Louisville’s Pat Kelsey on facing Bellarmine Tuesday night
Louisville’s Pat Kelsey says Bellarmine “have a bunch of guys that can drive and shoot it.” Kelsey says the Knights can “reek havoc” in the ASUN conference despite their 0-4 record so far.
Louisville basketball had 10 days to embrace its first butt-kicking under new head coach Pat Kelsey, a 22-point loss to then-No. 12 Tennessee.
Tonight, the Cardinals (1-1) return to the KFC Yum! Center looking to score a bounce-back win against crosstown foe Bellarmine (0-4), which is still searching for its first victory of the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Kelsey said U of L spent the majority of its nearly two-week break in “preseason mode, working on all facets of our system.” With next week’s trip to the Bahamas for the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis looming, the coach said he wants his team to showcase consistency in both its effort and execution against the Knights.
“They knew there were a lot of things we had to improve on and we had to clean up,” he said. “I loved our mentality and our approach.”
Led by longtime coach Scott Davenport — and eligible for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s 75-year history — Bellarmine is looking to avoid its first 0-5 start since the 2021-22 season; during which it had matchups against a handful of top-40 teams on KenPom.com‘s adjusted efficiency rankings out of the gate. Its competition this go-around hasn’t been as stiff: VCU, VMI, Southern Indiana and Marshall.
Davenport returned only one starter from an injury-plagued team that went 8-23 in 2023-24, preseason All-ASUN selection Ben Johnson, and only one player who appeared in all 31 games during the campaign, Billy Smith.
“Their record is not indicative of the caliber of the team that they have,” Kelsey said of the Knights. “They present a lot of problems: positional size, a lot of shooting (and) very good skill.”
Follow along below with live updates from the Yum! Center:
The officiating crew for today’s game: Ted Valentine, Courtney Green and Clare Aubry.
The game between U of L and Bellarmine will not air on a traditional TV channel.
It’s on ACC Network Extra, which is available exclusively via livestream. Jody Demling (play-by-play) and Larry O’Bannon (analyst) will have the call.
If your cable or live TV streaming package includes ACC Network, you have access to ACC Network Extra. You can watch via ESPN.com/watch or the ESPN app after logging in with your cable or live TV streaming service credentials.
If you don’t have cable, you can get ACC Network — and therefore ACC Network Extra — through streaming services such as fuboTV (FREE TRIAL) and YouTube TV (FREE TRIAL). Just enter your provider credentials when logging into ESPN’s streaming platforms.
Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will have the call on the Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9-FM and WGTK 970-AM in Louisville).
You can also listen online via GoCards.com.
Betting odds: Louisville is a 29.5-point favorite (-105) on BetMGM, which set the over-under at 147.5 points (-110).
Score predictions: KenPom.com gives U of L a 97% chance of winning and projects an 84-63 final score in its favor. BartTorvik.com is also forecasting a Cards victory (97%), with a projected final score of 90-63.
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Questions can also be submitted via email (bholton@gannett.com) and X, formerly Twitter, to @brooksHolton.
Note: Tipoff times and TV assignments are to be determined, unless noted otherwise.
- Monday, Oct. 21: vs. Young Harris College (exhibition) | SCORE: Louisville 106, Young Harris College 59
- Monday, Oct. 28: vs. Spalding (exhibition) | SCORE: Louisville 99, Spalding 54
- Monday, Nov. 4: vs. Morehead State | SCORE: Louisville 93, Morehead State 45
- Saturday. Nov. 9: vs. Tennessee | SCORE: Tennessee 77, Louisville 55
- Tuesday, Nov. 19: vs. Bellarmine, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Friday, Nov. 22: vs. Winthrop, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Wednesday, Nov. 27: vs. Indiana (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas), noon, ESPN
- Thursday, Nov. 28: vs. Gonzaga or West Virginia (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas), either noon or 2:30 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
- Friday, Nov. 29: vs. TBD (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas)
- Tuesday, Dec. 3: Ole Miss (SEC/ACC Challenge), 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Sunday, Dec. 8: vs. Duke, 6 p.m., ACC Network
- Wednesday, Dec. 11: vs. UTEP, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Saturday, Dec. 14: at Kentucky
- Saturday, Dec. 21: at Florida State, 2 p.m., The CW
- Saturday, Dec. 28: vs. Eastern Kentucky, noon, The CW
- Wednesday, Jan. 1: vs. North Carolina, ACC Network
- Saturday, Jan. 4: at Virginia, 4 p.m., ACC Network
- Tuesday, Jan. 7: vs. Clemson, 7 p.m., either ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Saturday, Jan. 11: at Pittsburgh, either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Tuesday, Jan. 14: at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Jan. 18: vs. Virginia, either ESPN or ESPN2
- Tuesday, Jan. 21: at SMU, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Tuesday, Jan. 28: vs. Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 1: at Georgia Tech, 3:45 p.m., The CW
- Wednesday, Feb. 5: at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 8: vs. Miami
- Wednesday, Feb. 12: at N.C. State, 7 p.m., either ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Sunday, Feb. 16: at Notre Dame, 8 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 22: vs. Florida State, noon, The CW
- Tuesday, Feb. 25: at Virginia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, March 1: vs. Pittsburgh, either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Wednesday, March 5: vs. California, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, March 8: vs. Stanford, ESPNU
- Tuesday, March 11, through Saturday, March 15: ACC Tournament (Spectrum Center; Charlotte, North Carolina)
- Frank Anselem-Ibe (center, fifth year)
- Patrick Antonelli (guard, fifth year)
- Terrence Edwards Jr. (guard/forward, fifth year)
- J’Vonne Hadley (guard, fifth year)
- Chucky Hepburn (guard, senior)
- Koren Johnson (guard, junior)
- Aly Khalifa (center, senior, redshirt)
- Spencer Legg (guard, junior)
- Aidan McCool (guard, graduate student)
- Kasean Pryor (forward, fifth year)
- Kobe Rodgers (guard, senior, redshirt)
- Khani Rooths (forward, freshman)
- James Scott (forward, sophomore)
- Cole Sherman (guard, junior)
- Reyne Smith (guard, senior)
- Aboubacar Traore (forward, senior)
- Noah Waterman (forward, sixth year)
Click here to see the Knights’ 2024-25 schedule.
Click here to see the Knights’ 2024-25 roster.
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Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
