Bracketology 2022: Murray State and Belmont hunting at-large berths

Belmont’s two big upcoming games

Casey Alexander’s team (7-3) has two Quadrant One games in their immediate future. Tuesday night (Dec 7) the Bruins travel to Saint Louis for a game with the Billikens. The Bills are 67th in the NET and according to NET metrics, this Belmont road game becomes a Quad 1 game.

SLU (7-2) is also an 89 in KenPom. A packed Chaifetz Arena will not be an easy place for the Bruins to come up with a victory, but Belmont seems to pick up steam and have lengthened their bench a bit lately with the return of Caleb Hollander.

Center Nick Muszynski is having his best season and leads the Bruins in scoring (17.5 ppg) and is second in rebounding (6.3 per game). Recent explosive performances indicate the senior wants to go out on top. Ben Sheppard (15.9 ppg) has become the team’s second offensive option and frees Luke Smith (8.5 ppg) and Grayson Murphy (8.1) to pick their spots.

Those senior guards are the perfect complement to Muszynski’s size and the energetic play of Sheppard and freshman star Will Richard (11.3 ppg and 6.4 rebounds per game). Jacobi Wood is seeing an increase in playing time and Hollander’s return, five games ago, gives Alexander another veteran weapon.

ESPN may not have circled his date but on December 15th the Bruins host Chattanooga. The Southern Conference power (7-1) is 29th in the NET and 102 in KenPom. Their ranking gives Belmont another Quad 1 opportunity.

Wins in either or both of these games greatly enhance the Bruins’ post-season possibilities.