Surprise! UT-Martin a contender in OVC race

The University of Tennessee-Martin could be headed toward its best men's basketball season since moving to Division I in 1992.

That's no surprise to third-year UTM coach Bret Campbell, who with six seniors expected this to be the best Skyhawks squad since he took over the program.

"Any time you have six seniors, you're going to have some leadership," Campbell said, "and when you have a veteran team like that you expect to be good."

The Skyhawks (10-5 overall, 2-1 Ohio Valley Conference) will try to continue their strong start against Southeast Missouri State University (3-12, 1-3) in a 7:45 p.m. game today.

UTM, undefeated in six games at Skyhawk Arena this season, had its previous best Division I campaign in 1995-96 at 13-14.

The Skyhawks returned four starters from last year's team that won 10 games and finished eighth in the OVC. Their sights are set on a higher conference finish this season, although the preseason media placed them sixth.

That, according to Campbell, has been something of a sore spot with his players.

"It probably helped our team because I think we were hurt," he said. "Our seniors felt like they should have been picked higher than that but the only way to gain respect is to win basketball games."

UTM appears capable of challenging for an upper-division OVC finish, especially since the Skyhawks have been able to win two of their first three conference games despite playing all three on the road. The wins were against Austin Peay and Tennessee State while the loss was to Murray State.

"Our goal going into league play was winning two out of our first three," Campbell said. "We were pleased to win two on the road. If you can win some on the road, you'll usually be all right."

Southeast coach Gary Garner, for one, said he had the Skyhawks tabbed before the season as one of the OVC's darkhorse teams.

"This is the best team they've had in the five years I've been in the league," Garner said. "They're playing well and so far they look like one of the upper echelon teams in the conference."

While the Skyhawks returned talent and experience from last season, a big addition has been transfer point guard Jair Peralta, a former standout at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo. The 5-foot-9 senior averages 12.6 points per game while ranking second in the OVC in assists (5.0) and third in steals (2.0).

"He has really helped us," Campbell said. "We were playing players out of position last year. He is a mature basketball player who has really made a big difference with his poise and leadership."

The Skyhawks' leading scorer is 6-5 senior forward Brian Foster (14.5), another former Three Rivers Community College star who was last year's OVC Newcomer of the Year.

"Sargent is a great athlete, Foster is just a warrior and Peralta is playing extremely well," said Garner. "Sargent and Foster will give us plenty of problems inside and their pressure on defense really concerns us because we have a tendency to turn it over against pressure."

The Indians are coming off a three-game OVC homestand that saw them win just once. They led Tennessee State by 16 points in the first half before falling and led Morehead State by three points with less than a minute left before the Eagles scored the final nine points.

In their league opener at Eastern Illinois, Southeast led by 18 with less than 10 minutes remaining before the Panthers rallied.

"We get ourselves in a position to win and we can't quite pull it off," Garner said. "We haven't been able to finish."

Those narrow-misses have made Campbell take notice.

"They're a dangerous team," he said. "I don't think their record is indicative of how they've played. We certainly can't take them lightly."

mmishow@semissourian.com

(573) 335-6611, extension 132