By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Following his best offensive effort to date donning the purple and gold, Tennessee Tech basketball's Ryan Martin took home adidas® OVC Newcomer of the Week honors for the third time in the 2015-16 campaign.
While leading the Golden Eagles to a perfect 2-0 start to Ohio Valley Conference play with victories over Eastern Illinois and SIUE, the senior posted back-to-back 20-point efforts, including a career-high 26-point outburst against the Cougars.
Against the Panthers, Martin tied what was then his career-best scoring mark with 20 points in 30 minutes of action, shooting 8-of-15 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range. He hauled in three rebounds and drained both of his free throw attempts while helping Tech keep its undefeated mark in the Eblen Center rolling.
He took over offensively against SIUE, firing 8-for-13 from the field and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe while playing 34 minutes, shattering his career-high scoring effort with a game-leading 26 points. He also corralled seven rebounds and tallied a career-best two steals.
Martin also claimed the league's Newcomer of the Week honors on Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 and is the first OVC player to earn the award three times this season.
On the year the London, England native is averaging 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, ranking 11th and sixth in the league, respectively. He also ranks in the top 10 in the OVC in free throw shooting, sinking his freebies at a 80.2 percent clip.
The Tech squad will kick off a three-game road swing Thursday with a trip to long-time OVC rival Murray State. The 7:00 p.m. CST contest will be followed by a visit to in-state foe Austin Peay for a 7:00 p.m. tilt on Saturday.
Photo by Charles Goodin
