A recap of the two Nashville-area games I attended this week, both won by
Belmont Boulevard-area teams:
Wednesday: Belmont Bruins 76, South Dakota State Jackrabbits 49
(Curb Event Center, Nashville, TN)
Nashville's most hipster-friendly school packs a pretty powerful punch on the hardwood.
When I was a music major at Vanderbilt, I often got mistaken for a Belmont student. Most people, upon hearing about my major, assumed that I was a Belmont student seeking a music business degree and trying to break into the scene that Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton exploit so well on ABC each Wednesday. Alas, my music talents did not extend at all past the pianos of the Blair School of Music -- and I did not become nearly as successful in the Nashville music scene (read: not at all) as the Belmont students who made their way into the biz.
Besides being the most successful feeder into the Nashville music scene, Belmont also possesses a fair amount of paranormal history. The Belmont Mansion, located on the campus, is said to be haunted by the ghost of Adelicia Acklen, who built the mansion in the 1800s and buried two husbands and at least six children during her time there. Some have speculated that she is searching for her dead children in the mansion; others feel that she is protecting the house in case the school wants to demolish it to build new campus buildings. Regardless, the mansion is a prominent stop on the Nashville Haunted Hearse Tour, which I have had the privilege (and $20) to undertake twice during my time at Vandy. It's a lovely tour, laden with history, scary ghosts, graveyards ... and an ACTUAL OPEN-AIR HEARSE WHERE YOU CAN BRING YOUR OWN BEER AND TELL THE DRIVER TO PLAY THE "GHOSTBUSTERS" THEME ON LOOP! History or not, it's the most fun hour (or three, depending on how many loops of downtown that you can convince the driver to take) that you can have in the Music City.
(The most fun part of this tour: re-enacting the zombie pose from "Thriller" and getting everyone in the hearse to randomly act like a zombie at unsuspecting cars trying to find their way downtown on a Saturday night. Not that I've EVER done this ...)
But in all seriousness -- when Belmont students are not busy wearing their beanies and beards at Fido, PM, Chagos, or Jackson's, they're watching the newly-OVC-joining Bruins kick some serious ass on the basketball court. You may have heard about Belmont when they were in the Atlantic Sun -- the Bruins gave Georgetown a game in the 2007 and 2012 NCAAs and very nearly took down #2 seed Duke in 2008 (before Lehigh actually turned the trick 4 years later). While they are 0-5 in their NCAA history, the Bruins' 2012 move to the OVC may change that, especially given what I saw on Wednesday night.
While the Belmont crowd was only a Level 1 for a mid-Christmas-break matchup with South Dakota State, the 5,000 seat Curb Event Center figures to get loud for lots of games in Belmont's new conference this season (though, unfortunately, their only game this year with perennial conference power Murray State will take place at Murray on Feb. 7) and could generate some serious Level 3 potential should the Bruins attract big-time non-conference opponents in the near future. The 2,000-plus fans in attendance Wednesday that actually recognized the fortitude of South Dakota State (last year's Summit League champion that took Baylor to the brink in the NCAAs) packed a serious punch that took Belmont over the top in the 2nd half.
While the Bruins led by only 4 entering the 2nd half, guards Trevor Noack and Ian Clark led an 18-0 Belmont run to turn a 37-37 tie into a 55-37 Belmont lead with 8 minutes to play, sealing another important non-conference win for the Bruins' squad. Belmont made no 3s in the first half yet finished the game 7-for-15 from beyond the arc (leading to a busy half for the man attaching velcros "3s" to a Hampton Inn-sponsored balloon near the student section). While Clark is the Bruins' leading scorer, Noack finished the contest leading four Belmont double-figure scorers with 24 points including 2-3 from 3-point land. The Bruins played stout defense (limiting PG Nate Wolters to 4-of-11 shooting for 13 points) controlled the ball well offensively (only 12 TOs), and won the rebounding battle convincingly (42-26) despite lacking a definitive size advantage. South Dakota State may be middling in this year's RPI, but they are a good basketball team. While Belmont may not have a signature win on its resume outside of a Nov. 18 win at Stanford, it certainly looks worthy of a No. 11-12 seed and a serious NCAA threat should it escape Murray to win the OVC Tournament. Its fans should pack a similar punch as its first year in the Ohio Valley goes on.
Tuesday: Lipscomb Bisons 87, Austin Peay Governors 84
(Dunn Center, Clarksville, TN)
Every year, Belmont and Lipscomb play the "Battle of the Boulevard" -- the matchup of the two teams on Belmont Boulevard -- with Belmont usually winning. This year, Belmont pounded Lipscomb twice, winning by a combined 63 points in the teams' two matchups.
