LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When the Bellarmine men's basketball schedule is released each year, one game that always stands out is the annual tilt with Louisville. That day is upon the Knights as they head to the KFC Yum! Center to face the Cardinals Tuesday night.
 
At this year's installment of the in-town matchup, Bellarmine (0-4) will be looking for their first win of the season while Louisville (1-1) will be coming off a nine-day layoff following a 77-55 home loss to Tennessee.
 
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN Plus and ACC Network Extra.
 
Series History
Louisville has won 13 out of 14 regular-season matchups with Bellarmine. The Knights earned their first win over the Cardinals in the 2022-23 season opener, the first game of the two-season Kenny Payne era at Louisville. Ben Johnson scored eight points off the bench in just nine minutes, hitting both of his three-point attempts and both of his free throw attempts to help Bellarmine to a 67-66 victory. Curt Hopf is the only other player on the current roster who saw action in that game, starting and logging three points in 17 minutes. Landin Hacker, the only other remaining player on the roster and a redshirt freshman at the time, did not see action in that game.
 
Last season, Bellarmine led by as many as seven points early in the second half, but the Cardinals hit 16-of-25 field goals and all 16 free throw attempts in the second half to earn a 73-68 win. Bash Wieland and Garrett Tipton each scored 18 points while Alec Pfriem added 14. The Knights were without Johnson, who was missing the first of four straight games, as well as Hopf, who missed all of last season.
 
About Louisville
Louisville returned just one player from last season's team as the school brought in new head coach Pat Kelsey from the College of Charleston. Through two games, the minutes have been spread around as the new regime feels out their rotations. Guard J'Vonne Hadley, is leading the team averaging 25.5 minutes. Four other players are averaging at least 20 minutes: guard Reyne Smith, forward Kasean Pryor, guard Chucky Hepburn and guard/forward Terrence Edwards, Jr. Smith (15.0 points) and Pryor (12.0 points) are the only two players averaging double digits in scoring and both have come off the bench in the first two games.
 
After starting the Kelsey era with a 93-45 win over Morehead State, the Cardinals were stifled on the offensive end by Tennessee as they shot just 26.7 percent from the field, 25.6 percent from three. Despite committing 20 turnovers, the Vols never trailed as they shot 56.6 percent and outrebounded the Cards 40-26. Smith hit 4-of-12 threes to lead U of L with 18 points. Noah Waterman was the only other Cardinal to cash in at least three field goals, finishing with 10 points.
 
Davenport on the Cardinals
"Our staff has embraced the challenge of scouting new rosters utilizing, from a personnel standpoint, their performance at previous institutions. Coach Kelsey is a tremendous teacher, so we are emphasizing all the material we have from their Bahamas trip to Tennessee. Louisville has a phenomenal amount of experience on their veteran squad. Top to bottom, their is not just experience, but veteran experience from quality programs. These programs, I am sure, wish they had them back. Hepburn, Hadley and Edwards are not just talented, they are proven winners. Possibly starting two graduates and two seniors is a credit Coach's ability to assemble a quality roster. We are concerned about them 10 deep!" –Head coach Scott Davenport
 
Davenport is a 1978 graduate of the University of Louisville. He served nine years as an assistant at U of L under Hall of Fame coaches Denny Crum and Rick Pitino from 1996-2005.
 
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