2020–21 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team


The 2020–21 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team represented Belmont University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bruins, led by second-year head coach Casey Alexander, played their home games at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bruins finished the season 26–4, 18–2 in OVC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated SIU–Edwardsville and Jacksonville State before losing to Morehead State in the OVC tournament championship game. Because of a limited National Invitation Tournament due to COVID-19, the Bruins did not receive an automatic bid to the NIT for being regular season champions.[1] They did not receive an at-large bid to the NIT either.[2]

2020–21 Belmont Bruins men's basketball
OVC regular season champions
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record26–4 (18–2 OVC)
Head coach
Associate head coachBrian Ayers
Assistant coaches
  • Sean Rutigliano
  • Tyler Holloway
Home arenaCurb Event Center
Seasons
2020–21 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Belmont 18 2   .900 26 4   .867
Morehead State 17 3   .850 23 8   .742
Eastern Kentucky 15 5   .750 22 7   .759
Jacksonville State 13 6   .684 18 9   .667
Austin Peay 10 10   .500 14 13   .519
Murray State 10 10   .500 13 13   .500
Southeast Missouri State 9 11   .450 11 16   .407
SIU Edwardsville 7 12   .368 9 17   .346
Eastern Illinois 6 14   .300 9 18   .333
UT Martin 6 14   .300 8 16   .333
Tennessee Tech 5 15   .250 5 22   .185
Tennessee State 3 17   .150 4 19   .174
2021 OVC tournament winner

Previous season

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The Bruins finished the 2019–20 season 26–7, 15–3 in OVC play to finish in a tie for the regular season championship. They defeated Eastern Kentucky and Murray State to win the championship of the OVC tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Roster

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2020–21 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
C 0 Even Brauns 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Iowa City, Iowa
G 1 Mitch Listau 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Waunakee, Wisconsin
G 2 Grayson Murphy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Franklin, Tennessee
G 3 Luke Smith 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Knoxville, Tennessee
F 10 Caleb Hollander 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Nashville, Tennessee
F 11 Michael Shanks 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Fr Bentonville, Arkansas
G 12 EJ Bellinger 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So St. Peters, Missouri
G 20 Tate Pierson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Brentwood, Tennessee
F 21 Derek Sabin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS So Slinger, Wisconsin
G 22 Ben Sheppard 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Atlanta, Georgia
G 24 JaCobi Wood 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Cleveland, Tennessee
F 25 Frank Jakubicek 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Cary, Illinois
C 33 Nick Muszynski 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Jr Pickerington, Ohio
F 42 Rilee Epley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Newburgh, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 8, 2020

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 26, 2020*
4:00 pm, ESPN3
vs. Howard
DC Paradise Jam
W 95–78  1–0
Washington Convention Center 
Washington, D.C.
November 27, 2020*
1:00 pm, ESPN3
vs. George Mason
DC Paradise Jam
W 77–67  2–0
Washington Convention Center 
Washington, D.C.
November 28, 2020*
11:00 am, ESPN3
vs. Queens (NC)
DC Paradise Jam
W 73–61  3–0
Washington Convention Center 
Washington, D.C.
December 5, 2020*
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Samford L 83–96  3–1
Curb Event Center 
Nashville, TN
December 8, 2020
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Tennessee State W 79–64  4–1
(1–0)
Curb Event Center (250)
Nashville, TN
December 12, 2020*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Lipscomb
Battle of the Boulevard
W 81–71  5–1
Allen Arena 
Nashville, TN
December 16, 2020*
6:30 pm, ESPN3
Kennesaw State W 64–53  6–1
Curb Event Center 
Nashville, TN
December 18, 2020
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Tennessee State W 88–63  7–1
(2–0)
Gentry Center (224)
Nashville, TN
December 21, 2020*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Evansville W 72–63  8–1
Ford Center 
Evansville, IN
December 30, 2020
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Murray State W 68–55  9–1
(3–0)
Curb Event Center (756)
Nashville, TN
January 2, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
at UT Martin W 90–69  10–1
(4–0)
Skyhawk Arena (165)
Martin, TN
January 7, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Southeast Missouri State W 77–66  11–1
(5–0)
Curb Event Center (271)
Nashville, TN
January 9, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
UT Martin W 89–69  12–1
(6–0)
Curb Event Center (141)
Nashville, TN
January 14, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at Tennessee Tech W 88–67  13–1
(7–0)
Eblen Center (589)
Cookeville, TN
January 16, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
at Jacksonville State W 98–91  14–1
(8–0)
Pete Mathews Coliseum (516)
Jacksonville, AL
January 21, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Eastern Illinois W 79–66  15–1
(9–0)
Curb Event Center (247)
Nashville, TN
January 23, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
SIU Edwardsville W 114–62  16–1
(10–0)
Curb Event Center (244)
Nashville, TN
January 28, 2021
7:30 pm, ESPNU
at Austin Peay W 81–76  17–1
(11–0)
Dunn Center (603)
Clarksville, TN
January 30, 2021
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at Murray State W 72–71  18–1
(12–0)
CFSB Center (1,290)
Murray, KY
February 4, 2021
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at Eastern Illinois W 89–61  19–1
(13–0)
Lantz Arena (12)
Charleston, IL
February 6, 2021
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at SIU Edwardsville W 94–62  20–1
(14–0)
First Community Arena (50)
Edwardsville, IL
February 11, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Eastern Kentucky W 92–74  21–1
(15–0)
Curb Event Center (241)
Nashville, TN
February 13, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Morehead State W 73–58  22–1
(16–0)
Curb Event Center (233)
Nashville, TN
February 18, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Jacksonville State W 63–59  23–1
(17–0)
Curb Event Center (178)
Nashville, TN
February 20, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Tennessee Tech W 90–66  24–1
(18–0)
Curb Event Center (231)
Nashville, TN
February 25, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Eastern Kentucky L 67–81  24–2
(18–1)
McBrayer Arena (957)
Richmond, KY
February 27, 2021
3:00 pm, ESPN+
at Morehead State L 82–89 2OT 24–3
(18–2)
Ellis Johnson Arena (800)
Morehead, KY
Ohio Valley Conference tournament
March 3, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN+
(1) vs. (8) SIU Edwardsville
First Round
W 78–61  25–3
Ford Center (266)
Evansville, IN
March 5, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPNU
(1) vs. (4) Jacksonville State
Semifinals
W 72–69  26–3
Ford Center 
Evansville, IN
March 6, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN2
(1) vs. (2) Morehead State
Championship
L 71–86  26–4
Ford Center 
Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Source[4]

References

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  1. ^ Organ, Mike. "Belmont basketball snubbed from NIT, first team out of bracket". The Tennessean. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  2. ^ Morris, Chuck. "NIT, NCAA tournaments snub Belmont". WSMV Nashville. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  3. ^ "NCAA cancels March Madness tournaments, all other winter and spring championships". NBC News. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "2020-21 Belmont Men's Basketball Schedule". Belmont Bruins. Retrieved December 8, 2020.