Mick Hedgepeth scored 15 points and Belmont cruised to an 87-72 win over Tennessee State on Monday night.
Belmont (4-1) led 49-23 at halftime as J.J. Mann scored all 13 of his points before the break and Scott Saunders chipped in 12 of his final 14.
Hedgepeth had 11 points in the second half, with Kerron Johnson scoring six of his 11 in the final period as the Bruins maintained a cushion of at least 11 points.
Trailing 77-57 with 4:33 left, the Tigers (1-4) used an 11-2 run to make it 79-68 with 2:25 to go, but could get no closer.
Belmont shot 26 for 27 from the free-throw line (96.3 percent) and 25 for 49 from the field (51 percent) while Tennessee State shot 17 of 18 from the line (94.4 percent) and 23 of 43 from the field (43.4 percent).
Robert Covington led the Tigers with 18 points, Kenny Moore and Wil Peters had 15 each and Patrick Miller had 14.
