# 2018–19 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team represented Belmont University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bruins, led by 33rd-year head coach Rick Byrd, played their home games at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 27–6, 16–2 in OVC play to finish in a tie for the regular season championship with Murray State. They defeated Austin Peay in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley tournament before losing to Murray State in the finals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their first ever at-large bid, where they defeated Temple in the First Four before losing in the first round to Maryland.
On April 1, 2019, head coach Rick Byrd announced his retirement. He finished at Belmont with a 33-year record of 713–347.

## Previous season

The Bruins finished the 2017–18 season 24–9, 15–3 in OVC play to finish in second place. They defeated Austin Peay in the semifinals of the OVC tournament to advance to the championship game where they lost to Murray State. Despite having 24 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Illinois State | W 100–89 | 1–0 | Curb Event Center (3,086) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Middle Tennessee | W 92–73 | 2–0 | Curb Event Center (2,148) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 15, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Lipscomb Battle of the Boulevard | W 87–83 | 3–0 | Allen Arena (2,369) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 20, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Trevecca Nazarene | W 104–50 | 4–0 | Curb Event Center (1,517) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 24, 2018* 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Kennesaw State | W 91–53 | 5–0 | KSU Convocation Center (602) Kennesaw, GA |
| Nov 29, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Samford | W 99–93 $^{OT}$ | 6–0 | Pete Hanna Center (1,651) Homewood, AL |
| Dec 1, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Green Bay | L 92–100 | 6–1 | Resch Center (2,125) Green Bay, WI |
| Dec 4, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Lipscomb | W 76–74 | 7–1 | Curb Event Center (3,479) Nashville, TN |
| Dec 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, P12N | | at UCLA | W 74–72 | 8–1 | Pauley Pavilion (8,037) Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec 19, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Kentucky | W 80–74 | 9–1 | Curb Event Center (4,124) Nashville, TN |
| Dec 29, 2018* 3:30 pm, FS1 | | at Purdue | L 62–73 | 9–2 | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Ohio Valley regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Jacksonville State | L 73–83 | 9–3 (0–1) | Curb Event Center (2,518) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 5, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Tennessee Tech | W 79–67 | 10–3 (1–1) | Curb Event Center (2,385) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 10, 2019 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Morehead State | W 77–60 | 11–3 (2–1) | Curb Event Center (1,704) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 12, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Kentucky | W 109–93 | 12–3 (3–1) | Curb Event Center (2,282) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 17, 2019 7:15 pm, ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville State | L 80–91 $^{OT}$ | 12–4 (3–2) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,875) Jacksonville, AL |
| Jan 19, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Tennessee State | W 92–74 | 13–4 (4–2) | Curb Event Center (2,768) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 24, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Murray State | W 79–66 | 14–4 (5–2) | CFSB Center (8,969) Murray, KY |
| Jan 26, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Austin Peay | W 96–92 | 15–4 (6–2) | Dunn Center (2,215) Clarksville, TN |
| Jan 31, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Southeast Missouri State | W 97–71 | 16–4 (7–2) | Curb Event Center (1,821) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 2, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UT Martin | W 82–67 | 17–4 (8–2) | Curb Event Center (2,478) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 7, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Eastern Kentucky | W 83–65 | 18–4 (9–2) | McBrayer Arena (1,620) Richmond, KY |
| Feb 9, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Morehead State | W 96–86 | 19–4 (10–2) | Ellis Johnson Arena (2,077) Morehead, KY |
| Feb 14, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Tennessee State | W 77–66 | 20–4 (11–2) | Gentry Complex (931) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 16, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Tennessee Tech | W 93–65 | 21–4 (12–2) | Eblen Center (2,625) Cookeville, TN |
| Feb 21, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Illinois | W 99–58 | 22–4 (13–2) | Curb Event Center (2,468) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 23, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | SIU Edwardsville | W 97–75 | 23–4 (14–2) | Curb Event Center (4,094) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 28, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at UT Martin | W 112–67 | 24–4 (15–2) | Skyhawk Arena (1,316) Martin, TN |
| Mar 2, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Southeast Missouri State | W 84–66 | 25–4 (16–2) | Show Me Center (1,484) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (4) Austin Peay Semifinals | W 83–67 | 26–4 | Ford Center (8,294) Evansville, IN |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (2) Murray State Championship | L 65–77 | 26–5 | Ford Center (10,525) Evansville, IN |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 19, 2019* 5:40 pm, truTV | (11 E) | vs. (11 E) Temple First Four | W 81–70 | 27–5 | UD Arena (11,784) Dayton, OH |
| Mar 22, 2019* 2:10 pm, truTV | (11 E) | vs. (6 E) Maryland First Round | L 77–79 | 27–6 | VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena (12,429) Jacksonville, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
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