NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball returns to game action Tuesday vs. Tennessee State.
The Bruins dropped a 96-83 decision to Samford Dec. 5. Junior
Luke Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored a season-high 24 points. The 6-0 guard ranks top 25 nationally in steals and 3-point field goals made.
Freshman
JaCobi Wood (Cleveland, Tenn.) was named co-OVC Freshman of the Week Monday after scoring 17 points Saturday. The dynamic playmaker has three double figure scoring games and ranks third nationally in free throws made among freshmen. His 13-for-15 free throw performance Saturday threatened Kerron Johnson's longstanding Curb Event Center record.
Junior
Nick Muszynski (Pickerington, Ohio) scored 19 points vs. Samford as he closes in on Taylor Barnette on the Belmont NCAA Division I era scoring list. The 6-11 center has 56 career double figure scoring games and is one of only three post players in America to score 975 or more points over the last two seasons.
Junior
Grayson Murphy (Franklin, Tenn.) has continued his astounding rebounding rate from last season. After leading the nation in rebounding from the point guard position, Murphy has already recorded three double figure rebounding games this season, including two of his 11 career double-doubles. The reigning OVC Defensive Player of the Year is on pace to threaten OVC career records in assists and steals.
Sophomore
Ben Sheppard (Atlanta, Ga.) made his season debut Saturday. The 6-6 guard made 32 game appearances last season, emerging as a valuable two-way player for Belmont.
Tennessee State head coach Brian Collins is a 2006 Belmont graduate, playing point guard for former Belmont head coach Rick Byrd from 2002-06. Collins helped Belmont to the 2006 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Belmont head coach
Casey Alexander was an assistant for Byrd, and coached Collins during his college career.
Former All-OVC players Ian Clark of Belmont and Robert Covington of Tennessee State played against each other before forging a friendship and making their way to the NBA; Clark earned an NBA Championship ring with the Golden State Warriors while Covington is a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Belmont graduate student Tyler Scanlon ('20) scored 15 points in the first 10:21 of last season's 72-65 victory at Tennessee State (2/29/20) securing the Bruins' 11th regular season conference championship.
This marks the 36th meeting between Belmont and Tennessee State. The Bruins won both meetings last season.
Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. CT from the Curb Event Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. The live play-by-play can be heard on the Bruin Sports Network. In-game updates will be available via Twitter @BelmontMBB.
Tennessee State at Belmont Game Notes
Belmont University men's basketball has earned postseason invitations 14 of the last 15 seasons, including nine berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have won 19 conference championships since 2006 - third-most nationally over that span (Gonzaga, Kansas). Belmont is one of only six NCAA Division I programs outside the Power 5 to post Top 100 rankings 10 consecutive seasons (BYU, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's (CA), San Diego State, Wichita State). Belmont is one of only six NCAA Division I programs to win 19 or more games 15 consecutive seasons (Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State, San Diego State). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 17 CoSIDA Academic All-America selections since 2001 and is the only NCAA Division I program to make the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Honor Roll every year of existence.
