LOUISVILLE, Ky.— The No. 2-ranked Louisville Cardinals used a smothering defense to hold the Bellarmine Knights to just 16 of 60 shooting and rolled to a 65-46 exhibition victory in front of 20,422 fans at the KFC Yum! Center tonight.

 “I don't think I've ever been more proud of a basketball team that shot 27 percent in my life,” Davenport said after the game.  “We couldn't get (the shots) to go down, but our team grew tonight. We grew so much as a basketball team. The feeling and the emotion on our bench was genuine tonight. It was really special, and only special teams do that.”

Bellarmine's Chris Dowe led all scorers with 19 points, including an impressive left-handed dunk that provided a spark for the Knights in the second half as they chipped the Louisville lead down to 13.  The preseason All-American out of Eastern High School also hauled in 11 rebounds to record a double-double.

The Knights--No. 2 in Basketball Times' preseason rankings-- also got a big lift from junior Wright State transfer Vance Hall who poured in 13 points, all in the final 10:36 of the contest.

The Cardinals, which led from wire to wire and by as many as 23, were paced by by Montrezl Harrrell with 16 points, and Gorgui Dieng also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards.

Despite the loss, the Knights turned in a resilient performance in which they outrebounded the Cardinals 43-38 despite a significant size disadvantage.  “The biggest stat of the night,” said Davenport, “was that we held Louisville to just nine offensive rebounds.  Against Pikeville, they had 25.” 

Neither team shot the ball well, especially from long range.  Louisville missed their first 17 trey attempts until Luke Hancock finally got one to go down late in the second half as the Cardinals finished just 1-19 (5.3 percent) from the 3-point line and 26-55 (47.3 percent) overall.  Bellarmine also struggled with the deep ball.  Hall heated up late and finished 3-6 from beyond the arc, but as a team the Knights made just 5-29 (17.2 percent).

The Knights next action will be their regular season home opener on Thursday, Nov. 15 against Wayne State at 7 p.m.

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