LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University men's basketball team was an inferno.

And Ben Johnson was the equivalent of the Human Torch.

Behind a scorching performance from beyond the arc, Johnson and the Knights set Freedom Hall ablaze Sunday in their long-awaited return to the arena as the program record book went up in smoke after a 110-38 win over Alice Lloyd.

Bellarmine (3-6) had played an exhibition game in Freedom Hall this season, but its official home debut actually came in Knights Hall, meaning the performance was the true follow-up to the team's historic 77-72 triumph over Jacksonville in last year's ASUN Tournament finals.

More history was made in the encore to the landmark outing, which fittingly was celebrated before the contest in the championship ring ceremony.

Here's a recap of the revisions and near-rewrites.

• Bellarmine's 72-point margin of victory is an overall program record, besting the previous mark of 61 amassed on two occasions (2000-01 and 2004-05).
• Bellarmine's 23 made 3-pointers are an overall program record, topping the 18 the Knights sank against Illinois Springfield in 2016-17.
• Bellarmine's 110 points are a Division I-era program record and fell 20 shy of the overall program record (130 versus Ashland in 1993-94).
• Bellarmine's 34 assists are a D1-era program record and fell only three shy of the overall program record (2015-16 against Saint Joseph's College).
• Bellarmine's 39 field goals made are a DI-era program record (58 against Centre in 1967-68 is the all-time record).
• Johnson's nine 3-pointers made tied an overall program record previously set by Matt Otte against Lewis in 2007 and set a new D1-era mark.

It was a much-welcomed explosion coming off perhaps the nation's most arduous stretch of five-straight games at Clemson, Duke, Loyola Marymount, UCLA and Kentucky.

"Their resiliency is incredible. Where I'll start is the 34 assists on 39 baskets," Knights Coach Scott Davenport said. "They need to enjoy this. A lot of them had family here."

A freshman guard, Johnson finished 9-for-14 from 3-point land and 11-for-16 overall in piling up a career-high 31 points. His seven rebounds and five assists were also career bests, and he tied a career high with three steals.

Johnson was one of six Knights who scored in double figures. Senior forward Sam DeVault was next with 15 points followed by freshman guard Landin Hacker with 12 and sophomore forward Curt Hopf, senior guard Garrett Tipton and freshman guard Jaylen Fairman with 10 apiece.

Led by Johnson's nine trifectas, seven different Knights accounted for the record-breaking 3-point performance. Hacker drilled four of his five 3-point tries, DeVault canned a trio of treys and Fairman, Tipton and Hopf nailed two from deep. Freshman guard Peter Suder added another from long range.

Bellarmine's 3-point shooting percentage (57.5) exceeded its overall field-goal percentage (54.2).

Senior guard Alec Pfriem dished out a career-high seven assists, Fairman distributed a career-best six helpers and Johnson and Hacker set new highwater marks with five apiece. Tipton hauled in a career-high nine rebounds, as the Knights had a 40-25 advantage on the boards.

Bellarmine will host Wabash at 6:30 p.m. (ET) Tuesday.

"Wabash shoots the ball," Davenport said. "They are a perennial Division III Final Four team. They are a quality basketball team."

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POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE...Ben Johnson and Landin Hacker:
 


 COACH DAVENPORT POSTGAME RADIO INTERVIEW: