Men's Basketball Visits Evansville Tuesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont men's basketball returns to game action Tuesday at Evansville.
 
The Bruins (10-1) defeated UIC Dec. 13. Nic McClain continued his fine play with 17 points and seven assists.
 
The Jennings, Florida native leads the Missouri Valley Conference and ranks sixth nationally in assists.
 
Brigham Rogers continues to provide consistent production for the Bruins. The 6-9 forward has six double figure scoring games this season. His basket with 1:07 left helped Belmont defeat UIC. Rogers had 16 points and eight rebounds in last season's meeting at Evansville.
 
Jack Smiley has keyed outstanding bench contributions this season. The Indiana native had a career-high 17 points in 13 minutes vs. Saint Francis in the Coconut Hoops opening game. He scored 11 second-half points vs. UIC en route to MVC Freshman of the Week honors.
 
Bez Jenkins has been an impactful two-way player for Belmont this season. The Covington, Georgia native has six double figure scoring games this season. He had 14 points and seven rebounds at College of Charleston. Jenkins has 14 steals and six blocked shots this season.
 
Drew Scharnowski has 10 blocked shots over his last four games, including a career-high five blocked shots at College of Charleston. Scharnowski had 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots vs. UIC.
 
Graduate student Tyler Lundblade has scored in double figures in 14 of his last 15 games, including the first 11 games of this season. Lundblade scored a season-high 22 points vs. Toledo Nov. 26 en route to Coconut Hoops Most Valuable Player honors.
 
Belmont ranks Top 50 nationally in 10 statistical categories, including sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense, 17^th nationally in defensive rebounds per game, and 24^th in assists per game.
 
Belmont leads the MVC in nine statistical categories.
 
Evansville (4-7) lost at Notre Dame Dec. 13. The Purple Aces have faced a rigorous non-conference schedule, including Purdue, Middle Tennessee, UT Arlington, Oregon State, Akron, College of Charleston, Western Kentucky and the aforementioned Notre Dame.
 
Evansville is led by forward Connor Turnbull. The reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Year leads the conference in blocked shots with 30. Turnbull has eight double figure scoring games this season. He ranks fifth nationally in percentage of shots taken – taking over 35 percent of Evansville's shots when he is on the floor.
 
Evansville is the tallest team in the MVC and ranks 13^th nationally in team height.
 
Belmont went 22-11 last season. The Bruins' 41 conference wins over the last three-plus seasons rank third in the MVC.
 
With 20 conference championships and 361 conference wins – second only to Gonzaga – over the past two decades, Belmont is poised for another strong season.
 
The Bruins have 11 returning players, including guard Tyler Lundblade and forwards Sam Orme and Brigham Rogers who were named to the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Watch List.

What's Bruin

• Belmont is the only NCAA Division I institution in the nation to win 20 or more games 10 consecutive seasons in men's and women's basketball.
• Belmont has 150 victories since the start of the 2020 season, ranking Top 20 nationally.
• 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's 462 victories since 2007 leads the state of Tennessee - including Tennessee, Memphis, and Vanderbilt.
• Belmont finished Top 3 in the Missouri Valley Conference in 12 statistical categories in 2024-25 and ranked among national leaders in assists per game, 3-point field goal percentage, and 3-point field goals per game.
• Belmont head coach Casey Alexander is one of six NCAA Division I head coaches to win 20 or more games in nine consecutive seasons, joining Dana Altman (Oregon), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Greg McDermott (Creighton), and Kelvin Sampson (Houston), and Bill Self (Kansas).
• Matt Norlander of CBS Sports picked Belmont to win the Missouri Valley Conference and had the Bruins ranked No. 84 nationally in his preseason rankings. Belmont was picked fifth in the MVC Preseason Poll and third by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
• Missouri Valley Conference teams are 13-4 in their first game in the NCAA tourney dating back to 2012. The league has combined for 21 wins in the NCAA Tournament in the past 12 NCAA championships and has had multiple bids 16 times since 1994.

 
Tyler Lundblade is the only player in college basketball to walk-on and earn a scholarship at three different schools (SMU, TCU, Belmont).
 
Belmont defeated Murray State, 76-75, to win the 2020 Ohio Valley Conference Championship from the Ford Center in Evansville.
 
Belmont Assistant Director of Athletic Video Operations Connor Cleary, Bridgestone Arena/Nashville Predators Broadcast Engineer Jacob Lutz, and NC State Assistant Director of Productions Daniel Zoufal are all Belmont MSA graduates who earned undergraduate degrees from Evansville.
 
This marks the 11th meeting between Belmont and Evansville. The Bruins have won four of the five meetings since joining the MVC. Belmont won, 85-82, last season at Evansville.

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. from the Ford Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. The game will also air on select Gray Media local affiliate stations (check your local listings; Comcast Nashville Ch. 230 & 1171). The live play-by-play of Voice of the Bruins Steve Layman can be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio. 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. 
 
To become a Bruin Club member, contact Russell Grimm at (615) 460-5668 or russell.grimm@belmont.edu.
 
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 15 consecutive seasons (alongside Gonzaga, Kansas, and Oregon) and 19 or more games in 20 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 six 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 10 consecutive seasons.