But in the "Battle of I-24," Lipscomb extended its dominance over Austin Peay, pulling out an improbable third victory in as many years over the Governors. This night belonged at first to the men of Clarksville, owners of two NCAA wins in their history including a thrilling 3-14 upset of Illinois in the 1987 tournament before a 2nd round overtime loss to Providence (an eventual Final Four team under coach Rick Pitino). The Governors had the crowd, the talent, and the moxie to take down the slower, plodding Bisons -- until Peay freshman phenom Chris Horton picked up a technical foul (at 6:33 of the first half) followed by his fourth personal foul (at 17:16 of the second half). While clearly a talented forward, Horton's absence was noticeable, and veteran coach Dave Loos elected to keep the mercurial freshman on the bench for much of the second half.
Austin Peay's Level 1 crowd (though with Level 3 potential), during Christmas break against a non-conference opponent, was noticeably lacking, particularly in the student department. But two sections of fans packed a punch. The pep band behind the basket provided as many derisive chants as the average student section, repeatedly referring to Lipscomb guard Carter Sanderson (the coach's son) as "Momma's Boy" and chanting "YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" during Lipscomb free throws. The nine-year-olds behind the Austin Peay press table even got in on the act -- when Sanderson committed a questionable backcourt foul late in the second half, eliciting arguments from father and son alike, one youngster yelled at Sanderson, "GO KISS YOUR DADDY!"
The pep band and nine-year-olds could not help Peay from the free-throw line. The Governors missed six straight free throws in the final three minutes, allowing Lipscomb to end the second half on a 15-0 run that led to the 87-84 win. The night thus belonged to 6-10 freshman center Stephen Hurt, who finished with career highs in both points (23) and rebounds (18) despite playing the last eight minutes of the second half with four fouls. Lipscomb's twin guards, Malcolm and Martin Smith (from Clarksville), finished 10-for-18 with 31 points and 10 rebounds.
Three more notes about Austin Peay that I can't help but share:
1) Austin Peay's star guard in the mid-70s was James "Fly" Williams, who led the Governors to their first ever NCAA Tournament win in 1973. Austin Peay's chant is still "Let's Go Peay." But in the '70s, it was a little more, um, elaborate:
"The Fly Is Open, LET'S GO PEAY!!!"
2) Lake Kelly, one of the best coaches in Austin Peay history, has his plaque in the AP Hall of Fame. I mention this as a tribute to Flemingsburg, Kentucky, where Kelly coached and where my buddy Zach played both high school football and basketball:
3) When I was in my fraternity at Vanderbilt, we traveled up to Austin Peay one weeknight to observe one of their rituals so that we could learn and ultimately perform it too (a legitimate ritual -- we did many things wrong that ultimately got us kicked off campus, but this wasn't one of them). Upon arriving on campus, we asked a few of the younger gentlemen what the "talent" scene was in Clarksville. Distraught by reality, one of the brothers answered the question as such:
"Every night, it's like going into the desert looking for an oasis.
But most nights, you just end up eating the sand."
(So ... you're hooking up with your brothers? Or jerking it? This metaphor is very ambiguous...)
So despite the apparent shortage of fine females, Nashville's "Belmont Boulevard" teams both came to play for midweek games against formidable but flawed opponents. Lipscomb begins Atlantic Sun play on New Year's Eve (following Thursday's close loss at Memphis) and figures to compete for the conference title if Hurt can keep up the second-chance scoring prowess he exhibited in Clarksville. Belmont begins its first OVC run on January 3rd and should win all but one or two of its conference games. Mark down Belmont @ Murray State, February 7th -- one of the best mid-major matchups of the year. This week, the Boulevard took care of business with the Road to 592 along for the ride.
College basketball count: 12/347; Total count: 41/592
Next One Up
The Road to 592 is off for games during the holidays -- Merry Christmas, everyone! Keep a lookout for next week's edition of the Big Bottom 10 -- otherwise, see you in Nashville on New Year's Eve for Vandy's Music City Bowl trouncing of NC State.
--The Road to 592 is a pipe dream started by a diehard Atlanta fan with a sparse history of truly great sports atmospheres (being Atlanta and all). Read up on my unending pursuit here and check out the full list of venues here. For those sick of conference realignment, you can also relish in another pipe dream of mine -- the 28-team SEC. Follow me on Twitter @andrewhhard.
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