2022–23 Bellarmine Knights men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Bellarmine Knights men's basketball team represented Bellarmine University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Knights, led by 18th-year head coach Scott Davenport, played their home games at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). The Knights finished the season 15–18, 9–9 ASUN play, to finish in a tie for seventh place. As the No. 8 seed in the ASUN tournament, they defeated North Florida before losing to Liberty in the quarterfinals.

2022–23 Bellarmine Knights men's basketball
Conference	ASUN Conference
Record	15–18 (9–9 ASUN)
Head coach	Scott Davenport (18th season)
Assistant coaches	Doug Davenport Beau Braden Al Davis
Home arena	Freedom Hall
Seasons ← 2021–22 2023–24 →

2022–23 ASUN men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Kennesaw State †	15	–	3		.833			26	–	9		.743
Liberty	15	–	3		.833			27	–	9		.750
Eastern Kentucky	12	–	6		.667			23	–	14		.622
Stetson	12	–	6		.667			17	–	14		.548
Lipscomb	11	–	7		.611			20	–	13		.606
North Alabama	10	–	8		.556			18	–	15		.545
North Florida	9	–	9		.500			14	–	17		.452
Bellarmine*	9	–	9		.500			15	–	18		.455
Queens*	7	–	11		.389			18	–	15		.545
Florida Gulf Coast	7	–	11		.389			17	–	15		.531
Jacksonville	6	–	12		.333			13	–	16		.448
Jacksonville State	6	–	12		.333			13	–	18		.419
Central Arkansas	4	–	14		.222			9	–	22		.290
Austin Peay	3	–	15		.167			9	–	22		.290
* Ineligible for the 2023 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
† 2023 ASUN tournament winner

The Knights were in the third year of a four-year transition from Division II to Division I meaning that they were ineligible for the NCAA tournament.

Previous season

The Knights finished the 2021–22 season 20–13, 11–5 in ASUN play, to finish in second place in the West division. They defeated Florida Gulf Coast,^[1] Liberty^[2] and Jacksonville to win the ASUN tournament championship.^[3][4] Because the Knights were in the second year of a four-year transition period from Division II to Division I, they were not eligible for NCAA postseason play.^[5] As a result, the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament went to regular-season champion Jacksonville State.^[6]

Preseason

In the conference's preseason polls, the Knights were picked to finish fifth (media) and sixth (coaches) in the ASUN.^[7]

Roster

2022–23 Bellarmine Knights men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Juston Betz 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) GS Providence New Albany, IN G 2 Alec Pfriem 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Moeller High School Cincinnati, OH G 4 Landin Hacker 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Fr Center Grove High School Greenwood, IN G 5 Peter Suder 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Carmel High School Carmel, IN G 10 Garrett Tipton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr Bishop Hartley High School Columbus, OH G 11 Michael Bova 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr St. Edward High School Lakewood, OH F 12 Langdon Hatton 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So William & Mary Georgetown, IN F 14 Sam DeVault 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Austin Peay Evansville, IN G 22 Bash Wieland 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Lakota East High School Cincinnati, OH G 23 Zach Reed 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Brebeuf Jesuit Prep Indianapolis, IN F 24 Eli Roberts 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Manual High School Louisville, KY F 30 Nick Thelen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Covington Catholic High School Edgewood, KY G 33 Ben Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Fr Lexington Catholic High School Lexington, KY G 34 Drew Comer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Greensburg High School Greensburg, IN F 42 Curt Hopf 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Barr-Reeve High School Montgomery, IN G 55 Zac Jennings 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Cooper High School Burlington, KY	Head coach Scott Davenport (Louisville) Assistant coach(es) Doug Davenport (Bellarmine) Beau Braden (Centre) Al Davis (Bellarmine) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

In a story on the NCAA's official website, Knights head coach Scott Davenport commented on the team's late-November schedule:

