# 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 (OVC) 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.

## 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. Reigning OVC Player of the Year, Evan Bradds, was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year for the 2016–17 season. Taylor Barnette was also selected to the All-OVC Preseason Team.

## Schedule and results

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