LOUISVILLE, Ky.—After a brief stop at home, the Bellarmine Knights men's basketball team is off on another road trip to face a top-notch opponent.  
 
The Knights (2-5) played their regular season home opener on Sunday afternoon, dispatching Franklin College 75 to 37 after opening with six straight on the road against the likes of Gonzaga, Purdue and UCLA.  Now, Bellarmine is off to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers out of the Big 12 at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
 
West Virginia, while not currently in the top 25, is off to a solid 5-1 start. The only blemish on the Mountaineers' record this season came at the hands of Marquette, which took an 82-71 decision in the Shriner's Children's Charleston Classic. In that same event WVU took care of Elon and Clemson. West Virginia opened with a pair of home wins over Oakland University and Pittsburgh. In their most recent action, the Mountaineers saw Eastern Kentucky come into WVU Coliseum and take an early double-digit, but WVU came back to post an 80-77 victory.
 
Coached by Bob Huggins, who ranks No. 3 in all-time Division I coaching victories, West Virginia has established itself as a defensive juggernaut this season. Through their first six games, the Mountaineers rank fourth in the nation in both turnovers against (more than 20 per game) and turnover margin (9.3).  If the WVU defense doesn't get the turnover, chances are the Mountaineers will try to stop their opponents by blocking shots. West Virgina ranks No. 16 in the country in blocked shots, led by Dimon Carrigan with 10 in the first six games.
 
On the offensive end of the court, the Mountaineers look to their guards for most of their point production with Taz Sherman ranking in the nation's top 25 in scoring with a 20.5 average.  Backcourt mate Sean McNeil is second on the team in scoring at 11.4 per game. Many Bellarmine fans will remember that McNeil originally inked a National Letter of Intent with the Knights, but he opted to go the junior college route, where he led the nation in scoring at Sinclair Community College before transferring to WVU.
 
West Virginia also has a solid inside presence with 6-10, 245-pound Isaiah Cottrell and Carrigan at 6-9 and 230 pounds. Gabe Osabuohien (6-7, 240 lbs.) leads the Mountaineers in rebounding while Jalen Bridges (6-7, 225 lbs.) adds 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
 
Bellarmine (2-5) is coming off the Knights' second-best scoring defense performance in school history in allowing just 37 points to the Grizzlies. The lowest output by a Bellarmine opponent came in just the fourth game played in school history when the Knights defeated Louisville Municipal 69-36 on Jan. 25, 1951 for the first victory of the Bellarmine basketball program.
 
In spite of the flirtation with school history, the biggest story of the 2021-22 season for the Knights has been its incredibly difficult schedule.  In fact, heading into the Franklin contest, Bellarmine's strength of schedule was ranked No. 1 by ESPN.
 
Preseason All-ASUN selection Dylan Penn has lived up to expectations so far this season.  Twice he has matched his career-best by dropping in 27 points in a game (against St. Mary's and Central Michigan), and he leads the team in scoring (16.1) and assists (4.85). 
 
Graduate student CJ Fleming, who enters the West Virginia game with 940 career points, is second on the team in scoring at 10.4 per contest, and he is Bellarmine's top 3-point shooter with 13 over the first seven games.  
 
Fellow graduate student Juston Betz is coming off a game in which he set career highs in both rebounds (7) and assists (6), and he is currently leading the Knights in rebounding from his backcourt position at 4.9 per contest. Also coming off a solid game is freshman forward Curt Hopf, who tallied 14 points against the Grizzlies for his top scoring game so far. 
 
Tuesday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Bellarmine and West Virginia.

Fans can watch the action on ESPN+ and tune into 93.9 The Ville for the radio call from Doug Ormay and Mark Bugg.