Men's Basketball Falls to UC Irvine

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball dropped a 92-84 decision to defending Big West Conference champion UC Irvine Thursday night from the Curb Event Center.
 
The Bruins led for 35 minutes in a meeting of two programs with championship and postseason tradition, but UC Irvine used a late 13-0 run to earn its seventh victory away from home this season.
 
The game was truly a tale of two halves.
 
Early 3-pointers from Sam Orme and Isaiah Walker – coupled with active, purposeful defense – sparked Belmont to a 12-2 start five minutes in.
 
The Bruins racked up steals and deflections, turning UC Irvine turnovers into early offense.
 
Carter Whitt orchestrated the Belmont offense, attacking the paint and setting up teammates or scoring himself.
 
Seven Whitt points in a 65 second span gave Belmont a 30-17 lead at the 5:37 mark.
 
Myles Che carried the UC Irvine offense in the first half with several long, contested two-point field goals.
 
A Jonathan Pierre basket and a second-chance layin from Brigham Rogers gave Belmont a 39-25 lead with 1:03 left in the first half.
 
Belmont would have three 3-point field goal attempts in the final 34 seconds of the half to extend, but would shots rimmed out.
 
It was an inspired first half for Belmont – shooting 46 percent from the field, outrebounding UC Irvine, 23-14, and forcing 10 turnovers.
 
Remarkably, Belmont led by 14 points while shooting 4-for-16 from 3-point distance.
 
UC Irvine turned to Devin Tillis to start the second half, getting within 42-34 with 18:04 left.
 
Tyler Lundblade answered for Belmont with a wing 3-pointer and a baseline layin to extend the margin back to 13 points.
 
Both teams displayed high-level shotmaking, with Belmont replying to two Justin Hohn 3-pointers with scores from Brody Peebles, Drew Scharnowski and Whitt.
 
Belmont led 60-47 with 12:43 left, but fouls began to mount.
 
UC Irvine – the nation's second-ranked free throw shooting team – worked into the bonus with 9:41 left.
 
Seven points from Bent Leuchten and a Torian Lee 3-pointer got UC Irvine within 65-64 at the under-eight timeout.
 
The lead would exchange hands six times over the next three minutes, with Belmont retaking the lead on an Orme 3-pointer with 4:58 remaining.
 
After a UC Irvine turnover, Walker added a clutch wing 3-pointer to increase the Belmont lead to four points, 75-71, with 3:48 left.
 
On the next possession, UC Irvine got a lift as Che was fouled on a 3-point field goal attempt.
 
His three free throws got UC Irvine within one.
 
Walker built on his courageous, late-game play, making a second consecutive 3-pointer to put Belmont back on top by four points, and energizing the Curb Event Center crowd.
 
But Hohn rattled home a deep, contested 3-pointer on the next UC Irvine possession, sparking the decisive run.
 
After an empty Bruin trip and a Hohn driving layin, Belmont would miss two free throws at the 2:08 which would have given the Bruins the lead.
 
Leuchten continued his strong second half with a step-through layin to make the score 81-78 with 1:46 left.
 
Pierre would rim out a short baseline jump shot, before the arguably the biggest possession of the game.
 
Che would miss a tough, fadeaway jump shot at the end of the shot clock, before a huge scramble for the loose ball rebound found the hands of Leuchten for a conventional 3-point play with 1:01 left.
 
All told, Belmont shot 50 percent (32-for-69) from the field on the nation's No. 5 ranked defense – including 15-for-38 from 3-point distance. Belmont handed out a season-high 25 assists on 32 field goals.
 
Whitt led three Belmont players in double figures with a career-high 25 points, five rebounds and nine assists. Walker had 16 points, while Lundblade scored 11.
 
Leuchten led UC Irvine (10-1) with 23 points.
 
Belmont (9-3, 1-0 MVC) returns to game action Dec. 29 at [rv/rv] Drake.
 
Belmont University men's basketball has been a postseason fixture for the last two decades, including nine berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have won 20 conference championships since 2006 - third-most nationally over that span (behind Gonzaga and Kansas). Belmont has won 20 or more games in 14 consecutive seasons (alongside Gonzaga, Kansas, and Oregon) and 19 or more games in 19 consecutive seasons (alongside Gonzaga, Kansas, and San Diego State). Belmont is among select programs with two or more first-round selections in the NBA Draft over the last five years (Ben Sheppard, Dylan Windler). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 19 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 its existence. Belmont is the only NCAA Division I institution in America whose men's and women's basketball programs have won 20 or more games in nine consecutive seasons.