The 2019–20 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team represented Belmont University in the

2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2019. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded prematurely on March 12, 2020. The 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was sch ...

. The Bruins, led by first-year head coach

Casey Alexander Casey Alexander (born June 8, 1972) is the head coach of the men's basketball team at Belmont University. He previously served as head coach at Stetson University and Lipscomb University. Playing career Alexander played college basketball at Bel ...

, played their home games at the

Curb Event Center The Curb Event Center is a multipurpose arena on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Named in honor of its prime donor, music executive and former lieutenant governor of California Mike Curb, the arena was completed in 2003, ...

in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 26–7, 15–3 in OVC play to finish in a tie for the OVC regular season championship. They defeated

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

and

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

to be champions of the OVC tournament. They earned the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the NCAA Tournament was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Bruins finished the 2018–19 season 27–6 overall, 16–2 in OVC play to finish as Ohio Valley regular season co-champions, alongside

. In the OVC tournament, they defeated

Austin Peay Austin Peay (June 1, 1876 – October 2, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927. He was the state's first governor since the Civil War to win three consecutive terms and the first to die ...

in the semifinals, advancing to the championship, where they were defeated by Murray State. Due to their successful season, they received an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, earning the No. 11 seed in the East Region. They were matched up against fellow No. 11 seed Temple in the First Four, winning the game 81–70, earning their first NCAA Tournament win in program history. They faced No. 6 seeded Maryland in the first round, nearly pulling off the upset, losing 77–79. On April 1, 2019, longtime head coach

Rick Byrd Richard F. Byrd (born April 30, 1953) is a retired American college basketball coach who served as the head coach of the Belmont Bruins men's basketball team from 1986-2019. On February 16, 2017, with the 2016–17 Belmont Bruins men's basketbal ...

announced that he was retiring, after leading the team for 33 years. On April 10, Lipscomb head coach and Belmont alum

was named as Byrd's successor.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, OVC regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, Ohio Valley Conference tournament , - Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Belmont Bruins men's basketball team Belmont Bruins men's basketball seasons Belmont Bruins Belmont Bruins men's basketball Belmont Bruins men's basketball