LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Once the uncharacteristic turned to the common, the No. 6 Bellarmine University men's basketball team delivered the expected result.

The Knights shrugged off some early struggles finishing around the rim to build a sizable 43-19 halftime lead and cruised to their 54th straight victory in Knights Hall with an 85-50 thumping of Missouri S&T on Saturday in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Sophomore forward Alex Cook scored a career-high 16 points for Bellarmine (17-1, 8-1 GLVC), which dominated in Knights Hall this week in sweeping three games by a minimum of 16 points. Senior guard Jarek Coles registered 15 points — one off his career best — and added five assists. Senior guard Brent Bach chipped in 14 points, and junior forward Chivarsky Corbett contributed 10, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks against shorthanded Missouri S&T (2-15, 0-9).

Bellarmine's initial hardships were reflected in junior forward Adam Eberhard failing to score for the first time since the third game of his freshman season. Of course, as you'd expect from the All-American, Eberhard found other ways to make his mark, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists. Sophomore forward Ben Weyer was similarly effective, hauling in eight rebounds, handing out four assists and scoring eight points.

When it came to producing excellent looks at the basket, Bellarmine's offense clicked from the get-go, but the Knights uncharacteristically missed a slew of shots from close range in the early going. Bellarmine trailed 11-9 after eight minutes, but Coles buried consecutive 3-pointers, the first of which gave the Knights the lead for good.

Missouri S&T remained within eight with 5:18 left in the first half, but the Knights dealt the Miners a debilitating blow with a 16-0 run heading into halftime for a 43-19 lead. Coles tallied the first seven points in the explosion then found Cook for a layup and freshman guard CJ Fleming for a 3-pointer as the Knights restored the status quo.

"We were missing great shots. It's not like they were trying to. We still ended up with 27 assists on 33 baskets," Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport said. "That was our second biggest crowd of the year. I want to say thank you to everybody who came for that."

Bellarmine went up 30 less than two minutes into the second half. The cold stretch at the beginning and another over the last few minutes dropped the Knights to a still-solid 48.5 percent shooting as junior forward Willie Schurfranz capped his 3-for-3 outing with the game's final basket. Most impressive was a defense that limited Missouri S&T to 24.6 percent shooting.

Bellarmine dominated several areas: 38-8 in points in the paint, 24-3 off turnovers, 12-0 on fast breaks, 49-33 on rebounds and 27-11 on assists.

The Knights play Thursday at Indianapolis.

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