2016–17 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team represented Belmont University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bruins, led by 31st-year head coach Rick Byrd, played their home games at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference in the East Division. They finished the season 23–7, 15–1 in OVC play to win the regular season championship. In the OVC Tournament, they lost in the semifinals to Jacksonville State. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament title, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Georgia in the first round before losing to Georgia Tech.

2016–17 Belmont Bruins men's basketball
OVC regular season champions
OVC East Division champions
NIT, Second Round
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
DivisionEast Division
2016–17 record23–7 (15–1 OVC)
Head coachRick Byrd (31st season)
Assistant coaches
  • Brian Ayers
  • James Strong
  • Mark Price
Home arenaCurb Event Center
2016–17 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
East
Belmont15–1 .938  23–7  .767
Morehead State10–6 .625  14–16  .467
Jacksonville State †9–7 .563  20–15  .571
Tennessee State8–8 .500  17–13  .567
Tennessee Tech8–8 .500  12–20  .375
Eastern Kentucky5–11 .313  12–19  .387
West
UT Martin10–6 .625  22–13  .629
Southeast Missouri St.9–7 .563  15–18  .455
Murray State8–8 .500  16–17  .485
Austin Peay7–9 .438  11–19  .367
Eastern Illinois6–10 .375  14–15  .483
SIU Edwardsville1–15 .063  6–24  .200
† 2017 OVC Tournament winner

Previous season

The Bruins finished the 2015–16 season 20–12, 12–4 in OVC play to win the East Division and the overall OVC regular season. They lost in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament to Austin Peay. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Georgia.

Preseason

In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors, Belmont was picked to finish as regular season champions of the OVC for the third time in the last four years.[1] Reigning OVC Player of the Year, Evan Bradds, was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year for the 2016–17 season.[1] Taylor Barnette was also selected to the All-OVC Preseason Team.

Roster
2016–17 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
G 1 Austin Luke 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Rowlett, Texas
F 2 Nick Smith 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)220 lb (100 kg) Sr Bentonville, Arkansas
G/F 3 Dylan Windler 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)190 lb (86 kg) So Indianapolis, Indiana
F 11 Kevin McClain 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)180 lb (82 kg) So Jennings, Florida
G 14 Nick Hopkins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)155 lb (70 kg) Fr Fayetteville, Tennessee
G 20 Taylor Barnette 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)185 lb (84 kg) Sr Lexington, Kentucky
G 21 Burton Sampson (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Knoxville, Tennessee
G 24 Micahel Benkert 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)195 lb (88 kg) RS Fr Greenwood, Indiana
F 25 Mack Mercer 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)225 lb (102 kg) Jr Plymouth, Indiana
F 31 Josh Lester (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Antioch, Tennessee
F 32 Amanze Egekeze 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)220 lb (100 kg) Jr Lake in the Hills, Illinois
F 35 Evan Bradds 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Jamestown, Ohio
C 41 Tyler Hadden 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr Cincinnati, Ohio
C 50 Seth Adelsperger 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)215 lb (98 kg) RS Fr Peru, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: 08/30/16

