19 men’s basketball schedule, which head coach Anthony Stewart announced today.

The Skyhawks will face teams from 11 different conferences and will battle five opponents for the first time in program history. UT Martin will host 14 regular-season home games in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center while logging almost 10,000 miles on the road as part of a 29-game slate in 2018-19.

“I put together an extremely competitive out-of-conference schedule with the rigors of Ohio Valley Conference play in mind,” Stewart said. “I wanted to make sure we put our guys against quality teams in tough environments on the road because that’s what they’ll face night in and night out in conference play. We also have some of the historically best mid-major teams in the country coming to play us at home. Overall, I’m pleased with this year’s schedule in that it meets several of our requirements.”

UT Martin holds a home exhibition against St. Louis College of Pharmacy on November 1 before officially starting the 2018-19 season against Cumberland on November 6. The Skyhawks are a perfect 5-0 in the all-time series against the NAIA school located in Lebanon, Tenn.

For the first time since 1997-98, UT Martin will face off against Western Kentucky. The two squads battle in Bowling Green, Ky. on November 10, one season after the Hilltoppers won 27 games and advanced to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Final Four.

UT Martin follows with a trip to Macon, Ga. to take on Mercer, who advanced to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) last season. Home matchups against Western Illinois and 2018 NIT participant UNC Asheville follow, as the Skyhawks play UNC Asheville in a rematch of the 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) opening round.

A pair of first-time opponents are next on the schedule as UT Martin heads to Tulane out of the American Athletic Conference on December 5 and ETSU (coming off a 25-win season) on December 8.

Back-to-back home games follow as the Skyhawks host Brescia on and Chattanooga. The matchup against the Mocs will be the first time UT Martin hosts its system rival since 1981.

The longest road trip of the season follows on December 22 when the Skyhawks head to the west coast for a matchup against Fresno State, a 21-win team a season ago. The nonconference season concludes when UT Martin travels to Bowling Green out of the Mid-American Conference.

For the second straight year, the OVC will feature an 18-game schedule. The Skyhawks face eight league opponents for a home-and-home series while only facing Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech once.

The OVC Championship tournament will once again take place at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. The four-day event takes place on March 6-9.