Belmont (0-0) at Illinois State (0-0) – 8:00 PM EST (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Normal, Illinois where the host Redbirds will play against the Belmont Bruins. The Redbirds (picked to finish 7th in the Missouri Valley this season) are coming off of an exhibition victory where they had to overcome a 15-point deficit against Truman State. ISU is led by senior guard Zach Copeland – last year, he averaged just under 10 points a game and 3 assists per game.
For the first time since moving up to Division 1, Rick Byrd will not be on the bench as Belmont’s head coach – that duty now falls into the hands of former Belmont assistant Casey Alexander. Alexander was previously head coach at Lipscomb where he led the Bisons to the 2017 NCAA Tournament and runner-up finish in the 2018 NIT. The Bruins are led by OVC freshman of the year Nick Muszynski – he averaged 14.7 points a game and 5.8 rebounds a game last season for Belmont.