LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – To commemorate Bellarmine’s ninth straight victory in the ASUN Conference – a 66-64 win at North Alabama to keep it atop the conference standings (in the win column) Friday night – let’s look at nine fun facts about the Knights’ program.
1). ROAD RULES: The victory was Bellarmine’s fifth straight on the road. On the season, they are 6-2 in road games. The only losses? At Duke, and at Notre Dame.
2). NET RESULTS: Bellarmine entered Friday’s game ranked No. 169 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Among the schools ranked behind it – DePaul and UNLV. The Knights jumped to No. 182 in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. Only Liberty (ranked No. 111 in Pomeroy’s rankings) is higher.
3). WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT? Even if Bellarmine were to lose the rest of its regular season games, it would still wind up with more wins than preseason No. 8-ranked Kentucky.
4). SHOOTING STARS: The Knights, routinely among the leaders in field goal percentage while in NCAA Division II, are high in the rankings again in Division I. Entering Friday’s game, they were 7th nationally at 51 percent from the field. At North Alabama on Friday, they shot 45.5 percent from the field.
5). VOTE FOR PEDRO: After back-to-back double-doubles, Pedro Bradshaw became the second Knight to earn ASUN Player of the Week accolades last week. The junior from Russellville averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in a pair of wins over Jacksonville. He could well be a candidate again this week after scoring 25 points and pulling down nine rebounds. He went 9-for-9 from the line in Friday’s victory.
6). NATIONAL ATTENTION: After Bellarmine’s win over North Alabama, CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein took notice on Twitter.
What a story!Another former Rick Pitino assistant. Regularly streamed his exhibitions against Louisville and Cincinnati. https://t.co/EoHgW1bgYZ
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 13, 2021
7). REMEMBER MERRIMACK: Not to get ahead of ourselves, but even if Bellarmine has designs on the ASUN regular-season championship (and it’s fair to say it does), it wouldn’t be the first new Division I program to win its league regular-season title in its first year of reclassification. Merrimack College did it in the Northeast Conference just last season, finishing 14-4 in league play. Merrimack, however, couldn’t compete in the league tournament.
As part of Bellarmine’s move to the ASUN, the league will allow the Knights to compete in their postseason tournament in Year 1 of Division I.
8). A BIT OF A DRY SPELL. Bellarmine was up by 17 points with 12:55 left to play and had to hang on for dear life. The Knights got the lead with defense, opening up their margin after leading by five at the half. The went the final 9:27 without a single field goal. They went 0-for-7 in the stretch, with five turnovers, and went 4-for-6 at the free throw line.
The Knights’ locker room was a classroom. Coach Scott Davenport felt like giving a little lecture after the game -- but he didn't really need to.
“I'm so fortunate to teach a group of guys who will take something like this experience tonight and learn from it,” Davenport said. ". . . Learn from tonight, prepare for tomorrow, was our message after the game."
9). GAME NO. 2: The Knights will face North Alabama again Saturday night at 7. The game will be broadcast on ESPN-plus, or on radio at 93.9 FM.
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