Men's Basketball Travels to Southern Illinois Sunday

Belmont at Southern Illinois
Sunday, Jan. 1 | 4 p.m. CT
Banterra Center | Carbondale, Ill.
ESPNU | Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball returns to game action Sunday at Southern Illinois.

The Bruins defeated Bradley, 63-60, Dec. 28. Keishawn Davidson continued his fine play with 15 points and five assists, including the go-ahead basket with 43 seconds remaining.
 
Davidson was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week Dec. 19. He currently ranks third in the MVC in assist-turnover ratio and assists per game.

Senior Ben Sheppard is building off his all-conference season a year ago and has established himself as one of the most complete players in college basketball. The Atlanta native ranks among MVC leaders in seven statistical categories, including third in steals per game, fourth in scoring and sixth in assists per game. He had 11 points, five rebounds and three steals vs. Bradley.
 
Freshman Cade Tyson has made an instant impact on both ends of the floor for the Bruins, currently leading the MVC in scoring among freshmen (13.9 ppg). Tyson scored a season-high 18 points vs. Ohio and has scored in double figures in 12 of Belmont's first 13 games. He had 17 points, seven rebounds and four steals at Chattanooga and 14 points vs. Samford.
 
Fellow freshman Ja'Kobi Gillespie ranks among MVC leaders in five statistical categories. Gillespie had six points vs. Bradley, including an electrifying catch and dunk in the final seconds vs. Bradley.

Graduate student Drew Friberg is third on the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game. He scored a career-high 24 points at Georgia State. Friberg leads the MVC with 53 3-point field goals.
 
After scoring a season-high 13 points in Belmont's victory over Howard, junior Even Brauns had eight points and eight rebounds vs. Valparaiso and 10 points vs. Samford.

What's Bruin

• The Bruins went 25-8 last season in earning an at-large bid to the Postseason NIT.
• After having one of the most experienced teams in college basketball in 2021-22, Belmont lost seven of its top eight scorers from last year's team, most notably program legends Grayson Murphy - the all-time leader in assists and steals in Ohio Valley Conference history - and Nick Muszynski.
• Belmont welcomes nine newcomers, including redshirt freshman Isaiah Walker, graduate transfer Drew Friberg and three-year Tennessee Tech starter Keishawn Davidson.
• Belmont's 77 victories over the last three seasons ranks fifth nationally (Gonzaga, Kansas, Houston, Baylor; entering 2022-23).
• Belmont has posted 322 conference wins since 2003 (includes tournament), tied with Gonzaga.
• Belmont's 398 victories since 2007 leads the state of Tennessee - including Tennessee, Memphis and Vanderbilt.
• Belmont has won 20+ games and earned postseason play 15 of the last 17 years. That includes NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 & 2020.
• Belmont has won 20 conference championships (eight tournament, 12 regular season) since 2006. Only Gonzaga and Kansas have won more conference championships over that span.
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20 or more games seven consecutive seasons in men's and women's basketball.
• Belmont has been ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 for 18 consecutive seasons, dating back to 2006. The Bruins were No. 21 in the Mid-Major Top 25 preseason poll.
• Belmont won an OVC-record 30 consecutive conference games from Jan. 30, 2020-Feb. 24, 2021.
• Belmont went a league-best 145-27 (.843) in Ohio Valley Conference conference games from 2013-22 (81-5 home, 64-22 away).
• Belmont has received national poll votes in 11 of the last 12 seasons.
• Belmont will play up to 13 games vs. teams who earned postseason play in 2021-22, and up to 17 games vs. team who were Q1/Q2 in the final 2021-22 NET rankings.

This marks the second meeting between Belmont and Southern Illinois, the first meeting since 2001.

Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and the ESPN app. The live play-by-play of Steve Layman can be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio. In-game updates will be available via Twitter @BelmontMBB.

Belmont season tickets, which include the entire men's and women's basketball home schedule, are on sale now at BelmontBruins.com/Tickets, in addition to Puckett's flex packs, single-game tickets and group experiences. Fans can also call or text 615.460.BALL (2255).

The Belmont Holiday Hoops mini plan continues through Jan. 7.

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— Belmont Athletics (@GoBelmontBruins) December 15, 2022

To become a Bruin Club member, contact Russell Grimm at (615) 460-5668 or russell.grimm@belmont.edu.

Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

Belmont University men's basketball has earned postseason invitations 15 of the last 17 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 has won 20 or more games in 12 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon). Belmont is one of only five NCAA Division I programs outside the Power 5 to post Top 100 rankings 12 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Saint Mary's (CA), San Diego State, Wichita State). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 19 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