LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine Knights get to play a pair of home ASUN Conference games this week, but even playing at home, the challenge will be significant as their opponents are the league-leading Stetson Hatters and the 13-4 FGCU Eagles.
 
Bellarmine gets the Hatters at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in Freedom Hall while Florida Gulf Coast visits Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
In Thursday's game, fans will get to see both reigning ASUN weekly honorees as Bellarmine's Garrett Tipton was named Player of the Week and Stetson's Luke Brown earned Newcomer of the Week laurels. Tipton averaged 22 points a game in three ASUN contests last week, including a career-high performance of 27 against Queens. Brown, meanwhile, helped the Hatters to three conference wins and pumped in 26 points against North Alabama in an overtime victory.
 
Stetson (9-6, 4-0 ASUN) got its season off to a solid start by knocking off Florida State on the road then followed that up with a win at South Florida.  In all, the Hatters went 5-6 in nonconference play, but have been perfect thus far in ASUN competition.
 
Two of the Stetson's league victories have been in overtime, pulling out a 95-85 win at North Alabama in its last outing. The Hatters also knocked off Lipscomb in extra time, claiming an 86-80 road victory in their conference opener on Dec. 30.
 
Other Stetson ASUN victims this year were North Florida and Jacksonville, both games coming on the Hatters' home court at the J. Ollie Edmunds Center.
 
Three Indiana natives are leading the Stetson offense this year with Jalen Blackmon, Luke Brown and Josh Smith all averaging in double digits.  Blackmon, the son of former Kentucky Wildcat James Blackmon, heads the trio with an 11.9 points per game average, followed by Brown at 11.3 and Smith at 10.7. Smith, a 6-8 forward, leads the Hatters in rebounding at 6.7 per game. 
 
Other top-producing Hatters include Stephan Swenson, who leads the ASUN in assists with an average of just under five a game, and Wheza Panzo, who is one of the most accurate 3-point shooters in the conference, ranking second with a 51.3 percent success rate.
 
From entertaining the team with the best conference mark on Thursday, the Knights will switch to hosting the ASUN team with the best overall record on Saturday when the 13-4 FGCU Eagles come to town.
 
The only "L"s on the Eagles' schedule this season have come against Tennessee, San Diego, Florida Atlantic and a two-point loss to Austin Peay in conference play.  Like Stetson—and Bellarmine, for that matter—FGCU opened its season with a win over a "Power 5" opponent, knocking off USC 74-61 in Los Angeles. That win marked an auspicious beginning to the FGCU coaching tenure of Pat Chambers, who was introduced as the Eagles' head coach last March, shortly after Bellarmine had eliminated FGCU from the 2022 ASUN Tournament.
 
In addition to the Chambers being new to the FGCU program, two of the top three leading scorers are newcomers as well.  Isaiah Thompson, a 6-1 senior guard, tops the FGCU scoring list with a 13.6 average, and the Purdue transfer has made 42 of 105 attempts from 3-point range.  Chase Johnston also is new to FGCU, although he's not unfamiliar to ASUN fans since his previous school was Stetson. Johnston, the 2021 ASUN Freshman of the Year and 2022 Second Team All-ASUN selection, is averaging 11.9 points per game for his new squad.
 
Coach Chambers is also getting quality contributions from several returning players, including 6-7 forward Zach Anderson, who's leading the Eagles in rebounding with a 7.7 average while putting up 12.5 points per game. Another consistent performer for FGCU is Caleb Catto, who is now in his fifth season with the Eagles program.  The 6-5 guard leads the team in assists at 3.5 per game while playing nearly 31 minutes per contest.
 
Tipton continues to pace the Bellarmine offense.  With his strong play last week, the 6-4 guard raised his season scoring average to 13.3 while making 52.8 percent of his shots.  That figure ranks as second best in the league among players who meet the NCAA-minimum of five made field goals per game.  The Knights' second-leading scorer is redshirt freshman Ben Johnson, who is averaging 10.1 points per game and leads BU with 34 made 3-pointers.
 
Directing the offense is graduate student Juston Betz, who is Bellarmine's leader in rebounding (4.7 rpg) and assists (3.5 apg). The 2022-23 ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Betz also is closing in on joining Bellarmine's top 10 in all-time steals, needing just two more swipes to tie former Knight Eric Wahl for 10th with 105.
 
Joining Tipton and Betz in BU's starting five are guards Peter Suder and Alec Pfriem and forward Curt Hopf.  Suder is the BU leader in steals with 21 and ranks second on the team in assists (48) and rebounds (3.9 rpg). Pfriem also is a multi-faceted player ranking third on the team in assists (37) and steals (16).  Hopf, despite being a "big man," is the Knights' second-leading 3-point shooter with 30 on the season, hitting better than 45 percent from beyond the arc.   
 
As a team, Bellarmine has seen its shooting numbers surge in recent games, making 50 percent or better in its last three contests. The Knights now rank third in the league in field goal percentage at 47 percent and are second in 3-point shooting at 39.6 percent.   
 
Following Saturday's game, the Knights' schedule will get back to a little more consistency.  Bellarmine will host two games next week, entertaining Stetson on Thursday and Florida Gulf Coast University on Saturday.
 
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