Game Notes

Date: January 23, 2020
Time: 7:00 PM CST / 8:00 PM EST
Location: Louisville, Ky. 

Louisville, Ky. - Southwest Baptist (13-3, 6-2 GLVC) hits the road again, traveling east to take on Bellarmine Thursday evening after beating Highway 13 rival Drury on Monday.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats are coming off a huge win Monday night against the Drury Panthers, 82-74. SBU has now won 3 straight, and 4 straight road games. Quinn Nelson was named GLVC Player of the Week last week, SBU's second this season alongside Damian Prgomet. The team currently ranks 2nd in the conference in field goal percentage defense at .407.

In their most recent competition, the Bearcats defeated Drury for the first time since 2011-12. Brady Smith was the star of the game, making 9-11 field goals and 9 free throws for 29 points with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Three others hit double digit points, as the team shot 50% from the field. SBU made 27 free throws to Drury's 12.

The Bearcats come into the 2019-20 season following an appearance in the MIAA Tournament last season. Finishing with a 13-15 (7-12 MIAA) regular season record, the Bearcats received the #10 seed in the conference tournament. In the first round, SBU edged out #7 Lindenwood 76-75, becoming the first #10 seed to win a game in the MIAA Tournament and picking up their first conference tournament win since 2006. Washburn put an end to SBU's run in the second round with a 77-58 final score. The Bearcats are now full-time member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference which consists of 16 teams. Lindenwood is also making the move from the MIAA to the GLVC. Three starters return for SBU, Godfrey Rolle, Damian Prgomet, and Quinn Nelson. In addition to those three starters, Tyler Williams and Lucas Brueggemann also return from last year's roster. This year's roster consists of 16 total players, 11 of those being new faces. The breakdown of the roster is 2 seniors, 5 juniors, 4 sophomores, and 5 freshmen. 

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
The Bellarmine Knights (Louisville, KY) come into Thursday's matchup with a 14-1 (7-1 GLVC) record. Currently ranked #1 in the nation, the Knights suffered their only loss this season to Indianapolis on Monday night. In that overtime loss, the Knights gave up 21 points on turnovers and trailed by 15 at the half. Alex Cook led Bellarmine in scoring with 21 points. Cook leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game with 6.2 rebounds. The Knights currently have the 2nd best scoring defense in the GLVC, allowing just 60.6 poinst per contest. Last season, Bellarmine led the nation in field goal percentage, making 54.5% from the field in their Sweet 16 run.

THE COACHES
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy begins his sixth season on the SBU bench after compiling a 62-83 (32-66 MIAA) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 244-189 across fourteen seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 40 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball.

Scott Davenport returns as the head coach for Bellarmine, his 15th season in the position. He has been named GLVC Coach of the Year four times, and has had numerous counts of success with the program. Last season, Davenport led the Knights to a 28-5 (14-4 GLVC) record with a Conference Tournament Championship and NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Thursday marks the first meeting between these teams.