Belmont not average mid-major visiting Tucson for 'buy' game at No. 3 Arizona basketball

When Belmont appeared at McKale Center for an NCAA Tournament game 13 seasons ago, it was a sign the Bruins had made another step up the college basketball ladder.

Having jumped to Division I just 14 years earlier, they had their highest-ever NCAA tournament seed, No. 11, being judged much better than your everyday low-major conference winner that typically gets handed a 14-16 seed.

“That may have been the best Belmont team we’ve ever had,” said Casey Alexander, a Belmont assistant then who is now the Bruins’ head coach.

Belmont lost to Wisconsin at McKale in that 2011 first-round game, but the Bruins have made five more NCAA Tournament appearances since then, including a 2013 first-round game in which they were a trendy upset pick to beat Arizona. That was another sign of Belmont’s emergence, though Arizona won that game and eventually advanced to the 2013 Sweet Sixteen.

Overall during each of the past 13 seasons, Belmont has won 20 or more games, rising quickly since its transition from NAIA to NCAA Division I in 1996-97. Belmont has hopped from having D-I independence (1997-2001) to the Atlantic Sun Conference (2001-12) to the Ohio Valley Conference (2012-22) and last season to the Missouri Valley Conference.

“You’re talking about one of the top mid-major programs in the country over the last 17 years,” says UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Bruins. “They have a tradition of excellence.”

And, when Belmont appears at McKale Center this time, for a game with Arizona late Friday night, you could say the Bruins have moved up again.

Because they don’t have to be here.

Unlike most low- or mid-major teams who sign on to play “buy” games at McKale for a onetime payment of about $100,000, generating much-needed funds for their athletic departments, Belmont has become a perennial mid-major power, moving to the MVC last season and raising its financial profile as a result.

“When we made the decision to go to the Valley, Belmont’s administration made a commitment for additional resources, for our program to operate at a different level,” Alexander said. “So it wasn’t part of our DNA anymore that we had to play these games.”

But at the same time, Alexander said, the Bruins are now having to “buy” some home games of their own against lower-tier teams, so they play one or two on the road against high-majors to finance those.

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Besides, Alexander says, it’s tough getting anyone to go to their Nashville campus in general, since doing so can be a no-win situation for higher-profile teams: Win, and it’s expected; lose, and it’s a stain on your postseason resume.

Sometimes, high-major teams don’t even want to host the Bruins, even though their usual NET ranking can mean a loss to them might only count as a Quad Two on a team’s postseason resume.

“Most of that depends on the status of the program we’re talking about,” Alexander said. “Arizona is a top 10 team most years, so it doesn’t matter how good we are. They expect to beat Belmont when they play at home.

“But a school where maybe coach is on the hot seat, maybe not a top 25 caliber team, they have a little bit tougher time deciding they want to risk a loss to Belmont.”

So this one was a go. Alexander said a third party with ties to both Arizona and Belmont help set up the game, allowing the Bruins and Wildcats to test themselves in different ways.

For Belmont, facing Arizona is a chance to shake off a 23-point loss at Furman on Nov. 10 and continue restructuring a rotation that lost wing Ben Sheppard to the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft, in time for stiffer competition in the MVC.

“It’s definitely gotten better as we’ve gone,” Alexander said. “The challenge is how can we keep improving, and that’s part of the move to the Valley. It’s just a better league. It’s going to be tougher to win.”

For Arizona, the game is about the chance to test itself against a sort-of version of itself. While the Bruins run more of a four-out offense than Arizona and take more 3-pointers, both teams have among the most uptempo offenses in Division I, relying heavily on ball movement and player movement.

Belmont finished 130th in Kenpom’s adjusted tempo last season — though Alexander that’s also a factor of Belmont competing against many slower-minded teams in the MVC — while the Bruins rank fifth in tempo so far this season after two Division I games.

Arizona ranks third, having averaged 99.0 points a game over three games.

“This is the next step,” Murphy says. “We haven’t played a team that’s gonna push the pace like this.”