LOUISVILLE, Ky.—It's "ASUN Conference travel partner week" for the Bellarmine men's basketball team as the Knights will square off twice against Eastern Kentucky University, hosting the Colonels at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in Freedom Hall ahead of a Saturday trip to Richmond to play at 7 p.m. in Baptist Health Arena.
 
Eastern Kentucky (13-8, 6-2 ASUN) welcomes back a solid group of returners while adding in several newcomers who have made an immediate impact. The Colonels are led by returners Devontae Blanton and Michael Moreno.  Blanton, a 6-6 junior from the same high school (St. Edward) as Bellarmine's Michael Bova, ranks fifth in the ASUN in scoring with a 15.6 average.  He also ranks among the league's top 10 rebounders by pulling in 6.5 caroms per game. Moreno, a 6-7 forward from Georgetown, Kentucky, is EKU's top 3-point shooter, ranking second in the ASUN with 63 on the season.  He averages 12.4 points a game and was named ASUN Player of the Week on Jan. 16.
 
Complementing the experience of Blanton and Moreno are freshman Leland Walker and Western Kentucky transfer Isaiah Cozart, both of whom were named ASUN Newcomer of the Week this season. Cozart is a 6-7 forward and ranks fourth in the ASUN in rebounding with a 7.1 average. Walker, meanwhile, has played in all 21 of EKU's games this season and is the third-leading scorer at 9.6 points per game.
 
As a team, Eastern Kentucky Head Coach A.W. Hamilton has set goals for his squad to lead the country in scoring, 3-pointers made, assists, steals, and forced turnovers. While not all of those boxes are checked, his Colonels do own good numbers in those areas. EKU leads the league in steals and blocked shots, is second in the ASUN in scoring and assists at 79.7 points and 16 assists per game, and forces 15.1 turnovers per contest for a turnover margin of plus-three.
 
Bellarmine (9-12, 4-4 ASUN) enters this week's contests, again, dealing with injuries. While BU was victorious on the road at Austin Peay last Thursday, the Knights lost freshman Peter Suder to an ankle injury.  The 6-5 freshman, who had started the first 20 games of the year, had to sit out the Lipscomb game on Saturday.  The Knights had already lost three players to season-ending injuries, and starter Bash Wieland has yet to see action since breaking his wrist in the University of Kentucky game on Nov. 29.
 
Through the adversity, Bellarmine has continued to get solid play from veteran players Juston Betz, Garrett Tipton, Alec Pfriem, and Curt Hopf while redshirt freshmen Ben Johnson and Landin Hacker have flourished in taking on bigger roles.
 
Tipton leads the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game while Betz--the ASUN's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year--is the team leader in rebounding and assists at 5.0 and 3.3 per game, respectively. He also leads the team and ranks eighth in the ASUN in steals with 28.
 
Johnson, who started in Suder's spot on Saturday, ranks second on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game and is the team leader with 38 made trifectas.  Hacker is among the league leaders in 3-point shooting percentage, having canned 15 of 30 from downtown for an even 50 percent to rank second in the ASUN.
 
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