Murray State Preview

The Bruins defeated Jacksonville State, 78-64, Feb. 1. Graduate student Tyler Scanlon (Centreville, Va.) led Belmont with 19 points.

The 6-7 forward has recorded double figures in 12 of his last 13 games, and ranks among OVC leaders in scoring, 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goals per game. Scanlon scored a season-high 21 points at Southeast Missouri.

Sophomore Nick Muszynski (Pickerington, Ohio) scored Belmont's first 12 points at Jacksonville State and continues to provide consistent production for the Bruins. The 6-11 center has 20 double figure scoring games this season and with 830 points is threatening to become the fastest Belmont player to 1,000 career points in the NCAA Division I era. Muszynski has scored 39 points in his last two outings vs. Murray State.

 

Sophomore Grayson Murphy (Franklin, Tenn.) had an extraordinary stat line of eight points, five rebounds, six assists and seven steals at Jacksonville State - one of just three such stat lines in Division I this season. Murphy has eight career double-doubles, including five this season. The 6-2 guard leads the nation in rebounding from the point guard position (7.8) and is second in assist-turnover ratio (3.97).

Sophomore Adam Kunkel (Hebron, Ky.) has a team-high 21 double figure scoring games this season and ranks seventh in the OVC in scoring at 16.7 points per game. The 6-3 guard had a career-high 35 points in Belmont's victory at Boston College.

Senior Michael Benkert (Greenwood, Ind.) scored a career-high 15 points at Western Kentucky and had 11 points at Tennessee Tech. One of the top perimeter defenders in the OVC, Benkert has made 27 consecutive starts for the Bruins.

Freshman Ben Sheppard (Atlanta, Ga.) had one of his top games in a Bruin uniform with 10 points and three rebounds at Jacksonville State. 

 

The Bruins currently rank first in the Ohio Valley Conference in 10 statistical categories, including scoring offense (81.5), 3-point field goals per game (10.4) and defensive rebounds per game (29.65). Likewise, Belmont is top 25 nationally in 10 statistical categories, including first in assists per game (19.0) and fifth in assist-turnover ratio (1.53).

 

The Belmont-Murray State series has quickly become one of the most compelling in college basketball, with the programs combining on 203 league wins, 12 conference championships and eight OVC players of the year since Belmont joined the OVC in 2013.

In 2019, Belmont's Dylan Windler and Murray State's Ja Morant became the first OVC duo of the modern era selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Windler and Morant were two of only 11 NBA first round draft selections outside the traditional multi-bid leagues in the decade of 2010-19, including the likes of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Pascal Siakam.

Belmont and Murray State are top 3 in the OVC in offensive and defensive efficiency per Ken Pomeroy.

In the 2013 OVC Championship at Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Kerron Johnson ('13) sank the game-tying and game-winning shots to lift Belmont over Murray State and into the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Johnson currently plays for Cluj Napoca in Romania.

In the 2015 OVC Championship at Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Taylor Barnette sank a three-pointer with 3.2 seconds remaining to lift Belmont to a dramatic 88-87 victory over [25/24] Murray State to secure the Bruins' seventh NCAA Tournament berth in 10 years. Barnette's shot was named ESPN/Capital One Impact Performance of Championship Week and was an ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 play for March.

Belmont assistant coach Tyler Holloway was a four-year letterwinner at Murray State from 2006-09. Holloway scored 1,083 career points, and played three seasons for former Murray State head coach Steve Prohm when Prohm served as an assistant coach to Billy Kennedy.

Former Belmont Director of Athletics Mike Strickland held the same position at Murray State from 1987-96. Strickland retired following the 2015-16 academic year.

This marks the 18th meeting between Belmont and Murray State.

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 of Voice of the Bruins Kevin Ingram can be heard on the Bruin Sports Network. In-game updates will be available via Twitter @BelmontMBB.

Fans are encouraged to park in the Johnson Center garage, accessed off 15th Avenue.

Murray State at Belmont Game Notes

Belmont University men's basketball has earned postseason invitations 13 of the last 14 seasons, including eight berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have won 17 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 RPIs nine consecutive seasons (BYU, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's (CA), San Diego State, Wichita State). Belmont is one of only nine NCAA Division I programs to win 19 or more games 14 consecutive seasons (BYU, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina, 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.