Rim shots

Belmont fan base is a little bit country

If that crazy-acting fan behind the Belmont bench looks familiar, maybe even sounds familiar, well, there’s a reason for that.

It’s probably Vince Gill, the Grammy-winning country singer/songwriter, who is among the Bruins’ most boisterous fans.

Gill is a friend of Belmont Coach Rick Byrd, a country music aficionado who shares another passion with his buddy: golf.

They met at a charity tournament more than 20 years ago. At the time, Byrd was in his second season as coach at Belmont, which at the time played at the NAIA level. Gill was a relative unknown, having just released his second album.

“He said, ‘I actually have heard of you’ -- those were my years of really struggling,” Gill recalled in an interview with rivals.com. “. . .He said, ‘I coach a small school here in Nashville, and if you ever want to make a game just let me know and I’ll leave you some tickets.’ ”

Gill isn’t an alum of the school, but other country music stars are, including Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood and Josh Turner.

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Fouled-up message

Coach Ben Howland stresses defense, so does this mean the Bruins are passive-aggressive?

UCLA commits an average of 14.2 fouls a game, second-fewest in Division I and the lowest among tournament teams.

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X factor is

motivation

Xavier, regular-season champion of the Atlantic 10 and ranked in the top 10, didn’t have a player make first-team all-conference.

That didn’t sit well with senior guard Stanley Burrell, who called the league “pathetic” and termed the slight “ridiculous.”

Of course, the Musketeers didn’t come up entirely empty. Josh Duncan was voted the league’s sixth man of the year, and Sean Miller was coach of the year. Guard Drew Lavender made second team and Burrell was third team.

Miller didn’t try to muzzle his player, saying of Burrell, “He stuck up for his teammates . . . and I couldn’t be more proud.”

-- Mike Hiserman