EVANSVILLE, Ind. - - Belmont University men's basketball plays Morehead State Saturday in the OVC Championship game.
Belmont (26-3) defeated Jacksonville State, 72-69, Friday to advance to the program's 12th conference championship game in the last 16 years.
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 BC Enisey in Russia.
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. Barnette is a member of Chris Mack's coaching staff at Louisville.
Last year, Belmont defeated Murray State, 76-75, in the 2020 OVC Championship on Tyler Scanlon's reverse layin with 3.8 seconds remaining. The Bruins were the second program in America to earn an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Tournament (Utah State).
Belmont also claimed a 12th conference regular season championship in 16 years and seventh in nine years of OVC membership.
Junior Grayson Murphy (Franklin, Tenn.) was named All-OVC First Team Tuesday and was named OVC Defensive Player of the Year for a second consecutive season. Murphy was named Lute Olson National Player of the Week Feb. 15. The 6-2 guard is averaging 10.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game, leading the nation in rebounding from the point guard position for a second consecutive year. In fact, Murphy joins exclusive company of Anfernee Hardaway (Memphis) and Evan Turner (Ohio State) of point guards to average eight or more rebounds per game over the past three decades. Murphy ranks among OVC leaders in 12 statistical categories, including leading the league in assists per game, steals per game, defensive rebounds per game and triple-doubles. Speaking of, Murphy posted the first triple-double of Belmont's NCAA Division I era with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists vs. Morehead State (2/13/21). Over the last three seasons, Murphy is the only player in college basketball to record at least 900 points, 550 rebounds, 550 assists and 150 steals. Murphy is on pace to become the OVC career leader in assists and steals. Murphy had 14 points, six rebounds, 12 assists and three steals in the semifinal round.
Junior
Nick Muszynski (Pickerington, Ohio) joined Murphy on the All-OVC First Team, becoming the first Belmont player of the program's NCAA Division I era to earn first team all-conference honors as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Named to the Lute Olson and Lou Henson Award Midseason Watch Lists, Muszynski returned to action vs. SIU Edwardsville after missing his previous two games. The 6-11 center has 76 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). Muszynski is the reigning OVC Tournament Most Valuable Player. He had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the semifinal round.
Junior
Luke Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) became the first player since Muszynski in 2019 and second in program history named to the conference All-Newcomer Team. The 6-0 guard is averaging 12.6 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. After earning DC Paradise Jam Most Valuable Player honors, Smith became the first player in Belmont's NCAA Division I era to score 100 or more points in his first five games. Smith has 16 double figure scoring games. He ranks among OVC leaders in 12 statistical categories, including first in assist-turnover ratio (2.84). The Knoxville, Tennessee native ranks eighth nationally in steals and 21st in 3-point field goals. Smith 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 (12/14/20). Smith had a season-high 24 points in the semifinal round.
Sophomore
Ben Sheppard (Atlanta, Ga.) has posted 11 double figure scoring games this season, including a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds vs. Eastern Kentucky Feb. 11. Sheppard scored 22 points at Jacksonville State (1/16/21) and had 21 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six steals at UT Martin (1/2/21). The 6-6 guard made 32 game appearances last season, emerging as a valuable two-way player for Belmont.
Freshman
JaCobi Wood (Cleveland, Tenn.) scored a game-high 19 points vs. SIU Edwardsville in the quarterfinal round. 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 20 double figure scoring games and ranks third in the OVC in scoring among freshmen (11.7 ppg). Wood ranks 10th nationally in freshman scoring and is fourth on Belmont's NCAA Division I era freshman scoring list (339).
Junior
Caleb Hollander (Nashville, Tenn.) had 17 points vs. SIU Edwardsville in the OVC quarterfinal round. He scored a career-high 24 points at Austin Peay Jan. 28. The 6-8 forward is averaging 11.7 points per game over his last 13 games, including eight double figure games.
The Belmont bench has been highly productive, scoring 596 points in OVC play, including 26 in the OVC quarterfinal round. 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, while junior
Tate Pierson (Brentwood, Tenn.) scored a season-high 11 points.
Since 2006, Belmont is 28-7 in conference tournament games, including eight conference tournament championships (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012: Atlantic Sun; 2013, 2015, 2020: OVC).
This marks the 20th meeting between Belmont and Morehead State.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and the ESPN app, as well as Westwood One Radio and SiriusXM 202. The live play-by-play 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 15 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 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
