Categorie: College

Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics

NASHVILLE – For the first time in over a month, the Belmont Bruins are beginning to look like the Belmont Bruins.

A slew of difficult results and one key injury plagued the Bruins since the start of the New Year, and Casey Alexander’s group was tested in a way Belmont basketball had not been tested since the head coach’s Belmont arrival in 2019.

The team lost six of its seven games from Jan. 13 through Feb. 3, a stretch of losing the likes Belmont had not seen in over a decade. The last time Belmont lost as many as five games in a seven-game span dates back to the 2013-2014 season under Rick Byrd. Of those five losses, two were handed to Belmont by ranked opponents in Kentucky and VCU.

Guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie was absent in all six of those Belmont losses, frustratedly forced into missing time with a wrist injury after averaging over 16 ppg to start the season. When lumping his scoring ability with his 4.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game, the sophomore would not easily be replaced, and the offense sputtered without him.

Over Belmont’s last two outings, however, the ship appears to have been righted. You can breathe again, Belmont fans.

Back-to-back victories over longtime rivals Murray State at home (69-64) and Valparaiso on the road (96-78) have Belmont winning when serious teams need to win. While Indiana State and Drake still sit atop the Missouri Valley Conference with a comfortable cushion, concluding the regular season with momentum, confidence, and the highest possible Arch Madness seed is what matters most at this point.

In those two wins, the presence of a healthy Gillespie turned the tide in favor of a reeling Belmont group. Versus Murray State, Gillespie led both teams in scoring with 24 points to pair alongside eight rebounds and five assists. In his encore performance at Valparaiso, Gillespie accounted for 18 points, four rebounds, and six assists.

Gillespie’s return also spurred Belmont’s leading scorer, Malik Dia, to put up 25 points against the Beacons, his highest single-game scoring total since paving the path to the Bruins’ win over Drake with 32 points on Jan. 7.

To extend its winning streak to three, Belmont will need to knock off a stingy Southern Illinois team on Wednesday night that comes in with a 16-9 overall record (8-6 in Conference play). The Salukis are allowing just 66.4 ppg, potentially setting the stage for an ugly game in which the Bruins will need to scrap to win.

Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

NASHVILLE – Casey Alexander’s Belmont Bruins squad entered the 2023-24 season with a healthy amount of uncertainty.

The head coach’s group was coming off an Arch Madness heartbreaker the season before at the hands of the now-frontrunners of the Missouri Vally Conference, Indiana State. Belmont’s most prolific scorer dating back to 2019, Ben Sheppard, had been selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers, the exact same spot in which Dylan Windler had been drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers four years earlier.

Alexander’s 2023-24 group was promising but unproven. As a freshman the year before, Cade Tyson averaged 13.6 ppg, followed not too far behind by fellow freshman Ja’Kobie Gillespi (9.6) and junior Keishawn Davidson (8.2).

After the conclusion of last season, a 6’9″ freshman out of Murfreesboro transferred from Vanderbilt to Belmont after averaging only 8.7 minutes and 2.6 points per game for the Commodores. This seemingly ordinary addition to Belmont’s roster did not turn too many heads, perhaps apart from those who watched the forward dismantle other teenagers at Ensworth High School, but it has made all the difference for the Bruins.

That forward was Malik Dia, the now sophomore scoring nearly 18 points per game for Belmont this season, and his move across 21st Ave. was a crucial one for Casey Alexander.

The Bruins opened their season with an 11-5 start, highlighted by an 87-65 route over Drake on Jan. 7. Over that span, the Bruins averaged nearly 81 ppg and were led by Dia and Tyson, both of whom frequently scored in the upper-20s or lower-30s.

Belmont had also carried with it an 11-game home win streak at the Curb Event Center dating back to January 2023.

However, despite its scoring output, Belmont’s defense had not been particularly stout. Despite its 11-5 record, Belmont had allowed more points over that span than it had scored. There were of course outliers, such as its 100-68 loss to No. 3 Arizona early in the season and its 99-93 shortcoming at SoCon leaders Samford, but it has been too easy to score against Belmont since Day 1.

At some point, injuries were bound to strike or the offense would go through a dry spell, and unfortunately for Belmont, both happened simultaneously in January.

Sophomore Ja’Kobi Gillespie suffered a wrist injury early in the month which caused the guard to miss eight games. The blow was massive as Gillespie averaged over 16 ppg for the Bruins until he was forcibly sidelined.

His teammates would overcome Gillespie’s absence with wins in their first two outings without him, including the exclamation-mark victory over Drake. After those two initial wins, Belmont dropped six of its next seven games, including two at home, snapping its win streak at the Curb in the process.

The Bruins have been outscored 579-501 over this current stretch that has seen the team go 1-6 overall and fall to 12-11 (5-7 in MVC play) on the season. Four of those six losses were by double-digits.

All that being said, there is still plenty of reason to believe Belmont can turn it around.

While an at-large bid is likely out of the question for any Missouri Vally team with the possible exception of Indiana State, Belmont is more than capable of a strong run heading into March.

Gillespie returned in Belmont’s last outing and finished with 16 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals in 26 minutes played. Dia and Tyson continue to play inspired basketball, and the trio makes Belmont one of only two teams in the NCAA with three players averaging over 16 ppg (Dia – 17.6, Tyson – 16.7, Gillespie – 16.1) alongside Arkansas – Pine Bluff.

The defense needs to tighten up, but with the way Belmont shoots the ball, this group can beat anyone on any given day. Confidence is everything in basketball, and if Belmont can begin building momentum in early February, it could easily become a mid-major that no team wants in play in mid-March.

Only eight games remain for Casey Alexander’s group to initiate this run with its next opportunity coming Wednesday night vs. Murray State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.

Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics