LOUISVILLE, Ky.—From the Atlantic to the Pacific is an apt description of the movements of the Bellarmine men's basketball team this Thanksgiving week. 
 
After playing Monday on the road at Atlantic Coast Conference member Duke, the Knights are flying west to take on West Coast Conference member Loyola Marymount on Friday.  While in California, Bellarmine will tack on a trip to Pauley Pavilion to tackle the No. 19/17 Bruins of UCLA out of the Pac-12 Conference on Sunday.
 
Bellarmine is familiar with both the LMU Lions and UCLA as both were on the Knights' 2021-22 schedule.  Loyola Marymount was the lone non-ASUN Division I team to visit Freedom Hall last year while BU and the Bruins met in Las Vegas at the Empire Classic.
 
Last season, the Lions found the rims quite friendly at Freedom Hall as LMU shot 52.9 percent, including 8 of 16 from beyond the arc, and took home a 71-57 victory.  LMU's Joe Quintana was red hot in the second half while BU went cold. Quintana scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, sinking five of his seven attempts from 3-point land to finish 7-of-11 overall from downtown. Bellarmine, meanwhile, struggled to knock down shots from the perimeter, shooting 36.9 percent overall and just 21.4 percent (6 for 28) from beyond the arc.
 
This year, the Knights don't have to worry about the now-graduated Quintana, but returning Lions Cam Shelton (12 pts, 7 asts.) and Kelli Keaupepe (13 pts., 11 rebs.) also had strong outings against BU last year.  That duo is back in 2022-23 and have led LMU to a 4-2 record this year, including sweeping Georgetown and Wake Forest in the recent Jamaica Classic.  (The Lions will play Morgan State on Wednesday afternoon.)
 
Shelton, a 6-2 guard, is leading the Lions in scoring this year, tossing in 16.3 points a game while hauling in 5.3 rebounds.  Keaupepe, a 6-6, 240-lb. forward, paces LMU in rebounding at 6.5 per game while scoring at a 13.5 points per game clip.
 
On Sunday, the Knights will move to the venerable Pauley Pavilion, which like Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, is one of the most iconic venues in college basketball.  Built in 1965, it's been the home of the Bruins for 11 of their 12 national titles.
 
The UCLA matchup rekindles a friendly rivalry between head coaches Mick Cronin and Scott Davenport.  The friendship dates back to the two serving together on Rick Pitino's staff at the University of Louisville from 2001-2003. Since moving on to head coaching positions, the two have squared off numerous times in exhibition games when Cronin was at Murray State and Cincinnati, but last season's UCLA-Bellarmine game was the first time they faced one another in the regular season. The Bruins, who were ranked No. 2 of last season's meeting, won the matchup 75-62.
 
This season, Cronin's Bruins are 4-2 on the season with a game against Pepperdine scheduled for Wednesday night.  After opening the year with a top-10 ranking and four straight wins, UCLA dropped single-digit contests to No. 19 Illinois and No. 5 Baylor at the Continental Tire Main Event in Las Vegas. 
 
The UCLA lineup is impressive, chock-full of experience with highly heralded newcomers added in. Two-time First Team All-Pac-12 selection Tyler Campbell runs the offense at point guard and is the second-leading scorer at 15.4 points a game.  Jaylen Clark, a 6-5 junior guard, is the top Bruin scorer and rebounder averaging 16.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest. Jaime Jaquez, Jr., a powerful 6-7 guard/forward is scoring 14.6 per game and is second on the team in both rebounding and assists. Joining the starting five is Amari Bailey, a 6-5 freshman, who was ranked as the nation's No. 2 prospect coming out of high school last year by Sports Illustrated.
 
One of the Bruins most dangerous offensive weapons comes off the bench in the person of 5^th-year guard David Singleton.  He is averaging 12.2 points a game and is UCLA's best 3-point shooter, having made 15 of 27 triples this season for 55.6 percent.
 
Bellarmine has started 2-3 on the season.  Freshman Peter Suder leads the Knights' scoring attack at 13.2 points per game.  The 6-5 Carmel, Indiana native dropped in 24 points against Morehead to establish his early career high-point game.  Senior Bash Wieland, who notched his career-high with 16 points at Clemson, is second on the team in scoring at 10 a game.  Graduate student and ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Juston Betz is the Knights leader in rebounding (5.2/game) and assists (2.8/game).
 
Other top performers for the Knights in the early season have been senior Garrett Tipton and sophomore Curt Hopf. Tipton opened the year with a career-best 21-point performance in a 67-66 win over Louisville, and Hopf is coming off and 11-point, 5-rebound performance at No. 8 Duke.
 
Game times this week are 3 p.m. Eastern (Noon PT) on Friday at Loyola Marymount and 7 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. PT) at UCLA on Sunday. 
 
Radio coverage of the Knights will be carried on two different stations this week.  Doug Ormay and Mark Bugg will have the call on WGTK 970-AM on Friday with the duo switching to ESPN 680-AM/105.7-FM for Sunday's game.
 
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