Bellarmine stuns Louisville in season opener 67-66

The Bellarmine Knights came out scorching hot in the first half on Wednesday night against the Louisville Cardinals, jumping out to a commanding 30-18 advantage in the KFC Yum Center. While the Cardinals battled back valiantly and played much better basketball in the second half, especially late, they never were able to completely recover from the massive hole they dug themselves in this one. Bellarmine prevailed 67-66 and secured their first program win over a Power Five school since making the leap to Division I last season.

The Knights were torching the nets from beyond-the-arc early, connecting on five of their first eight threes (62.5%). They held a 12-point lead thanks to their hot shooting and turning the Cardinals over early (the Knights scored eight points off UofL turnovers early in the first half). Louisville trailed 30-18 with 7:12 remaining in the first half. Bellarmine also moved the basketball extremely well on offense and played excellent defense in the opening half. Louisville trailed the Knights 41-30 at halftime.

The Louisville defense tightened up dramatically in the second half and forced Bellarmine to take more difficult shots. The Cardinals were also taking higher quality shots in the second half, pushing the ball into the painted area and getting some easier buckets around the rim. They also did a great job of forcing some critical Bellarmine turnovers late in the contest. Give Louisville credit for making it a highly entertaining game in the final few minutes and battling back to make Bellarmine earn the upset.

Bellarmine was carried by their guard, Garrett Tipton, who pumped in 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the field.

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While at first glance it might seem like a big upset, Bellarmine is a former Division II basketball powerhouse. They just made the jump to Division I-A basketball last year. They won the Atlantic Sun conference tournament last season 77-72 over Jacksonville, but they were not eligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament yet. So, the Knights are no pushover, maybe just not that well known on the national stage just yet. They’ve got a stacked schedule this year and they face the likes of Kentucky, UCLA, and Duke later in the 2022-2023 college basketball season.

Bellarmine is currently in the second year of a four-year transition to Division I-A eligibility. So once that four-year transition is complete, they’ll be eligible for the NCAA Tournament and the NIT. The Knights have had 13-20 win seasons in the past 14 years–so success is nothing new to their program and their head coach Scott Davenport. They’re an extremely well coached basketball team.

Factoids about the Louisville-Bellarmine game

The 41-30 halftime deficit for Louisville was their largest halftime deficit in a season opener since trailing 50-39 against Northwestern State on Nov. 18, 2006. Louisville’s J.J. Traynor fouled out with 6:18 remaining in the second half. Their best player, Jae’Lyn Withers, also fouled out with 39.6 seconds left in the second half. He pumped in 17 points in the losing effort.

Even without those two on the floor, the Cardinals still pushed the game to the wire and made Bellarmine earn every bit of the win. Bellarmine connected on 18 of their 22 free throws–81.8 percent for the game. Louisville hit 11 of 14 free throws, connecting on 78.6 percent for the contest. Tonight was the first regular season game as the new head coach of Louisville basketball for Kenny Payne.