DURHAM, N.C.—The Bellarmine Knights turned in another solid performance, but the No. 8 Duke Blue Devils used a 16-2 first half run to create separation and held on to post a 74-57 victory in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday night.
 
Bellarmine opened strongly, taking a brief 7-6 lead, but that's when Duke exploded on its 16-2 run as the Blue Devils heated up from long range, hitting three triples during the run. 
 
After seeing Duke take the 22-9 lead, the Knights, who were facing their third ACC team of the season,  kept battling and closed to within eight at halftime, trailing 41-33 at the break. 
 
The opening 20 minutes saw both teams turn in impressive numbers. Bellarmine hit 14 of 27 shots for 51.9 percent, including going 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.  The Blue Devils, meanwhile, went 13 of 25 for 52 percent and canned eight of 17 3-pointers.
 
Both teams cooled a bit in the second period, but the game remained competitive.  Duke opened the second half by hitting a three from the left baseline, and the Knights could get no closer than nine the rest of the way.
 
Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport said from an "Xs and Os" perspective, the game came down to second chance points.  "They're 15-2 on second chance points," he said. "You pick your poison (with Duke).  They made 14 of 35 threes, but that's not what this game is all about."
 
Davenport then went on to extol the outstanding experience the Knights had and the outstanding effort they gave. "We could not simulate that in practice in this atmosphere if we brought in 20 hall of fame coaches," he said. "Those players deserve so much credit because there wasn't one ounce of one possession of quit in them.  If you were in those huddles, it was a battle, and it was a battle every possession, and this made us better."
 
Bellarmine got a balanced scoring attack with freshman Peter Suder and sophomore Curt Hopf leading the way with 11 points apiece. Juston Betz added nine with seniors Bash Wieland and Garrett Tipton chipping in eight apiece.  Betz and Hopf each grabbed five rebounds to lead the Knights' efforts on the glass.
 
The Blue Devils (4-1) were paced by freshman center Kyle Filipowski, who continued his outstanding start to his collegiate career with a game-high 18 points while ripping eight rebounds to tie teammate Tyrese Proctor for game-high honors in rebounding as well.
 
Bellarmine (2-3) now comes back to campus for one day of classes before taking off for a Thanksgiving break in California.  While the Knights will be getting a break from classes, they won't be getting a break from competition.  On Friday, they face Loyola Marymount in a 3 p.m. (noon PT) contest before taking on another top 20 team on Sunday, when they'll play in Pauley Pavilion against the No. 19 UCLA Bruins.

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE WITH COACH DAVENPORT:



 
FULL POSTGAME RADIO INTERVIEW WITH COACH DAVENPORT: