LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bellarmine men's basketball team will renew their rivalry with Southern Indiana on Wednesday evening before heading to Marshall on Saturday as part of the I-64 Showcase.
 
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday against USI at Knights Hall and 7 p.m. ET in Huntington, W.Va., against Marshall on Saturday. Both games will be available on ESPN+. USI fell at Marshall on Monday 77-63 in the first game of the event.
 
The Knights and Screaming Eagles have a long history together. Southern Indiana is Bellarmine's second-most-played opponent at 98 games all-time, behind only Indianapolis (105 games). USI leads the series 53-45. This will be the first contest between the former GLVC foes since Bellarmine made the jump to Division I in 2020 and Southern Indiana followed in 2022. Three out the last five games between the two as Division II members came in the postseason, with USI taking BU's final game as a Division II member 76-73 in the first round of the 2020 GLVC Tournament in Edwardsville, Ill. (The NCAA Men's Division II Tournament, in which Bellarmine would have been a 5 seed, was cancelled due to COVID-19 shortly thereafter.)
 
The game in Huntington will be the first meeting between Bellarmine and Marshall.
 
Last Time Out
Bellarmine (0-2) fell to VMI Saturday in their official return to Knights Hall, 76-71. It was a 30-9 run over the final 9:20 in the first half for VMI that helped them seize control of the game, going from down 20-13 to up 43-29 at the break. The Knights shot 47.1 percent from the field, but were outscored 40-28 in the paint and 13-7 on second-chance points. Bellarmine shot 10-of-30 from three and, oddly, has now lost three consecutive games and five-out-of-six in which they have hit 10-plus three pointers dating back to last season.
 
Immediate Impact
Junior forward Jack Karasinski has scored 35 points in his first two games with Bellarmine. He connected on 9-of-13 field goal attempts against VMI, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. Fifth-year senior guard Dylan Branson leads the team with nine assists while adding 15 points and nine rebounds through his first two games in the program.
 
About Southern Indiana
USI (0-3) was picked to finish eighth in the 11-team Ohio Valley Conference in their third season in Division I. Last year, they finished 8-24, 5-13 in the OVC, and lost to Tennessee State in the first round of the OVC Tournament. This year, they opened with an 80-76 overtime loss at DePaul and then dropped their home opener to Bucknell in overtime, 75-69, before their loss at Marshall.
 
Through three games, the Screaming Eagles boast four players averaging double-digit points in junior guard Damoni Harrison (17.3), sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi (15.0), junior guard Jayland Randall (14.0) and junior guard Sam Kodi (11.0). All four are transfers added to the roster this season. Olowoniyi came from Bellarmine's most recent opponent, VMI. As a team, they average 70.0 points per game, eighth in the OVC. Their 6.7 assists per game, however, are last in the conference.
 
Davenport on the Screaming Eagles
"The University of Southern Indiana plays exactly the way their make indicates they should. They start three juniors and a graduate who are very well coached and play as hard as anyone we have played or will play. They are relentless to the rim at both ends and have played excellent competition in their opening three games. Our challenge is to transfer our practice execution to competition. Our players demonstrate tremendous desire every day, their passion and work ethic are terrific. We are striving to play like we practice." –Head coach Scott Davenport
 
About Marshall
Marshall (2-1) will be playing in their fourth consecutive home game to start the season. Before downing USI on Monday, the Thundering Herd fell to Toledo on Saturday, 90-80, and took down Division II Davis & Elkins in their opener, 90-57. Marshall went 13-20 last season, 7-11 in the Sun Belt. As the 10 seed in the conference tournament, they fell to 2-seed James Madison in the second round, 81-64, after upsetting 7-seed Georgia State in the first round, 86-74. The Herd was picked to finish 10^th in the Sun Belt by the coaches this season.
 
The Herd features two players who received preseason all-conference accolades from the Sun Belt in senior forward Nate Martin (First Team) and fifth-year senior forward Obinna Anochili-Killen (Second Team). Martin is in his second year at Marshall after coming over after three seasons at Texas State while Anochili-Killen is a rare five-year player at one school. Martin is averaging 16.7 points while Anochili-Killen is averaging 13.3. Junior guard Dezayne Mingo, a transfer from the University of Guelph in Ontario, is averaging 15.5 points, though he missed the season opener. As team, the Herd is shooting 41.9 percent from the floor, but just 26.8 percent from deep. Through three games, no player has made more than four three-pointers.
 
Davenport on the Thundering Herd
"Marshall poses physical challenges at both ends of the floor. They possess quality depth and they use it to challenge their opponents. That's what all great teams do, play to their strengths. Averaging 14 offensive rebounds a game a 10 steals shows how they impose their will on you. I am very impressed with their unselfishness on the offensive end of the floor. That is a sign of a great team." –Scott Davenport
 
About the Venue
Marshall opened the Cam Henderson Center in 1981. Located in the heart of campus, the arena seats just over 9,000 spectators in its current configuration. Marshall won their first five games in the building in the 1981-82 seasons, including a win over Army in the first game followed by a win over rival West Virginia and, two games later, Oklahoma State. Prior to renovations in 1998 that lowered the capacity to its current number, the Herd attracted over 10,000 fans eight times.
 
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