Louisville hosts Bellarmine in exhibition

Basketball is back.

Louisville Cardinals vs. Bellarmine Knights

Game Time: 7:01 p.m.

Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, KY

Television: ACC Network Extra/Watch ESPN

Announcers: Kent Taylor (play-by-play) and Jody Demling (analyst)

Officials: Bert Smith, James Breeding, Greg Evans

Series History (Regular Season): Louisville leads 13-0

Series History (Exhibitions): Louisville leads 9-0

Last Meeting: Louisville won 71-60 on Oct. 28, 2018 at the Yum Center

Probable Starting Lineups:

Notable:

—Louisville has won 36 straight exhibition games, a span stretching the last 17 years (since 2001). The Cardinals last dropped an exhibition game on Dec. 2, 2000 when falling 87-86 in double overtime to a Global Sports team in Freedom Hall.

—With Bellarmine transitioning from Division-II to Division-I next season, this will be the last time the two programs are allowed to meet in exhibition play. This will be the sixth straight year the Cardinals and Knights have played an exhibition game.

—Bellarmine Head Coach Scott Davenport spent nine seasons on the U of L men’s basketball staff, the last four as administrative assistant to Rick Pitino. A 1978 U of L graduate, Davenport coached former Louisville guard DeJuan Wheat — the Cardinals’ No. 2 career scorer — at the prep level as head coach at Ballard High School.

—Bellarmine is the preseason No. 2 team in Division-II according to both NCAA.com and Street & Smith. The Knights are coming off a season where they went 28-5 and won their third straight Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship.

—Chris Mack is 13-1 all-time in exhibition games as a head coach. That lone loss came against Bellarmine (63-61) when he was at Xavier in 2010. The Knights almost upset the Musketeers again a year later, falling 76-73.

—Louisville is one of just four schools which have won 20 or more games in each of the last 17 seasons (also Kansas, Duke and Gonzaga).

Go Cards