LOUISVILLE, Ky. — All the confusion, all the disappointment, all the bitterness, all the rage finally boiled over for the Bellarmine University men's basketball team.

That crate of pent-up emotion following a devastating loss in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament finals to Drury was unleashed on the Panthers on Saturday night at Knights Hall in a rematch that took place in the Midwest Region quarterfinals of the Division II NCAA Tournament.

In a dazzling display of utter dominance and destruction, the top-seeded and third-ranked Knights exacted revenge on the eighth-seeded Panthers in an 84-60 romp that delighted a frenzied crowd of Bellarmine faithful.

"As soon as that game was over," said junior forward George Suggs, referring to the Knights' 77-70 loss to Drury in the GLVC title game, "I felt like we refocused and were ready to come out and play."

Were they ever.

Bellarmine (28-3) shot a jaw-dropping 63.3 percent from the field, topping 60 percent in both halves of play. The Knights connected on 54.5 percent (6 of 11) of their 3-point attempts. Led by senior forward and GLVC Player of the Year Jake Thelen, they owned the paint, outscoring the Panthers 38-18 in that area. They were commanding as well when they opted to push the pace, carrying a 14-4 advantage in fast-break points. They spread the ball around to the tune of 22 assists on 31 field goals.

And yet as potent as Bellarmine was offensively, much of the postgame analysis from the Knights related to defense. It was a mere six days ago in the conference tournament that Drury (21-9) shot 60.9 percent against them, including a lethal 69.2 clip in the second half. In the rematch, BU held the Panthers to 45.7 percent shooting from the field, and the Knights equaled their season high by forcing 21 turnovers. Bellarmine turned those takeaways into 27 points.

"We defended team-wise for 40 minutes as good as you can defend," BU Coach Scott Davenport said. "They still shot (nearly) 46 percent, and we defended the heck out of them. We played with tremendous poise and tremendous unselfishness.

"I'm not talking about the assists. We played unselfish defensively. We gave for each other defensively. Their focus, concentration and attention to detail this week were phenomenal."

Thelen had game highs of 21 points and nine rebounds, sophomore forward Josh Derksen poured in 17 points after missing two games due to sickness, Suggs chipped in 11 and senior guard Chris Whitehead and sophomore guard Rusty Troutman added 10 apiece. Whitehead collected five assists and five steals, Troutman grabbed seven rebounds and Thelen blocked three shots. On his 21st birthday, junior guard Michael Parrish hit all three of his shots for seven points and senior guard Corbin Maynard contributed five points, three assists and two steals.

On Bellarmine's first possession, Derksen whipped a pass to Thelen for a layup, and the Knights led the entire game. With 6:20 left, Whitehead spotted Derksen for a 3-pointer that boosted BU's lead to 11. Drury got within five but Thelen lobbed an alley-oop to Derksen for a thunderous dunk that drew an eruption from a crowd clad in black. They got even more fired up when Derksen closed the half with a jumper for a 40-29 lead.

"Right as we came out for warmups, it was louder than it's been all season — and it's been pretty loud this season," Thelen said of the atmosphere in Knights Hall, which included a blackout. "It was electrifying. Our fans are unbelievable."

On this night, so were the Knights.

The second half began just as the first did — with a Thelen lay-in, this time compliments of a feed from Suggs. It wouldn't be long before Bellarmine delivered the haymaker, a 15-4 run that boosted the lead to 20 with 12:53 left. Drury never got closer than 15, and BU led by as much as 26.

Thelen was a one-man gang during the decisive outburst. The first-team All-Region forward scored nine straight points highlighted by the most unlikely of shots — a 3-pointer that marked the second trey of his BU career. Thelen was wide open from the left wing as the shot clock wound down, and he calmly stroked the trifecta on just his second attempt from long range this season.

"They're an excellent team, and we knew we were going to get their best shot," Suggs said. "I think we brought our best shot, too."

Ben Fisher led Drury with 17 points behind 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Kameron Bundy, an All-Region performer, was limited by Bellarmine to 12 points after scoring 27 in the GLVC Tournament finals.

"We did not have a very good defensive basketball game," Thelen said of the previous contest between the two teams. "We watched the film and learned from it. We defended and talked so well in practice this week. We all did a great job defensively tonight."

Bellarmine will meet Lake Superior State at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday in the regional semifinals. The fourth-seeded Lakers defeated fifth-seeded Ferris State 78-69 in overtime.

"We said all week that we needed to be willing to make sacrifices, no matter what they are," Davenport said. "Understand your teammates are going to be willing to make a sacrifice for you. And we transferred that into the competition."

BOX SCORE (HTM)