# 2021–22 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team represented Belmont University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bruins, led by third-year head coach Casey Alexander, played their home games at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They finished the season 25–8, 15–3 in OVC play, to finish in second place. They lost in the semifinals of the OVC tournament to Morehead State. They received an invite to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) where they lost to Vanderbilt in the first round.
On September 18, 2021, Belmont announced that this would be the last season for the team in the OVC as they would join the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1, 2022.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bruins finished the 2020–21 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. They failed to receive an at-large bid to the NIT.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Ohio | L 80–92 | 0–1 | Convocation Center (6,123) Athens, OH |
| November 13, 2021* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 81–43 | 1–1 | Curb Event Center (2,421) Nashville, TN |
| November 15, 2021* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Furman | W 95–89 $^{OT}$ | 2–1 | Curb Event Center (1,727) Nashville, TN |
| November 19, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Kennesaw State | W 97–78 | 3–1 | KSU Convocation Center (1,262) Kennesaw, GA |
| November 22, 2021* 7:00 p.m., SECN+ | | at LSU | L 53–83 | 3–2 | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (9,923) Baton Rouge, LA |
| November 25, 2021* 7:30 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Drake ESPN Events Invitational quarterfinal | W 74–69 | 4–2 | HP Field House (3,008) Kissimmee, FL |
| November 26, 2021* 6:30 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Iona ESPN Events Invitational semifinal | W 72–65 | 5–2 | HP Field House (3,020) Kissimmee, FL |
| November 28, 2021* 4:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Dayton ESPN Events Invitational final | L 61–63 | 5–3 | HP Field House (3,127) Kissimmee, FL |
| December 2, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Lipscomb | W 94–65 | 6–3 | Curb Event Center (3,856) Nashville, TN |
| December 5, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Samford | W 85–73 | 7–3 | Pete Hanna Center (0) Homewood, AL |
| December 7, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NBCS | | at Saint Louis | W 64–59 | 8–3 | Chaifetz Arena (4,521) St. Louis, MO |
| December 15, 2021* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Chattanooga | W 76–68 | 9–3 | Curb Event Center (2,075) Nashville, TN |
| December 18, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bethel (IN) | W 115–86 | 10–3 | Curb Event Center (1,406) Nashville, TN |
| OVC regular season ||||||
| January 6, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southeast Missouri State | W 102–62 | 11–3 (1–0) | Curb Event Center (278) Nashville, TN |
| January 8, 2022 3;30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UT Martin | W 81–55 | 12–3 (2–0) | Skyhawk Arena (1,329) Martin, TN |
| January 13, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tennessee Tech | W 92–77 | 13–3 (3–0) | Curb Event Center (1,188) Nashville, TN |
| January 15, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Murray State | L 60–82 | 13–4 (3–1) | Curb Event Center (2,432) Nashville, TN |
| January 17, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at SIU–Edwardsville Rescheduled from December 30 | W 80–64 | 14–4 (4–1) | Vadalabene Center (678) Edwardsville, IL |
| January 20, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPNews | | at Morehead State | L 74–83 | 14–5 (4–2) | Ellis Johnson Arena (2,456) Morehead, KY |
| January 24, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Eastern Illinois Rescheduled from January 1 | W 90–56 | 15–5 (5–2) | Lantz Arena (823) Charleston, IL |
| January 27, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Austin Peay | W 75–67 | 16–5 (6–2) | Dunn Center (1,514) Clarksville, TN |
| January 29, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UT Martin | W 87–58 | 17–5 (7–2) | Curb Event Center (1,601) Nashville, TN |
| February 3, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tennessee State | W 88–61 | 18–5 (8–2) | Gentry Complex (2,001) Nashville, TN |
| February 5, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tennessee Tech | W 100–92 $^{OT}$ | 19–5 (9–2) | Eblen Center (2,945) Cookeville, TN |
| February 7, 2022 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Austin Peay | W 72–58 | 20–5 (10–2) | Curb Event Center (1,503) Nashville, TN |
| February 10, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Morehead State | W 48–47 | 21–5 (11–2) | Curb Event Center (1,468) Nashville, TN |
| February 12, 202 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southeast Missouri State | W 81–72 | 22–5 (12–2) | Show Me Center (1,469) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Illinois | W 81–57 | 23–5 (13–2) | Curb Event Center (1,882) Nashville, TN |
| February 19, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | SIU–Edwardsville | W 73–62 | 24–5 (14–2) | Curb Event Center (2,027) Nashville, TN |
| February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at No. 19 Murray State | L 43–76 | 24–6 (14–3) | CFSB Center (8,041) Murray, KY |
| February 26, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tennessee State | W 87–67 | 25–6 (15–3) | Curb Event Center (3,578) Nashville, TN |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2022 9:30 p.m., ESPNU | (2) | vs. (3) Morehead State Semifinals | L 51–53 | 25–7 | Ford Center Evansville, IN |
| NIT ||||||
| March 15, 2022* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at (4) Vanderbilt First round – Dayton Bracket | L 71–82 | 25–8 | Memorial Gymnasium (7,773) Nashville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Coaches | — | | —* | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |