NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball returns to game action Saturday vs. Morehead State.
The Bruins defeated Eastern Kentucky, 92-74, Thursday. Belmont handed out 22 assists on 33 made field goals and scored 40 points in the paint.
Junior
Nick Muszynski (Pickerington, Ohio) had 15 points vs. Eastern Kentucky. The 6-11 center has 72 career double figure scoring games and is a two-time First Team All-OVC selection. Muszynski scored a season-high 26 points vs. Southeast Missouri, and is on pace to challenge Evan Bradds' NCAA Division I era career scoring record (1,921 points). He was named to the Lute Olson Award and Lou Henson Award midseason watch lists earlier this season.
Junior
Grayson Murphy (Franklin, Tenn.) had nine points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals vs. Eastern Kentucky. The reigning OVC Defensive Player of the Year ranks fourth in the OVC in rebounding (7.5 rpg), leads the league in defensive rebounding, and is on pace to threaten OVC career records in assists and steals. Since the start of 2019-20, Murphy is the only player in America with at least 300 rebounds, 250 assists and 100 steals. He ranks 11th among active NCAA career leaders in assists and 14th in steals. Murphy had 26 points, 20 rebounds, 15 assists and five steals in two games vs. Morehead State last season.
Sophomore
Ben Sheppard (Atlanta, Ga.) had a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds vs. Eastern Kentucky. Sheppard scored 22 points at Jacksonville State and earned his second OVC Player of the Week honor Jan. 18. The 6-6 guard made 32 game appearances last season, emerging as a valuable two-way player for Belmont.
Junior
Luke Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) had eight points, nine assists and three steals vs. Eastern Kentucky. Smith became the first player in Belmont's NCAA Division I era to score 100 or more points in his first five games.
The 6-0 guard leads the OVC in six statistical categories, and ranks 13th in the league in scoring (13.2 ppg).
He ranks fifth nationally in steals and ninth in 3-point field goals.
Smith was named DC Paradise Jam Most Valuable Player and Dec. 14 became the first player in nearly three years to earn OVC Player of the Week and OVC Newcomer of the Week honors the same week.
Freshman
JaCobi Wood (Cleveland, Tenn.) had 11 points vs. Eastern Kentucky. He scored a career-high tying 21 points in 22 minutes vs. UT Martin. The dynamic playmaker has been named OVC Freshman of the Week twice, has posted 16 double figure scoring games and ranks third in the OVC in scoring among freshmen (12.3 ppg). Wood ranks ninth nationally in freshman scoring.
Junior
Caleb Hollander (Nashville, Tenn.) scored a career-high 24 points at Austin Peay Jan. 28. The 6-8 forward has scored in double figures in five times in the last three weeks. Hollander scored a season-high 22 points vs. Morehead
State as a freshman (1/10/19).
The Belmont bench has been highly productive of late, scoring 467 points in OVC play, including 21 vs. Eastern Kentucky. Wood, freshman
Even Brauns (Iowa City, Iowa), sophomore
Mitch Listau (Waunakee, Wis.), sophomore
EJ Bellinger (St. Peters, Mo.), sophomore
Derek Sabin (Slinger, Wis.), freshman
Frank Jakubicek (Cary, Ill.) and freshman
Michael Shanks (Bentonville, Ark.) have each tallied new career highs in scoring during the stretch.
2019 graduate and Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Dylan Windler had two of the greatest individual performances in program history, both vs. Morehead State. In 2018, Windler recorded 36 points and 20 rebounds in a home victory over Morehead State. It was one of only three 30-20 games in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball that season (Marvin Bagley, Jo-Lual Acuil). Then in 2019, Windler went for a career-high 41 points and 12 rebounds in victory at Morehead State, one shy of Belmont's NCAA Division I era single-game scoring mark of 42, held by Craig Bradshaw (at Ohio, 11/29/14).
Belmont great Ian Clark and Morehead State standout Kenneth Faried were teammates on the Denver Nuggets for two months at the end of the 2014-15 season.
This marks the 18th meeting between Belmont and Morehead State. The Bruins won both meetings last season.
Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CT. 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.
Belmont is proud to partner with Elite Sports Medicine as game sponsor.
Morehead 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
