Rick Byrd wins 800th career game; Belmont beats E. Illinois

Feb 22, 2019, 03:45 am

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Rick Byrd won his 800th career game as Belmont rolled past Eastern Illinois 99-58 on Thursday night.

Byrd joined Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, North Carolina's Roy Williams, West Virginia's Bob Huggins and Coastal Carolina's Cliff Ellis as active Division I coaches with 800 career victories.

Dylan Windler had 22 points as Belmont won its 10th consecutive game. Nick Muszynski had 18 points and three assists for Belmont (22-4, 13-2 Ohio Valley Conference). Kevin McClain added 12 points. Grayson Murphy had 10 points and eight assists for the hosts.

Belmont posted a season-high 18 3-pointers.

Rade Kukobat had 11 points for the Panthers (14-14, 7-8). Mack Smith added 10 points.

Josiah Wallace, whose 15 points per game heading into the matchup led the Panthers, had 7 points (3 of 12).

Belmont takes on Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at home on Saturday. Eastern Illinois plays Tennessee State on the road on Saturday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap , using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com