Belmont vs. Austin Peay: 2018-19 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

A key Ohio Valley clash takes place Saturday afternoon when the Belmont Bruins take on the Austin Peay Governors. Here’s a look at who will come out on top.

TV Schedule: Saturday, January 26th, 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Arena: Winfield Dunn Center, Clarksville, Tennessee

A key battle in the Ohio Valley takes place Saturday afternoon in Clarksville, Tennessee as the preseason favorites in the conference, the Belmont Bruins (14-4,5-2) travel to take on the Governors of Austin Peay (14-6,6-1). The Bruins, who have been to the NCAA Tournament six times under legendary head coach Rick Byrd, just missed out on going again last season, falling to Murray State in the OVC final, are trying to catch the Racers atop the conference, but the Governors under second-year head coach Matt Figger have the same goal. These two teams, along with Murray State and Jacksonville State are hoping to make the OVC a four-team affair.

Belmont is one of the highest scoring teams in the country, averaging 85.9 points per game, which is 10th best. They began the season scorching hot, 5-0 vs. Division I opponents averaging nearly 94 points per game, even in their first loss, to Green Bay, they scored 92. They also won at UCLA and against Western Kentucky before falling to Purdue just before OVC play. Their two league losses have come at the hands of the aforementioned Jacksonville State Gamecocks, most recently in overtime a little over a week ago, the wins have been decisive, winning by over 15 points per game.

Not only does Belmont score at a high rate, but they also shoot well, making 48% of their shots. The Bruins also like to share the ball, ranking 4th in the country in assists per game and their 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio is 10th best. They have four players averaging double figures and are led by one of the best players in the country you may have never heard of, 6-8 senior guard Dylan Windler. Windler averages 18.2 points, also leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 9.5 per game, dishes out 2.6 assists, while shooting 50%, 80%, 39.4% from the field, the line, and beyond the arc respectively.

The other senior guard on the team Kevin McClain nets 15 points per game and hands out 4.2 assists. The cupboard is hardly bare for Byrd as the first-year duo of Nick Muszynski and Grayson Murphy average 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 2.5 steals per game.

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Austin Peay finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with an 8-5 record, but three of those five losses, to Campbell, South Florida, and Ohio, with the latter two coming in overtime, came by six points or less. They began conference play with five straight wins by an average of 12 points, the loss that is keeping them from being the lone undefeated team in the conference is a two-point loss to Eastern Illinois at the end of a four-game road trip, who hit a jumper with four seconds to play. They got back on the winning track with an 89-74 win over Tennessee State last time out and now welcome Belmont to town for the only meeting between the two teams.

Thanks to their eight steals per game, the Governors turnover margin of 3.3 is 36th best in the sport. They are also one of the better three-point shooting teams in the country, knocking down 38% of their shots. Offensively they are led by sophomore guard Terry Taylor who leads the team in both scoring (17.8) and rebounding (8.4). The only other double-digit scorer for the team is senior forward Chris Porter-Bunton who averages 12.2, but for a team that averages 82 per game, they get scoring from everywhere. Five other players are averaging at least eight points per game.

Key matchup

The key matchup in this one will be the leading scorers on each team, Windler and Taylor not only lead their respective teams in scoring and rebounding but between the two of them they’re averaging 36 points and 17.9 rebounds. The two guards are also 3rd and 5th in the OVC in scoring, this game may be a first to 75 wins type game and these two should be the lead horses out of the gate.

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At this point in the season, this game may be more important for Belmont as they don’t want to fall further behind the conference leaders. While the leading scorers may get the attention, I think Murphy may play a big role in this one and Belmont wins a tight one.