Photos by Grant Robinson
The Belmont Bruins received a 13-seed in the NCAA Tournament Monday and will travel to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the 4-seed Michigan State Spartans in the first round on Friday.
It will be the second tournament appearance in program history and the first since 2007. The 2007 team received a 14-seed and was eliminated by Georgia in the first round.
Belmont head coach Cameron Newbauer is hopeful the Bruins can take advantage of playing the Spartans on a neutral court at the campus of Mississippi State University.
“It’s a neutral site. Hopefully we can get the Mississippi State fans behind us,” said Newbauer. “We’re excited to be there and play another day.”
The Bruins were left waiting for most of the selection show as their game was one of the final five revealed.
“I was waiting patiently for our name to pop up, but once it did, it was an amazing feeling,” said freshman guard Darby Maggard.
With the location of their first round game decided, the Bruins will now have several days to prepare for their game.
“We’ll watch a lot of film tonight, get the stats, do our normal game planning,” said Newbauer. “They’re the team that’s supposed to win, but as you know, in a tournament anything can happen any day of the week.”
Belmont will play Friday with tip-off scheduled for 11 a.m. The game will air on ESPN2.