LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bellarmine University men's basketball team on Saturday will visit Muncie, Indiana, for its first-ever matchup with Ball State at 2 p.m. (ET). ESPN+ will have the coverage.
Ball State (5-2) will be the second and final MAC opponent for the Knights this season. BU downed Bowling Green on the road, 85-67, for its first win of the season on Dec. 17. The Knights are 3-1 against MAC opponents since making the jump to Division I, going 1-1 against Miami (OH) and 1-0 against Central Michigan in addition to this year's win over BGSU.
The Cardinals are led by junior forward Basheer Jihad, who is averaging a team-best 17.0 ppg and 6.1 rpg. Jihad poured in 25 points in Ball State's 90-64 loss to Little Rock on Tuesday. Jihad averaged just 5.0 ppg during his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
Junior guard and Loyola Marymount transfer Jalin Anderson is the Cardinals' leading distributor at 3.6 apg. He is second on the team averaging 14.3 ppg.
Another junior forward, Mickey Pearson Jr., is a product of nearby John Hardin High School. There he was a two-time area player of the year and a finalist for Kentucky's Mr. Basketball in 2018.
Bellarmine (2-6) fell to Louisville 73-68 its last time out on Wednesday at the KFC Yum! Center. It was the second of back-to-back games against Power-5 foes and fourth in the team's first eight games. The Knights have a trip to Utah later this month to face their final two Power-5 opponents, Utah (Dec. 20) and BYU (Dec. 22). BU has had the 38th toughest schedule among the 362 Division-I programs thus far, according to KenPom.com.
Bellarmine jumped out to a five-point halftime lead, but a 16-1 run by Louisville helped the Cardinals take control of the game in the second half en route to the win. The Knights were without leading scorer
Ben Johnson (13.0 ppg).
Garrett Tipton and
Bash Wieland each scored 18 points against UofL. It was a new career high for Wieland, who got the start in place of Johnson. Wieland's previous career high was 17 points, set earlier this season at Kansas State. Tipton set a new career high with four made 3-point attempts.
Alec Pfriem is doing it all for the Knights, leading the team with a 54.5 FG% (min. 25 attempts), 31.5 minutes per game, 5.0 rpg and 3.1 apg. He is second on the team averaging 1.4 steals.
Bellarmine boasts seven players from the state of Indiana, one more than Ball State:
Landin Hacker (Center Grove HS),
Langdon Hatton (North Harrison HS),
Curt Hopf (Barr-Reeve HS),
AJ Lux (Crown Point HS),
Zach Reed (Brebeuf Jesuit Prep),
Billy Smith (Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) and
Peter Suder (Carmel HS).
Looking to the week ahead, it will be a quick turnaround for BU as the Knights have a pair of 11 a.m. (ET) tipoffs next week at Freedom Hall as part of the team's Inspiration Days. The first game will be Monday morning against Boyce of the National Christian College Athletic Association DII Mideast region. The second will be Thursday morning against Berea of the NCAA DIII Collegiate Conference of the South. Students from local schools will be in attendance at both games to support the Knights.
