Men's Basketball Takes on UC Irvine Friday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont men's basketball returns to game action Friday at UC Irvine.
 
The Bruins (11-1) defeated Evansville Tuesday to open conference play with two victories.
 
Through games played Dec. 16, Belmont was tied for the NCAA lead in victories (11) with Iowa State, Duke, UConn, Nebraska, Yale and Miami, Ohio.

Drew Scharnowski recorded his second double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds at Evansville. The Burlington, Illinois native had a career-high five blocked shots at College of Charleston. Scharnowski has six double figure scoring games this season.
 
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 eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals 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. Smiley had a clutch basket with 24 seconds left to help secure the victory at Evansville.
 
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 15 steals and six blocked shots this season.
 
Graduate student Tyler Lundblade has scored in double figures in 15 of his last 16 games, including the first 12 games of this season. Lundblade scored a season-high 22 points vs. Toledo Nov. 26 en route to Coconut Hoops Most Valuable Player honors. The Dallas, Texas native scored a game-high 21 points at Evansville.
 
Belmont ranks Top 50 nationally in nine statistical categories, including seventh nationally in effective field goal percentage, eighth nationally in field goal percentage defense, 16^th nationally in defensive rebounds per game, and 24^th nationally in assists per game.
 
Belmont leads the MVC in nine statistical categories.
 
UC Irvine (7-4) has won four consecutive games, including 85-71 over Cal State Northridge in its last outing. The Anteaters have not played since Dec. 6.
 
UC Irvine was ranked Top 50 by virtually every basketball metric last season, finishing with a record of 32-7 and the NIT Runner-Up.
 
The Anteaters are led by the duo of Jurian Dixon and Derin Saran. Dixon, the reigning Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, leads UC Irvine in scoring at 15.3 points per game. Saran, a native of Turkey, returned to UC Irvine after spending the 2024-25 season at Stanford. He averages 14.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
 
Annually among the top defensive teams in the country, UC Irvine ranks second nationally in effective field goal percentage defense and 17^th in scoring defense.
 
Belmont went 22-11 last season. The Bruins' 42 conference wins over the last three-plus seasons rank third in the MVC.
 
With 20 conference championships and 363 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 151 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 463 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 head coach Casey Alexander and UC Irvine head coach Russell Turner are two of the winningest active head coaches this decade.
 
Belmont and UC Irvine both won games in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
 
The last time the Bruins played in the state of California, they won at UCLA, 74-72, Dec. 15, 2018. Kevin McClain made the game-winning basket with 2.3 seconds left. Kevin is the older brother of Belmont graduate student guard Nic McClain.
 
This marks the third meeting between Belmont and UC Irvine. The Bruins led by 14 points at halftime last season in Nashville, before UC Irvine rallied for victory.

Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CT/6 p.m. PT from the Bren Events Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. 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.