Schedule and results

[2]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
11/15/2016*
8:00 PM, SECN		 at Vanderbilt L 66–80  0–1
 Memorial Gymnasium (9,116)
Nashville, TN
11/19/2016*
7:00 PM		 WKU W 90–69  1–1
 Curb Event Center (3,319)
Nashville, TN
11/21/2016*
6:00 PM, SECN		 vs. Florida
AdvoCare Invitational Opening Round		 L 61–78  1–2
 Amalie Arena (6,650)
Tampa, FL
11/25/2016*
6:00 PM		 at No. 23 Rhode Island L 73–82  1–3
 Ryan Center (4,626)
Kingston, RI
11/29/2016*
7:00 PM		 Lipscomb
Battle of the Boulevard		 W 64–62  2–3
 Curb Event Center (2,863)
Nashville, TN
12/03/2016*
7:00 PM		 at Pepperdine W 85–77  3–3
 Firestone Fieldhouse (1,340)
Malibu, CA
12/06/2016*
6:30 PM		 at Lipscomb
Battle of the Boulevard		 W 78–76 OT 4–3
 Allen Arena (2,908)
Nashville, TN
12/14/2016*
7:00 PM		 Middle Tennessee L 66–79  4–4
 Curb Event Center (2,469)
Nashville, TN
12/17/2016*
4:30 PM		 at Green Bay
Postponed (snow),no makeup date announced[3]		 Resch Center 
Green Bay, WI
12/19/2016*
7:00 PM, ESPN3		 at Milwaukee W 62–56  5–4
 UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,127)
Milwaukee, WI
12/22/2016*
7:00 PM		 Cleveland State W 88–61  6–4
 Curb Event Center (2,024)
Nashville, TN
12/31/2016
2:30 PM		 at Austin Peay W 82–77  7–4
(1–0)		 Dunn Center (1,757)
Clarksville, TN
01/05/2017
6:00 PM		 UT Martin W 83–67  8–4
(2–0)		 Curb Event Center (1,746)
Nashville, TN
01/07/2017
7:00 PM		 Southeast Missouri State W 87–75  9–4
(3–0)		 Curb Event Center (2,017)
Nashville, TN
01/12/2017
6:00 PM, ESPNU		 at Morehead State W 84–78  10–4
(4–0)		 Ellis Johnson Arena (3,244)
Morehead, KY
01/14/2017
6:00 PM		 at Eastern Kentucky W 72–59  11–4
(5–0)		 McBrayer Arena (2,300)
Richmond, KY
01/19/2017
7:00 PM		 Jacksonville State W 77–60  12–4
(6–0)		 Curb Event Center (1,680)
Nashville, TN
01/21/2017
11:00 AM, ASN		 Tennessee Tech W 82–70  13–4
(7–0)		 Curb Event Center (2,061)
Nashville, TN
01/25/2017
7:00 PM		 at Eastern Illinois W 77–64  14–4
(8–0)		 Lantz Arena (1,333)
Charleston, IL
01/28/2017
7:30 PM		 at Tennessee State W 93–76  15–4
(9–0)		 Gentry Complex (7,103)
Nashville, TN
01/30/2017
8:00 PM, CBSSN		 SIU Edwardsville W 92–69  16–4
(10–0)		 Curb Event Center (1,230)
Nashville, TN
02/02/2017
8:00 PM, ESPNU		 at Murray State W 81–69  17–4
(11–0)		 CFSB Center (5,041)
Murray, KY
02/09/2017
6:00 PM, CBSSN		 at Jacksonville State W 66–53  18–4
(12–0)		 Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,370)
Jacksonville, AL
02/11/2017
7:30 PM		 at Tennessee Tech L 70–83  18–5
(12–1)		 Eblen Center (3,879)
Cookeville, TN
02/16/2017
7:00 PM		 Eastern Kentucky W 76–72  19–5
(13–1)		 Curb Event Center (2,705)
Nashville, TN
02/18/2017
4:00 PM		 Morehead State W 89–73  20–5
(14–1)		 Curb Event Center (2,825)
Nashville, TN
02/21/2017*
7:00 PM		 Trevecca Nazarene W 96–45  21–5
 Curb Event Center (1,804)
Nashville, TN
02/25/2017
5:00 PM		 Tennessee State W 68–63  22–5
(15–1)		 Curb Event Center (4,458)
Nashville, TN
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
03/03/2017
6:30 PM, ESPNU		 (1) vs. (4) Jacksonville State
Semifinals		 L 59–65  22–6
 Nashville Municipal Auditorium (2,355)
Nashville, TN
NIT
03/15/2017*
6:00 PM, ESPN3		 (7) at (2) Georgia
First Round – Syracuse Bracket		 W 78–69  23–6
 Stegeman Coliseum (2,904)
Athens, GA
03/19/2017*
11:00 AM, ESPN		 (7) at (6) Georgia Tech
Second Round – Syracuse Bracket		 L 57–71  23–7
 Hank McCamish Pavilion (7,176)
Atlanta, GA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

References
  1. "Belmont Picked As 2016-17 OVC Men's Basketball Favorites; Bruins' Bradds Tabbed Preseason Player of the Year". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  2. http://belmont.prestosports.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/schedule
  3. http://www.belmontbruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/releases/20161216v55gho
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.