Louisville vs. Bellarmine, TV info, matchups and more |

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It's a different game from the past couple of seasons. Two seasons ago, Bellarmine beat Louisville in the KFC Yum! Center. It was an important night for the school's fledgling NCAA Division I program — and a major red flag for Kenny Payne's efforts at Louisville.

Last season, had it not been for a key injury, Scott Davenport's Knights might well have upset Louisville again.

But heading into Tuesday's 7 p.m. meeting between the schools, Bellarmine has lost a couple of top performers to the transfer portal, Louisville has a new coach in Pat Kelsey and 13 new players, a dozen of them additions from the transfer portal, and the expected game is much different.

Louisville is a 25.5-point favorite, but is coming off a 10-day layoff, during which the team has had time to re-evaluate things following a 22-point home-court loss to then-No. 12-ranked Tennessee.

Kelsey said the video session after that loss ran longer than usual – but not because he was laying into guys.

"It wasn't planned on going that long, but the reason it did is the guys were extremely attentive," Kelsey said. "They were participating throughout. They knew there were some things that needed to be cleaned up and needed to be fixed. So, it wasn't like, you know, a long film session where it was just an hour and a half of aggressive counseling, if you will, where I'm just, you know, blasting them, getting after them, we cleaned some stuff up, and we addressed everything, and it was very productive. But at the same time, there were clips, a lot of clips, that we showed on both ends of the ball, of things that we did effectively and did well."

Bellarmine won't pose the same kind of physical challenge for Louisville, but it will test the Cards' defensive discipline.

"Our staff has embraced the challenge of scouting new rosters utilizing, from a personnel standpoint, their performance at previous institutions," said Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport, a Louisville alum who was an assistant to both Denny Crum and Rick Pitino. "Coach Kelsey is a tremendous teacher, so we are emphasizing all the material we have from their Bahamas trip to Tennessee. Louisville has a phenomenal amount of experience on their veteran squad. Top to bottom, there is not just experience, but veteran experience from quality programs. These programs, I am sure, wish they had them back. (They) are not just talented, they are proven winners. Possibly starting two graduates and two seniors is a credit coach's ability to assemble a quality roster. We are concerned about them 10 deep."

A look at the matchup:

Game at a Glance

Teams: Bellarmine (0-4) at Louisville (1-1).
When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 19
Where: KFC Yum! Center
Broadcast: ACCNX, 93.9 FM The Ville (Louisville broadcast), ESPN 680/105.7 (Bellarmine broadcast)
Coaches:
- Scott Davenport: 421-175 in his 20th season at Bellarmine, and his 20th season overall. He won the 2011 NCAA Division II championship with the Knights.
- Pat Kelsey: 1-1 in his first season at Louisville and 262-123 in his 13th season overall.

Why it Matters

City bragging rights are on the line.

Louisville leads the series 13-1 and is 1-1 since Bellarmine made the move to NCAA Division I.
Bellarmine is seeking its first win of the season.
Louisville is looking to get back on the right track after a 22-point loss to Tennessee.

Players to Watch

Bellarmine has been led by William & Mary transfer Jack Karasinski, is the only player averaging in double figures, at 18.3 points per game, while 60.5% from the field and 50% (8-16) from three-point range. The 6-foot-7-inch junior from Grand Rapids, Michigan, is coming off a 20-point performance at VMI.

Through two game, Louisville has been led in scoring by Reyne Smith, who followed Kelsey to Louisville from Charleston. Smith is averaging 15 points per game after The 6-foot-2-inch guard from Ulverstone, Australia, is averaging four three-pointers per game and shooting 38% from beyond the arc.

Stats that Matter

Bellarmine has struggled with three-point shooting this season, making just 31.4% of its attempts, while allowing opponents to shoot 43.2 percent. The Knights are giving up 9.5 three-pointers per game while making 8.75. Louisville wants to take threes in bunches. The Cardinals have fired 75 three-pointers in two games — nearly as many as Bellarmine has taken in four — and are averaging 10.5 made three-pointers per contest while giving up only 6.5.

X-Factors

Bellarmine's Ben Johnson was expected to be a leading scorer for the team this season, but has struggled from the outside early on. The sharp-shooter out of Lexington Catholic has made just 3-18 three-point tries this season. But when he does finally find the range, it will make Bellarmine a more dangerous offensive team.

For Louisville, 6--foot-10-inch forward Kasean Pryor poses a matchup problem for Bellarmine. Louisville's No. 2 scorer is averaging 12 points and seven rebounds a game. After being a three-point threat in the preseason, he's just 1-10 from beyond the arc in two regular season games, but his size could be an issue for a smaller Bellarmine team.

The Take

To some degree, Louisville is regrouping, while Bellarmine is rebuilding. The Cardinals struggled more than expected against a tough, physical Tennessee team a week ago, and have spent the week-and-a-half since that loss addressing the weaknesses that game exposed. Bellarmine is a different type of team, undersized and looking to exploit space with a cutting, passing attack on offense. The bigger problem for Bellarmine could be defensively, though Louisville has shown a bit of a tendency to be content with outside shooting, even when it could establish an advantage down low. The Cardinals are 25.5-point favorites, and that's not out of line given the form both teams have shown this season. But Louisville will need to take care not to let Bellarmine get going from three-point range, which it really has not managed to do this season. This game should be far more comfortable for the Cardinals than the last two games have been, though Bellarmine will look to extend Louisville in the shot clock on both ends, and require some discipline of the home team.