Belmont at Samford
Sunday, Dec. 5 | 2 p.m. CT
Pete Hanna Center | Birmingham, Ala.
ESPN+ | Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats | Game Notes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball returns to game action Sunday at Samford.
Luke Smith had 11 points and five assists Thursday.
What's Bruin
- Belmont defeated Lipscomb, 94-65, Thursday.
- Grayson Murphy had seven points, five rebounds, seven assists and five steals Thursday. The 6-3 guard went over 1,000 career points on a steal and score in the second half vs. Furman. Murphy is on pace to become the Ohio Valley Conference career leader in assists and steals.
- Nick Muszynski had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots Thursday. The 6-11 center, named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lou Henson Award watch lists, averaged 24.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game in the ESPN Events Invitational in earning All-Tournament Team honors.
- JaCobi Wood scored a season-high 17 points Thursday and scored nine points in a 90-second span vs. Iona.. The 6-2 guard had 20 double figure scoring games last season, including a career-high 21 points in his debut vs. Howard.
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Ben Sheppard scored a career-high 25 points vs. Iona. Sheppard is the only Belmont player to score in double figures in every game this season. The 6-6 guard has emerged as Belmont's top two-way player.
- Will Richard recorded 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds vs. Drake, becoming one of the fastest Belmont players to post a double-double.
- Belmont has strong ties to the state of Alabama; including all-time greats Kerron Johnson (Huntsville) and assistant coaches Tyler Holloway (Decatur) and Mick Hedgepeth (Crossville).
- Belmont and Samford met four times from 2001-03 as then-Atlantic Sun Conference members.
- Belmont was Samford's first men's basketball opponent in the Pete Hanna Center (11/15/07). Behind 25 points from future Belmont Hall of Famer Justin Hare, Belmont won, 81-73. Hare's brother, Josh, played at Samford from 2002-05.
- Samford women's basketball head coach Carley Kuhns was an assistant coach at Belmont from 2011-16.
This marks the 30th meeting between Belmont and Samford.
Belmont won, 99-93, in overtime November, 29, 2018 at the Pete Hanna Center. Dylan Windler had 31 points and 11 rebounds.
Caleb Hollander had 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. The live play-by-play of Steve Layman can be heard on the Bruin Sports Network. In-game updates will be available via Twitter @BelmontMBB.
Belmont University men's basketball has earned postseason invitations 14 of the last 16 seasons, including nine berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have won 20 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 11 consecutive seasons (BYU, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's (CA), San Diego State, Wichita State). Belmont is one of only four NCAA Division I programs to win 19 or more games 16 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 18 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