Perhaps you're not aware of this ... Only four schools in the history of college basketball have played in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Pauley Pavilion and Rupp Arena. It's North Carolina, Notre Dame, St. John's and Louisville. Only four. The closest anyone ever did it was over two seasons, 333 days, from December to the following November. We are going to do that in nine days.^[8]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 27, 2022* 11:00 a.m.		Centre	W 71–34		Freedom Hall (6,600) Louisville, KY
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2022* 9:00 p.m., ACCN		at Louisville	W 67–66	1–0	KFC Yum! Center (14,865) Louisville, KY
November 12, 2022* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Morehead State	L 55–62	1–1	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,166) Morehead, KY
November 14, 2022* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Campbellsville-Harrodsburg	W 86–46	2–1	Knights Hall (1,696) Louisville, KY
November 18, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Clemson	L 66–76	2–2	Littlejohn Coliseum (6,137) Clemson, SC
November 21, 2022* 8:30 p.m., ACCN		at No. 8 Duke	L 57–74	2–3	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
November 25, 2022* 3:00 p.m., WCC Network		at Loyola Marymount	L 59–80	2–4	Gersten Pavilion (634) Los Angeles, CA
November 27, 2022* 7:00 p.m., P12N		at No. 19 UCLA	L 60–81	2–5	Pauley Pavilion (6,001) Los Angeles, CA
November 29, 2022* 7:00 p.m., SECN+		at No. 19 Kentucky	L 41–60	2–6	Rupp Arena (19,092) Lexington, KY
December 4, 2022* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Alice Lloyd	W 110–38	3–6	Freedom Hall (1,273) Louisville, KY
December 6, 2022* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Wabash	W 86–45	4–6	Freedom Hall (1,262) Louisville, KY
December 10, 2022* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Murray State	W 69–58	5–6	Freedom Hall (2,853) Louisville, KY
December 17, 2022* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Miami (OH)	L 67–71	5–7	Freedom Hall (2,692) Louisville, KY
December 21, 2022* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Evansville	L 61–73	5–8	Ford Center (4,603) Evansville, IN
ASUN regular season
December 29, 2022 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Liberty	L 53–70	5–9 (0–1)	Freedom Hall (2,805) Louisville, KY
January 2, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at North Alabama	W 69–65	6–9 (1–1)	Flowers Hall (612) Florence, AL
January 5, 2023 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Queens	L 74–75	6–10 (1–2)	Freedom Hall (1,743) Louisville, KY
January 7, 2023 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Jacksonville State	W 75–62	7–10 (2–2)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,165) Jacksonville, AL
January 12, 2023 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Stetson	L 51–80	7–11 (2–3)	Freedom Hall (1,942) Louisville, KY
January 14, 2023 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Florida Gulf Coast	W 61–41	8–11 (3–3)	Freedom Hall (3,299) Louisville, KY
January 19, 2023 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Austin Peay	W 56–45	9–11 (4–3)	Dunn Center (1,523) Clarksville, TN
January 21, 2023 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Lipscomb	L 49–69	9–12 (4–4)	Allen Arena (1,939) Nashville, TN
January 26, 2023 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Eastern Kentucky	W 72–71	10–12 (5–4)	Freedom Hall (3,842) Louisville, KY
January 28, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Eastern Kentucky	L 63–73	10–13 (5–5)	Baptist Health Arena (4,025) Richmond, KY
February 2, 2023 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		Kennesaw State	L 84–90 2OT	10–14 (5–6)	Freedom Hall (1,649) Louisville, KY
February 4, 2023 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Jacksonville State	W 71–64	11–14 (6–6)	Freedom Hall (2,738) Louisville, KY
February 9, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Liberty	L 50–70	11–15 (6–7)	Liberty Arena (3,149) Lynchburg, VA
February 11, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Queens	W 88–84	12–15 (7–7)	Curry Arena (607) Charlotte, NC
February 16, 2023 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		North Alabama	L 57–70	12–16 (7–8)	Freedom Hall (1,648) Louisville, KY
February 19, 2023 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Central Arkansas	W 68–67	13–16 (8–8)	Freedom Hall (3,056) Louisville, KY
February 22, 2023 5:00 p.m., ESPNU		Jacksonville	W 63–61	14–16 (9–8)	Swisher Gymnasium (1,073) Jacksonville, FL
February 24, 2023 7:00 p.m.		at North Florida	L 67–79	14–17 (9–9)	UNF Arena (1,889) Jacksonville, FL
ASUN tournament
February 27, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	(8)	vs. (7) North Florida First round	W 76–74	15–17	Liberty Arena (135) Lynchburg, VA
February 28, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	(8)	at (2) Liberty Quarterfinals	L 56–76	15–18	Liberty Arena (3,407) Lynchburg, VA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[9]

References

1. "Florida Gulf Coast vs. Bellarmine - Box Score - March 3, 2022 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
2. "Bellarmine vs. Liberty - Game Summary - March 5, 2022 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
3. Powell, Curadhan (March 9, 2022). "Making history: Bellarmine Knights win their first-ever ASUN Tournament". WLKY. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
4. Selbe, Nick (March 8, 2022). "Here's Why the ASUN Men's Champ Won't Be Playing in March Madness". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
5. "Bellarmine wins ASUN, but NCAA bid goes to JSU". ESPN.com. The Associated Press. March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
6. Green, Tom (March 13, 2022). "Auburn earns 2-seed, opens NCAA Tournament against Jax State in Greenville". al.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
7. "Liberty Selected Atop @ASUN_MBB Preseason Poll; McGhee, Betz Earn Superlative Honors". October 5, 2022. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
8. Lopresti, Mike (November 18, 2022). "The method behind the madness of Bellarmine's crazy-tough schedule". NCAA.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
9. "2022-23 Men's Basketball Schedule". Bellarmine University Athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2023.