Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Bellarmine Knights

The Cardinals and Knights do battle in a showdown of crosstown foes.

Nov 4, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Terrence Edwards Jr. (5) dribbles during the second half against the Morehead State Eagles at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Morehead State 93-45. / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Bellarmine Knights (0-4, 0-0 ASUN) at Louisville Cardinals (1-1, 0-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Tuesday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network Extra
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -21.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 13-1
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 73-68 on Nov. 29, 2023 (KFC Yum! Center)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 190, Sr.)
• G J'Vonne Hadley (6-6, 215, 5th)
• G/F Terrence Edwards Jr. (6-6, 205, 5th)
• F Aboubacar Traore (6-5, 205, Sr.)
• C James Scott (6-11, 220, So.)

Bellarmine

• G Kenyon Goodin (6-3, 190, R-Fr.)
• G Ben Johnson (6-3, 195, R-Jr.)
• G Billy Smith (6-7, 205, Jr.)
• F Jack Karasinski (6-7, 215, Jr.)
• F Curt Hopf (6-8, 225, R-Jr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Knights, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Bellarmine

Additional Coverage

• Watch: Louisville HC Pat Kelsey Previews Bellarmine

Game Notes

Louisville

• As of Nov. 15, Louisville is third in the country in three point attempts per game (37.5) and fifth in the country in turnover margin (10.5).
• The 48-point victory over Morehead State was Louisville’s largest margin of victory since a 104-54 win vs. Southern on Nov. 13, 2018, and largest in a season opener since a 92-38 win vs. South Alabama on Nov. 18, 2001.
• Louisville was selected ninth in the ACC Preseason Media Poll.
• The Cardinals received four votes in the preseason AP Poll released on October 14. That is the first time Louisville has received votes in a national poll since Nov. 29, 2021.
• Louisville has the chance to potentially play eight teams ranked in the AP Preseason Top 25 all before January 2.
• Four of the Cardinals entered the season with more than 1,000 career points scored: Terrence Edwards Jr. (1,414), Reyne Smith (1,212), Aboubacar Traore (1,033) and Chucky Hepburn (1,013).
• Louisville has 11 players who were on teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The roster in total has made 14 NCAA Division I Tournament appearances at their previous schools, playing in 20 NCAA Tournament games across their careers.
• Head coach Pat Kelsey has won 11 total conference championships across his 261-122 career record, including four NCAA Tournament bids. Kelsey has recorded winning seasons in 11 of his 12 complete seasons as a head coach.
• Pat Kelsey was hired on March 28, 2024 as the 24th head coach in Louisville’s 110-year history, and the 10th in the past 79 years.
• Last game: Louisville was dealt their first loss of the 2024-25 season, falling 77-55 to No. 12 Tennessee back on Nov. 9.
• KEY FIRST HALF RUN: Tennessee scored the first 10 points of the game and led by as much as 22 in the first half. At that point, Louisville went on an 10-0 run that elapsed 2:16 to trim the deficit to 12, but the Volunteers scored the last bucket of the half.
• KEY SECOND HALF RUN: The Cards went on a 10-1 run early in the second half, capped by a Reyne Smith 3-pointer, that cut the Tennessee lead to single digits. The Volunteers quickly replied with a 22-5 run to put the game away.
• Louisville shot 16 of 60 (26.7%) from the field, 10 of 39 (25.6%) from deep and a perfect 13 for 13 (100%) from the free-throw line.
• Louisville’s 39 3-point attempts in a single game rank third all-time in school history, the most in game action since 2010 vs. Syracuse.
• The Cardinals won the turnover battle, forcing 20 and giving up 15.
• UofL shot a perfect 13 of 13 from the charity stripe, marking its first perfect game from the free throw line since March 24, 2023 against NC State.
• Louisville’s attendance of 16,976 was the largest for a KFC Yum! Center crowd in November in the last seven years.

Bellarmine

• Junior guard Myles Watkins scored the first 6pts of his BU career on
  3-of-4 shooting against USI. His first bucket came on a baseline drive
  reverse layup in the first half. He also added his first 2ast as a Knight.
• Saturday's game will be the first between Bellarmine and Marshall. The
  Knights last played in the state of West Virginia on 11/26/23 when they
  gave WVU everything they could handle in a 62-58 loss in Morgantown.
  WVU also defeated BU in Morgantown 74-55 on 11/30/21. BU went 18-1
  against schools from WV as a DII member. The Knights' last trip to WV as
  a DII member was an 81-73 win at Fairmont State on 12/19/13.
• Junior forward transfer Jack Karasinski dropped 18 points against USI
  and is averaging 17.7ppg through his first 3 games with Bellarmine. He
  scored a career-high 24 last Saturday against VMI, connecting on 9-of-13
  FGA, including 3-of-6 from three. He is 2nd on the team averaging 25.0
  minutes. Fifth-year senior guard transfer Dylan Branson leads the team
  with 12a while adding 16pts and 16reb (tied for team lead).
• Guard Ben Johnson sank his first two threes of the season against USI.
  He leads BU averaging 33.3 minutes and is 3rd averaging 9.7ppg. He
  earned Preseason All-ASUN accolades in a poll of the league’s coaches.
  The Lexington Catholic (Ky.) product and Kentucky’s 2021 Mr. Basketball
  set career highs last season averaging 13.9pts and connecting on 38.1% of his 3-point attempts, good for 4th in the ASUN. Johnson led BU with
  five 20-point efforts and was the only Knight to eclipse 30pts, doing so
  twice on 12/30 at High Point (32pts) and 3/1 at Austin Peay (34pts).
• At VCU, forward Curt Hopf scored 3pts, grabbed 5reb and handed out
  3ast in his first action since 2/28/23 at Liberty. The RS-junior returns after
  missing all of the 2023-24 season with an injury. As a sophomore in
  2022-23, the now ASUN Honors Graduate ranked 2nd on BU in FG%
  (.457), 3rd in 3-pointers made (36) and T-4th in rebounding (3.3).
• The Knights graduated or lost to the transfer portal five of their top
  six scorers from the 2023-24 season. Johnson (13.9ppg) is BU’s lone
  returning starter from last season. The other returners who saw action
  last year (Billy Smith, Dezmond McKinney, Landin Hacker, Zach Reed)
  combined for 378pts (12.2ppg). Among the graduates from last year’s
  team were Garrett Tipton, Alec Pfriem and Bash Wieland--the last
  three remaining players from Bellarmine’s Division II era.
• BU landed three veterans in the transfer portal in fifth-year senior guard
  Dylan Branson (SEMO), junior forward Jack Karasinski (William & Mary)
  and junior guard Myles Watkins (Pasadena City College).
• Bellarmine completed its 4-year reclassification period and is now
  eligible for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. The
  Knights went 57-62 (34-29 ASUN) during their 4-season introduction to
  D-I and, most notably, earned an ASUN Championship title in 2021-22.
• Bellarmine returns to their on-campus home of Knights Hall this
  season after four seasons at Freedom Hall. In 2019-20, then-Division II
  Bellarmine went 11-4 in the facility en route to earning a 5-seed in the
  NCAA Division II Tournament, which was canceled due to the COVID-19
  pandemic. BU went 31-21 (.596) at Freedom Hall from 2020-2024.

(Photo of Terrence Edwards Jr.: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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