Belmont beats Tennessee Tech for 10th straight win. Bruins have won 25 of their last 26 games
Bruins #Bruins
Belmont stretched its win streak to 10 games Thursday night by beating Tennessee Tech 88-67 at Eblen Center to remain one of the hottest teams in college basketball.
It was the Bruins’ (13-1, 7-0 OVC) 25th win in their last 26 games. They finished the 2019-20 season through the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship on a 12-game win streak.
Making the lopsided win even more impressive was that Belmont pulled it off without its leading scorer and second-leading rebounder Nick Muszynski, who was out with an illness.
Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.
Belmont is ranked No. 5 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 and received a vote this week in the Associated Press Top 25.
“I don’t think I have the answer to how we’ve been able to do this; it’s not like we had the magic potion,” second-year Belmont coach Casey Alexander said.
“It just boils down to a couple of things. One, this program is used to winning so that carried over (from last year). But we’ve got a lot of new guys and we had an offseason unlike any other. So this team deserves the credit for what this team has done and that’s get off to a good start.”
Belmont has won each of its games against OVC opponents by an average of 18.1 points. The Bruins’ closest contest was a 77-66 win over Southeast Missouri.
Tennessee Tech, which trailed by double figures through the second half, fell to 1-13 and 1-6.
“I was very impressed with Belmont,” Tech coach John Pelphrey said. “They came out and played really well, together as a team, even though they were down one of their better players. Man, they took care of business. There’s a reason they’re in first place (in the OVC).”
Balance was the key
Belmont relied on a balanced attack with four players scoring in double figures — Ben Sheppard 15, Luke Smith 14, Grayson Murphy 14 and JaCobi Wood 10.
“That’s not by design,” Alexander said. “In the last four or five games we’ve been able to play the bench a lot of minutes and so it ends up being distributed pretty well.”
Murphy also had a career-high seven steals.
Shandon Goldman came off the bench to lead Tech with a career-high 19 points. He was 5-of-6 on 3-pointers.
Hollander returns for Belmont
Belmont forward Caleb Hollander returned to action after missing four games with an injury.
The 6-foot-8 junior from Nashville Christian Central did not start, but came in late in the first half and nailed a 3-pointer. He finished with five points.
Hollander was replaced again in the starting lineup by sophomore Derek Sabin, who finished with five points and three rebounds.
Sabin and Hollander were on the floor at the same time during a stretch in the second half. Hollander ended up playing a total of six minutes.
Big 3-point run
Belmont blew the game open at the midway point in the first half by going on a 3-point shooting barrage.
The Bruins made seven 3s in the final 12:55 to go up 43-21 at halftime. Luke Smith had three 3-pointers in that stretch.
After Tech cut the lead to 24-16 Belmont made four straight 3s.
Belmont finished 12-of-32 (37.5%) on 3s.
Tech shot poorly, again
While Belmont was typically impressive on the offensive end, the Bruins’ defensive effort was just as good.
At one point in the second half the Golden Eagles were just 14-of-40 from the field.
“We’ve definitely been more consistent on the defensive end this year than we have the offensive end,” Alexander said. “I think both are good. Both have been consistent enough from having that game were it just didn’t go our way.”
The Golden Eagles have not shot well all season. They are 11th in the OVC (41.5%) from the field.
Belmont also forced 13 turnovers in the first half and 18 for the game.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Belmont basketball beats Tennessee Tech for 10th straight win