LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Before it begins a new season on its NCAA Division I adventure, the Bellarmine men’s basketball team took a trip back in time. The Knights opened their preseason Tuesday night with a game against Transylvania in Knights Hall, where they stopped playing three seasons ago after moving into Freedom Hall.
Now, I know, it’s not the biggest or newest venue. It’s not state-of-the-art. But there’s something to be said for parking your car and walking three minutes to your seat.
In front of the campus arena, students started tailgating in the afternoon, many even stayed for the game.
What they saw inside looked pretty familiar. Though Transylvania is well-coached and wasn’t going to let Bellarmine throw the ball around and do whatever it wanted to do on offense, the Knights pulled away to a 75-44 victory.
Bellarmine's Bash Wieland goes up for two of his 10 points in the Knights' win over Transylvania.
“This was fun because of the students. They made it fun. They’re out there tailgating all afternoon,” Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport said after the game. “This was fun coaching. We scripted the playing time on Sunday, and that's why we played all the combinations. This was a great learning experience; we couldn't simulate that in practice."
It wasn’t midseason form for Bellarmine, but it’s not supposed to be. The Knights turned it over 15 times. They struggled to a 39-39 tie on the boards and gave up 18 second-chance points. They also shot an uncharacteristic 13-for-22 from the free-throw line.
On the positive side, they shot 55 percent from the field and dogged Transylvania into 27 percent shooting. And they got 46 points off the bench.
“The rebounding obviously was a glaring, glaring issue," Davenport said. "You take this film and break it down possession by possession, and granted we have smart kids who want to do well, and they'll learn from it."
Bellarmine was led by sophomore Billy Smith, a transfer from Miami (Ohio), with 13 points, while Bash Wieland and Garrett Tipton had 10 each. The Knights used 15 players, and 10 of them played at least 13 minutes.
“We started our summer activity hours June 5,” Davenport said. “And every day since, there's been a red team and a gray team. And today it was a white team, everybody in a white jersey. So you play all the different combinations -- and we're racing them in and out so fast. It was great to learn. We had an incredible practice yesterday. So now we're off (Wednesday), come back Thursday and we have to be better. But this was great.”
Bellarmine begins its regular season on Nov. 6 at Washington.
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