LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine Knights conclude a whirlwind road trip on Tuesday by taking on the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington's Rupp Arena at 7 p.m.
 
In the past two weeks, Bellarmine has logged more than 5,000 miles traveling to Clemson, No. 8 Duke, Loyola Marymount and No. 19 UCLA.  While the Knights have gone 0-4 on the trip, it has taken them to iconic venues such as Cameron Indoor Stadium and Pauley Pavilion.
 
Tuesday's appearance at Kentucky will make Bellarmine one of just five schools to play in Cameron Indoor, Pauley Pavilion, and Rupp Arena, and the Knights will become the first team to do it in a single season.
 
The Kentucky-Bellarmine matchup will be the first between the schools despite being just 75 miles apart.  The Wildcats are one of seven in-state teams on the Bellarmine schedule this season (Louisville, Morehead State, Campbellsville-Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Alice Lloyd, Murray State, and Eastern Kentucky).
 
Kentucky (4-2) opened the season with high expectations, earning a No. 4 preseason ranking from the Associated Press before falling in double overtime to Michigan State and dropping an 88-72 decision to No. 2 Gonzaga.  In their four wins—all at Rupp Arena—the Wildcats have been dominant, defeating Howard, Duquesne, South Carolina State, and North Florida by an average of 35 points.
 
The Kentucky roster is full of highly acclaimed players, but none is more decorated than Oscar Tshiebwe. The 6-9, 260-pound forward was last year's unanimous National Player of the Year (Sporting News, Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association, National Association of Basketball Coaches, Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award).  In sweeping the awards, he became the first player in UK's storied history to win all six NCAA-recognized awards.
 
Tshiebwe is off to another great start in 2022-23.  He leads the Wildcats in scoring at 16 points per game, and his 13.8 rebounds per game average would be leading the nation, but he doesn't yet meet the statistical minimums.
 
In addition to Tshiebwe, the Wildcats have four more double-digit scorers.  Antonio Reeves is putting up 14.3 points per game and has drained 20 of his 43 triples (46.5%) with Jacob Toppin (12.8), Cason Wallace (11.8), and CJ Fredrick (10.2) also averaging double figures.  In addition, Shavir Wheeler is dishing out 7.6 assists per game, and Ugonna Onyenso has blocked 13 shots in his six games.
 
Bellarmine (2-5) comes into the contest a little banged up.  Juston Betz, Nick Thelen and Zac Jennings all had to sit out Sunday's game at UCLA after getting injured in Saturday's practice.  Betz had started the first six games and is the Knights' leader in assists and rebounds. 
 
True freshman Peter Suder continues to pace the Knights offensively, averaging 11 points a game while pulling down 3.9 rebounds and handing out 2.3 assists per contest.  
 
In Sunday's game at UCLA, the Bellarmine offense got a shot in the arm from redshirt freshman Ben Johnson and sophomore Curt Hopf. Johnson, a Lexington native, pumped in a career-high 20 points while Hopf notched his career-best scoring game with 16 as he connected on four of eight 3-pointers. Jaylen Fairman, another redshirt freshman, also provided a spark in Sunday's game recording five assists and four rebounds.
 
Seniors Garrett Tipton and Bash Wieland also have been solid contributors all year, averaging 9.7 and 9.3 points per game respectively.
 
Radio coverage of the Knights will be carried on to ESPN 680/105.7 with Doug Ormay and Mark Bugg on the call.  The game also will be streamed on the SEC Network + with Tom Hart on play-by-play and Jon Sundvold on color.  
 
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