LOUISVILLE, Ky.—In one of two top 10 battles being waged on Thursday evening in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the No. 1 Bellarmine Knights host the No. 8 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles at 8 p.m. in Knights Hall in front of an expected sellout crowd (See related story).

On paper, the game shapes up as the league's best offensive team versus its best defensive unit.  In conference games this season, Bellarmine leads the league in six categories (nearly all offensive in nature) and USI leads six categories (nearly all defensive in nature).

Bellarmine leads in Scoring Offense (84.2), Scoring Margin (18.4), Field Goal Percentage (.558), 3-pt Field Goal Percentage (.430), Assists (19.67/Gm.), and Assist to Turnover Ratio (1.72).

The Screaming Eagles lead in categories that line up—in many cases—exactly opposite of the Knights:  Scoring Defense (59.3), Field Goal Percentage Defense (39.8), 3-pt Percentage Defense (.272), Rebounding Margin (6.6), Blocked Shots (4.67), and Offensive Rebounds (13.56/Gm.).

Bellarmine continues to have all five players average in double figures and are led by Jeremy Kendle's 18.9 average.  Junior guard Chris Dowe has had the hot hand of late and has seen his scoring average rise to 16.5 as he is hitting on 62.7 percent of his field goals, which ranks him ninth in the country. 

With Dowe and senior forward Luke Sprague both recently going over the 1,000 point mark in their careers, the Knights now boast four 1,000-point scorers on the same team.  Kendle and Braydon Hobbs eclipsed the mark last year.

The Screaming Eagles are led by Brandon Hogg, who puts up 17.2 points per game.  Isaac McClure, who became eligible following the fall semester, has stepped in to average 14.1 points for USI.  Interestingly, the best rebounding team in the GLVC is led in that department by one of its shortest players as 5-11 Kenyon Smith pulls down 6.3 boards a game.

The BU-USI game, as all contests from here on out, will have a significant impact on the GLVC standings.  Currently the Knights sit atop the East Division with an 8-1 conference record, but there is a 4-way tie for second with  USI, Northern Kentucky, Kentucky Wesleyan, and Indianapolis all sporting 7-2 league marks.  The GLVC East's top five teams all are ranked in the nation's top 25.

Thursday's game, which follows the BU-USI women's contest, will be broadcast live on WGTK-AM 970 with the call by Nick Curran and commentary by Mark Bugg.