MARTIN, Tenn. – Bethune-Cookman begins a five-game road swing Monday night at Tennessee-Martin. Game time is 7:05 p.m. EST (6:05 local.)
The Wildcats (1-0) are coming off a 108-54 opening win over Trinity while the Skyhawks (0-1) fell 91-57 at Oklahoma State. UT-Martin won last year's meeting 71-56 in Moore Gymnasium.
After this, B-CU heads to Richmond, West Virginia, and two games in Las Vegas as part of the Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic.
A B-CU WIN: Would give the Wildcats their first 2-0 start since the 2010-2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship season and their first non-conference road win since a 2012 decision at New Orleans.
LAST LOOK: Friday's season opener against Trinity may prove to be one of the best opening nights in program history. The Wildcats: (1) had their largest margin of victory in a season opener (2) Matched most points in a season opener (3) Posted both the second largest margin of victory as a Division I team, just two shy of program record as well as the second assists (26) in program history (4) the fourth best FG% (61.2) in program history and (5) Had six players in double figures for the first since 2012 and three players with double-doubles for first time in program history.
THE RICKY REPORT: Redshirt senior Ricky Johnson needs 174 points to become the 29th recorded 1,000 point scorer in program history. At his current pace (14 points per game), he'll reach it against Jacksonville on New Year's Eve.
DON'T EXPECT US TO KNOW THE LYRICS TO “ROCKY TOP”: While the B-CU football team played in Nashville against Tennessee State two years ago, this is the first time a Wildcat basketball team has played in the Volunteer State since the Reagan administration: That was on December 1, 1983 and was a 69-60 loss at Tennessee State. Before last year's game with the Skyhawks, the Wildcats only had one Tennessee opponent since that TSU game: Tennessee Tech in 2011 in Las Vegas — they won 67-59.
SCOUTING UT-MARTIN: The Skyhawks finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference West behind Murray State last year, finishing 21-13 after winning just eight the year before. Senior guard Alex Anderson and senior forward Twymond Howard are poised to finish their careers out strong after being selected to the All OVC Men's Preseason Team. Oklahoma State handed UT-Martin a 91-57 loss Friday. Jacoby Mobley led the Skyhawks with 19.
MONDAY'S COVERAGE: A free video will be available at the OVCdigitalnetwork.com site. The CATEYE Network will run UT-Martin's audio on www.1380thecat.com and live stats will be available at utmsports.com. Follow our official twitter feed -- @bcuhoops – for in-game updates.
