A Closer Look At The Belmont Bruins

No. 9 ranked Kansas plays host to Belmont on Saturday night.

Belmont: The Facts

Located in Nashville, Tenn., with an enrollment of 6,637, Belmont is 7-2 on the season after defeating Middle Tennessee State 64-49 on Dec. 13. A member of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Bruins are coached by Rick Byrd who is 552-286 in his 27th season at Belmont and 644-341 in his 32nd season overall. Belmont is used to the road as the Kansas game will be its fifth official road contest and seventh away from its home court this season. Belmont and Kansas are the only two NCAA Division I schools to have won 12 or more conference games in each of the last 10 seasons. Kansas' string actually runs 12 years with 12 or more league victories.

Belmont opened the season 4-0 and had won three of its last four contests. The Bruins average 76.8 points per game and have a +14.3 scoring margin. Belmont shoots 48.5 percent from the field, including 42.1 percent from three-point range, which ranks in the top 10 nationally. Additionally, the Bruins' 9.1 three-pointers made per game are ranked in the top five in NCAA Division I. Belmont also averages 15.2 assists and 9.4 steals per contest.

Senior guard Ian Clark leads the team with an 18.9 scoring average. He is shooting 57.1 percent from the field, while his 4.2 three-pointers made per game and 55.9 percent from beyond the arc both rank in the top 10 nationally. Senior guard Karron Johnson is next in scoring at 14.2 points per game and he leads Belmont with 43 assists and 17 steals.

Senior forward Trevor Noack leads the squad with 5.7 rebounds per game to complement his 10.9 scoring average. Joining the aforementioned in the starting lineup are junior forward Blake Jenkins and junior guard/forward J.J. Mann. Jenkins leads Belmont with 18 blocked shots, scores 10.4 points per game and is second behind Noack with 5.2 rebounds per contest.

Mann is second on the team with 24 assists and 16 steals. He scores 8.3 points per game.

Other Belmont regulars include sophomore guard Reece Chamberlain (3.4 ppg), freshman guard Craig Bradshaw (3.1 ppg) and senior forward Brandon Baker (3.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg).

Kansas vs. Belmont: The Series

Kansas and Belmont are meeting for the second time in men's basketball. KU defeated the Bruins 81-51 on Dec. 29, 2009, in Allen Fieldhouse. Cole Aldrich led KU with 11 points and 14 rebounds in the game, while Marcus Morris added 14 points. The game marked the Kansas debut of Jeff Withey who scored two points and pulled down two rebounds.

Guard Elijah Johnson had seven points on 3-of-3 shooting with three assists. Current KU senior Travis Releford was also a member of the 2009-10 Kansas squad, but took a redshirt that season.

Belmont's Ian Clark tied for the team lead in scoring with 11 points. Current Bruins Kerron Johnson (two points, two rebounds), Brandon Baker (two points, three rebounds), Adam Barnes (no points) and Trevor Noack (no points) also played in the game.

A closer look at the Belmont Bruins

#0 Chad Lang: 6-foot-11, 275-pound center (So.)

#1 Jeff Laidig: 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard (Fr.)

#2 Blake Jenkins: 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward (Jr.)

#3 Kerron Johnson: 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard (Sr.)

#4 Holden Mobley: 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard/forward (So.)

#5 Caleb Chowbay: 6-foot-2, 170-pound guard (Fr.)

#11 Spencer Turner: 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard (So.)

#14 J.J. Mann: 6-foot-6, 210-pound guard/forward (Jr.)

#21 Ian Clark: 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard (Sr.)

#22 Reece Chamberlain: 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard (So.)

#23 Craig Bradshaw: 6-foot-3, 205-pound guard (Fr.)

#24 Adam Barnes: 6-foot-2, 190-pound guard (Sr.)

#30 Trevor Noack: 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward (Sr.)

#33 Drew Windler: 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward (Jr.)

#45 Brandon Baker: 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward (Sr.)

Record: 7-2

Home Record: 3-0

Away Record: 3-1

Neutral Record: 1-1

Ohio Valley Conference Record: 0-0

National Ranking: NR

Wins: @ Lipscomb, Maryville (Mo.), @ Stanford, @ Alaska Anchorage, Oral Roberts, Lipscomb, Middle Tennessee State

Losses: Northeastern, @ VCU

Upcoming games: @ Kansas, South Dakota State, Boston U (Orlando, Fla.), UCF/Howard (Orlando, Fla.), @ Jacksonville State, @ Tennessee Tech, SEMO, UT Martin, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee State, @ Morehead State, @ Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech, @ Murray State, @ Austin Peay, @ Tennessee State, # Eastern Illinois, ESPN BracketBusters, SIU Edwardsville, Jacksonville State

Scoring Leaders:

Ian Clark: 18.9

Kerron Johnson: 14.2

Trevor Noack: 10.9

Blake Jenkins: 10.4

J.J. Mann: 8.3

Rebounding Leaders:

Trevor Noack: 5.7

Blake Jenkins: 5.2

J.J. Mann 4.7

Assist Leaders:

Kerron Johnson: 4.8

J.J. Mann 2.7

Ian Clark: 2.3

Field Goal Shooting Percentage Leaders:

Blake Jenkins: 34-of-52 (65.4%)

Ian Clark: 60-of-105 (57.1%)

Trevor Noack: 39-of-84 (46.4%)

Kerron Johnson: 42-of-91 (46.2%)

J.J. Mann: 27-of-74 (36.5%)

3 point Field Goal Shooting Percentage Leaders

Ian Clark: 38-of-68 (55.9%)

Trevor Noack: 7-of-15 (46.7%)

J.J. Mann: 15-of-41 (36.6%)

Kerron Johnson: 5-of-15 (33.3%)

Free-throw Percentage Leaders:

Ian Clark: 12-of-16 (75.0%)

Kerron Johnson: 39-of-57 (68.4%)

Trevor Noack: 13-of-19 (68.4%)

Blake Jenkins: 24-of-36 (66.7%)

Belmont Offensive Averages:

Scoring: 691 (76.8 PPG)

Scoring Margin: +14.2

Field Goal %: 49 (247-of-509)

3-Point FG %: 42 (82-of-195)

3-Pont FG's Made Per Game: 9.1

Free-throw %: 68 (115-of-169)

Free-throws Made Per Game: 12.8

Rebounds: 301 (33.4 per game)

Rebound Margin: -2.6

Assists: 137 (15.2 per game)

Turnovers: 125 (13.9 per game)

Turnover Margin: +4.3

Steals: 85 (9.4 per game)

Blocks: 37 (4.1 per game)

Opponent Averages :

Scoring: 562 (62.4 PPG)

Field Goal %: 38 (184-of-486)

3-Point FG %: 30 (49-of-166)

3-Pont FG Made Per Game: 5.4

Free-throw %: 67 (145-of-215)

Free-throws Made Per Game: 16.1

Rebounds: 324 (36.0 per game)

Assists: 105 (11.7 per game)

Turnovers: 164 (18.2 per game)

Steals: 57 (6.3 per game)

Blocks: 39 (4.3 per game)