Former Louisville assistant coach Scott Davenport brings his preseason #1 Bellarmine Knights basketball team into Freedom Hall to take on the Cards in exhibition play.  This is no doubt one of the toughest exhibition games the Cards will have played in years. 

Bellarmine comes in ranked preseason #1 in NCAA Division II.  They return four of their five starters, including 9 of their 10 top scorers, from last year’s team which went to the Sweet 16. They also return a preseason All-American Honorable Mention in guard Braydon Hobbs.  Bellarmine finished the season last year with the most wins in school history with 26 and lost in the Sweet 16 to the eventual champion Findlay in overtime.  The Knights look to be the cream of the crop in Division II this year and a victory against the Cards is something that will spark their season from the start. 

Bellarmine has several local ties to Louisville and Southern Indiana with eight players from the area. These players are: Braydon Hobbs (New Albany, IN), Forrest Smallwood (Louisville Male HS), Chris Dowe (Louisville Eastern HS), Doug Davenport (Louisville Ballard HS), Aaron Robinson (Louisville St. Xavier HS), Kevin Allen (North Oldham Co. HS), Justin Benedetti (Providence HS New Albany, IN) Andrew Parks (Corbin, KY).

Louisville leads the all-time series against Bellarmine 12-0. The last meeting came December 10, 2006 when the Cards defeated the Knights 76-64 in Freedom Hall.

Probable Starters

Bellarmine

F #24 Nick Holmes  6′7   225lb   Jr   9.8ppg   5.4rpg
F #25 Andrew Patterson 6′6 210lb Sr 5.9ppg 2.3rpg
C #33 Olapado Fagbenle 6′9 235lb Sr 4.6ppg 4.0rpg
G #3 Braydon Hobbs 6′5 190lb So 12.8ppg 4.1rpg
G #15 Justin Benedetti 6′7 215lb Jr 12.4ppg 3.6rpg

Louisville

F #12 Reginald Delk 6′5 200lb Sr 1.6ppg 0.6rpg
F #21 Jared Swopshire 6′8 205lb So 1.4ppg 1.1rpg
C #15 Samardo Samuels 6′9 260lb So 11.8ppg 4.9rpg
G #34 Jerry Smith 6′2 190lb Sr 7.8ppg 2.1rpg
G #10 Edgar Sosa 6′2 175lb Sr 7.3ppg 1.4rpg

What To Expect

If you thought the game against Georgetown was a tough test for the Cards, this will be even worse. The Cardinals have an advantage on the inside with Samardo Samuels. He is a bigger more physical center than Fagbenle of Bellarmine. Look for the Cards to go inside early and often to Samardo and Terrance Jennings. The Bellarmine guards are going to give Louisville the most trouble. Hobbs and Benedetti are outstanding scorers that can shoot the ball very well. If Louisville can contain those two players, then they should win this game. Both teams have outstanding depth with a lot of experience on the bench. It’s going to be a battle of the Cards big men vs the Knights guards. It should be a very exciting contest for an exhibition game.

Game time is set for 7:07 p.m. and can be seen on WHAS 11 TV which is Insight Channel 4. Drew Deener and Bob Valvano will be calling the actioin. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard on 790WKRD AM with the voices of Paul Rogers and Doug Ormay lighting up the airwaves.