Men's Basketball Hosts Drake Sunday

Belmont vs. Drake
Sunday, Jan. 29 | 2 p.m. CT
Curb Event Center | Nashville, Tenn.
ESPN2/ESPN+ | Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball returns to game action Sunday vs. Drake.

The Bruins defeated Evansville Wednesday. Ja'Kobi Gillespie had a career-high 18 points and six assists.

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 nine statistical categories, including third in scoring, ninth in assists per game and 11th in steals per game. He is among a select group of active college basketball players with over 1,300 career points, 400 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals. Sheppard had 23 points, 10 rebounds and two assists at Evansville.

He was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week Monday.

Keishawn Davidson had a season-high 10 assists vs. Missouri State, one of only five MVC players to record double figure assists in a game this season. 
 
Davidson was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week Dec. 19. He currently ranks among MVC leaders in assists per game and assist-turnover ratio. Davidson had seven points and seven assists at 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 (13.0). Tyson scored a season-high 20 points vs. Missouri State and has scored in double figures in 16 of his 20 game appearances. He had 15 points and six rebounds at Bradley.

Gillespie currently ranks eighth in the MVC in steals and 10th in assists. His six steals vs. George Mason remains the conference single-game standard. Gillespie has 27 assists and eight turnovers over the last seven games.

Graduate student Drew Friberg is third on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game. He scored a career-high 24 points at Georgia State and recorded 15 points and three rebounds at Bradley. Friberg leads the MVC with 76 3-point field goals. He had 14 points and four rebounds vs. Murray State.
 
After scoring a season-high 13 points in Belmont's victory over Howard, Even Brauns has recorded double figure scoring in four of his last seven games - at UIC, vs. Missouri State, at Valparaiso and vs. Murray State. Brauns has 19 blocked shots over his last seven games and he ranks 11th in the MVC in offensive rebounding. He had eight points and eight rebounds at Evansville.

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 329 conference wins since 2003 (includes tournament), with Gonzaga nationally.
• Belmont's 405 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 Drake. Belmont won, 74-69, in the 2021 ESPN Events Invitational. Nick Muszynski had a game-high 31 points and nine rebounds.

Belmont and Drake each earned NCAA Tournament at-large bids in the last four years; Belmont defeated Temple in the 2019 NCAA Tournament while Drake defeated Wichita State in the 2021 NCAA
Tournament.

Brauns is a native of Iowa City, Iowa.

Belmont head coach Casey Alexander and Drake head coach Darian DeVries have each received national coaching honors from CollegeInsider.com.

Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT from the Curb Event Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2, ESPN+ 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, mini plans, single-game tickets and group experiences. Fans can also call or text 615.460.BALL (2255).

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