LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bellarmine University men's basketball team will look for their first ASUN win this week in a home matchup with Lipscomb on Thursday before traveling to in-state rival Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.
 
Tipoff against Lipscomb at Knights Hall is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET Thursday while Saturday's game at Alumni Coliseum in Richmond is set for 7 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+ and over the air on ESPN 680/105.7.
 
About Lipscomb
Lipscomb (NET No. 85) will enter Knights Hall at 3-1 in the ASUN and 11-6 overall. The Bisons started ASUN play with a sweep of their Duval road trip with a 70-65 win over Jacksonville and a 96-64 victory against North Florida. Last week, they split their home games at Allen Arena with a 75-73 loss to Queens, the lone undefeated team in ASUN conference play, and an 86-67 win over ASUN newcomer West Georgia. Despite the loss to Queens, Lipscomb maintains the highest NET ranking in the ASUN and was picked before the season as the conference favorite in the polls of both the media and coaches. Their best win in the nonconference was a 78-69 win over Wofford (NET No. 134) in their home opener.
 
Gone from last year's team that finished tied for second in the ASUN is leading scorer and Princeton, Ky., native Derrin Boyd (17.6 PPG), who transferred to the College of Charleston. Still, the Bisons boast a pair of Preseason First Team All-ASUN selections in fifth-year guard Will Pruitt, also a Second Team All-ASUN selection last season, and fourth-year forward Jacob Ognacevic, both career 1,000-point scorers. Ognasevic, who was named First Team All-ASUN in 2022-23 but missed all of last season due to injury, is leading the ASUN averaging 18.4 points and is fourth averaging 7.2 rebounds, both on pace for career highs. He is averaging 15.3 points through four ASUN games. Pruitt, who dropped 27 in the last meeting with Bellarmine in February, is third on the team averaging 11.1 points and second averaging 5.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He also leads the ASUN with his 2.89 assist/turnover ratio. The main three-point threat for Lipscomb is senior guard Gyasi Powell, who spent the first three seasons of his career at his hometown Jacksonville. He is averaging 11.4 points, second on the team, and shooting 42.2 percent from deep, making 2.2 threes per game. On defense, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Dylan Faulkner leads the ASUN averaging 1.7 blocks per game.
 
Lipscomb as a team sits atop the ASUN in several statistical categories, including assist/turnover ratio (1.5), assists per game (16.5), field goal percentage (46.7 percent), field goal percentage defense (41.5 percent), fewest fouls per game (13.1), defensive rebounds per game (27.7), scoring defense (66.9), scoring margin (+11.9) and three-point percentage defense (31.2 percent).
 
Bellarmine is 7-6 all-time against Lipscomb, but 2-5 since reclassifying to Division I and joining the ASUN. Lipscomb has won the last three meetings and BU last defeated them in the 2021-22 season, when they swept a pair of matchups. Ben Johnson averaged 16.5 points last year in a pair of games against the Bisons, both losses (81-70 at Freedom Hall, 90-74 at Allen Arena).
 
Davenport on the Bisons
"Lipscomb is an elite level program not only in the ASUN, but in all of college basketball! They have maintained a veteran roster of high-level players starting four experienced very talented seniors who have winning experience. Coach Acuff is as good as there is in college basketball and it shows on and off the court.
 
"The challenge is their balance with four starters averaging between 9 and 11 points and Jacob Ognacevic coming off an injury averaging 18 points per game. Defensively, Lipscomb is holding their opponents to 41 percent shooting. This is a sign of a balanced, very well coached veteran team." –Head coach Scott Davenport
 
About Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky (NET No. 217) was picked to finish second in the ASUN by the media and fourth by the coaches in the preseason polls. The Colonels have split their first four ASUN games and sit at 8-9 overall a season after winning the ASUN regular season at 12-4. EKU owns an 89-83 double overtime win at Central Arkansas and a 79-74 win over North Florida. Their losses came at North Alabama (88-67) and at home to Jacksonville (82-75). Their best win in the nonconference was an 82-78 road win over East Tennessee (NET No. 145) in the ASUN/SoCon event. But their best performance of the season, perhaps, was in a 78-76 loss at Louisville (NET No. 33) where they shot 44.8 percent, hit 10 threes and battled back from 15 points down to hold a lead in the final seconds. Louisville, however, took the lead with one second left on a driving layup by Noah Waterman to eke out the win for the Cardinals.
 
From last year, the Colonels lost 2024 ASUN Player of the Year and Division I blocks leader Isaiah Cozart to graduation and First Team All-ASUN guard Leland Walker, who transferred to FAU. They do, however, return Third Team All-ASUN wing Devontae Blanton, a unanimous selection to the Preseason First Team All-ASUN this season, and have also added sophomore guard George Kimble III from Division II Eckerd College. Blanton, the ASUN's active career points leader (1,792) is sixth in the ASUN averaging 16.6 points and ninth averaging 6.4 rebounds. He went for 22 points against Louisville on 10-for-23 shooting. In his first taste of Division I, Kimble is third in the ASUN averaging 17.9 points, first averaging 3.0 steals and tied for eighth averaging 3.7 assists. The reigning ASUN Newcomer of the Week, however, has struggled some with ball control, averaging 2.9 turnovers per game. He scored a game-high and then career-high 24 points against Louisville. The Tampa native has since surpassed 30 points twice in four ASUN games.
 
As a team, EKU leads the ASUN in rebounds per game (38.6) and is ninth nationally averaging 15.0 offensive rebounds per game. On the defensive end, they lead the conference averaging both 9.4 steals per game and 14.7 turnovers forced per game. Despite the loss of Cozart, the Colonels still average 3.8 blocks per game, second in the ASUN. Six-foot-7 forward Yvens Paul's 23 blocks and 6-foot-8 forward Montavious Myrick's 17 are third and fourth in the ASUN, respectively.
 
Bellarmine is 2-7 all-time against the Colonels. EKU has won four out of six, including the last three, since Bellarmine reclassified to Division I. Despite their proximity, the programs met just three times, all EKU wins, in 70 seasons while Bellarmine was in Division II with the last coming in in December of 1990. Johnson averaged 14.5 points and made eight threes in two games last season against the Colonels.
 
EKU hosts Austin Peay on Thursday before welcoming in the Knights.
 
Davenport on the Colonels
"EKU will compete for 40 minutes as hard as anyone, not just in the ASUN, but any team in the country. They have three players that return from last year, but their level of play is testimony to Coach Hamilton and his entire staff and program. Devontae Blanton and George Kimble III are a tremendous one-two punch that pose a challenge every night. They aren't just athletes, they are quality basketball players affecting the game in a multitude of ways."
 
Last Time Out
Bellarmine fell to North Florida on Saturday night, 98-83. BU shot 54.1 percent from the field, but could not keep pace with the Ospreys three-point shooting. UNF went 20-for-37 (54.1 percent) from deep, setting highs for Bellarmine opponents in both made threes and three-point percentage. Jack Karasinski scored a career-high 27 points on 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) shooting and Billy Smith added 20. It was the third 20-point effort for both Karasinski and Smith and the first time the Knights have had two 20-point scorers this season.
 
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