GAME INFO
Monday, Nov. 18 -- at Belmont (Nashville, Tenn.) 6:30 p.m. CT
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The High Point University men's basketball team (0-3) heads to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Belmont University (2-1) on Monday (Nov. 18) in a Gotham Classic matchup.
 
The Gotham Classic, run by the Gazelle Group, is an 'multi-team exempt' college basketball event (or MTE), allowing all four contests to count as just one toward the cap of 31 scheduled games. This marks the first time HPU has appeared in the Gotham Classic, and are joined by Eastern Washington, Belmont, Boston College and Saint Louis.
 
Matchup History

• The matchup will be the second between HPU and Belmont and the first since Jan. 3, 1991, a 100-66 loss in Nassau, Bahamas.  
• This is the first time head coach Tubby Smith will face the Bruins in his 28 seasons as an NCAA DI head coach. He is 10-2 all-time against Southern Conference schools.   
• Belmont is one of four 2019 NCAA Tournament teams that the Panthers will face this season and one of two who won its opening game in the tournament. The Bruins join Wofford, Saint Louis and Gardner-Webb on the HPU slate who went "dancing" last season.

 
Panther Notes

• High Point is coming off of a 59-33 loss at ACC foe Boston College last Wednesday (Nov. 13). Junior Denny Slay II led the squad with 10 points, going 2-3 from beyond the arc.
• Despite the loss, HPU played well defensively, holding a high-scoring BC team to 16.5
  under its season average points per game of 75.5%. The Panthers also held them to 12% from outside the three-point line, coming into the game shooting 35.9% from downtown.
• John-Michael Wright was named Big South Freshman of the Week (Nov. 11) after scoring a team-leading 17 points against William & Mary on High Point's opening night. Wright also brought in five rebounds and added an assist and a block against the Tribe. At Wofford, Wright scored 11 points, while shooting a game-high 75% from three-point range as he went 3-4 on the evening.
• John-Michael Wright is currently second in scoring among all Big South freshmen averaging 11.0 points per game and also second among freshmen in conference with 3.0 rebounds a game.
• Fellow freshman Emmanuel Izunabor currently ranks tied for sixth in the Big South with a 1.0 blocks per game average, which tops all freshmen in the conference.
• Redshirt sophomore Caden Sanchez ranked sixth in the Big South with 3.0 offensive rebounds per game average.

 
Across the Bench

• The Bruins are coming off of a 100-85 win on Saturday (Nov. 16) at Boston College. Adam Kunkel led Belmont with a career-high 35 points.
• The Bruins lost their season opener at Illinois State, 79-72, before taking down Samford in their home opener, 95-63.
• Kunkel leads Belmont with 25.3 points per game, while shooting 55.2% from downtown.
• Nick Musyznski is second on the team in scoring with 16.0 points per game and averages 4.7 boards a contest.
• Overall, the Bruins are shooting 42.7% from beyond the arc and are averaging 89 points a game, while holding opponents to 75.7 a game.
• Belmont is led by Casey Alexander, who enters his first season at his alma mater, being named to the position on April 10, 2019. He previously spent six seasons at Lipscomb and led the Bisons to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018.
• Alexander, like Tubby Smith, are two of 38 head coaches in NCAA DI men's basketball who are in those positions at their alma mater.

 
Up Next: The Panthers will continue on their road swing when they travel to Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Mo.) on Wednesday (Nov. 20). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.

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