For the 2nd straight season, Bellarmine opens with a loss to a top 10 team as the Knights fall to the 7th ranked Purdue Boilermakers 96-67.
Bellarmine basketball jumped out to a surprising start on Tuesday night against No. 7 Purdue
The Knights took an early lead as Dylan Penn got the scoring started and Alec Pfriem hit a three to give the Knights an early 5-2 lead before the Boilermakers went on a 10-0 run. Purdue would build their lead up to 21-11 before Bellarmine came storming back on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to one. However, that would be the closest the game would be as Purdue went into the half up 50-37.
The 2nd half was more of the same as the Boilermakers continue to pour it on and show why they are the 7th ranked team in the nation. Although the talent mismatch is noticeable, Purdue appears to have a great team that could be a serious final four contender come March.
Takeaways
Rebounding was one of the many areas where the Boilermakers dominated. Purdue outrebounded the Knights 42-22. In fact, they had more rebounds on the defensive glass (27) than Bellarmine had the entire game. The duo of Zach Edey and Caleb Furst grabbed 9 rebounds each to lead Purdue.
The guard duo of CJ Fleming and Dylan Penn were some of the few bright spots for the Knights. Both players scored 14 points with Fleming going 5-11 and 4-9 from behind the arc. Penn shot 6-13 from the field and dished out 5 assists.
Player of the Game
Sasha Stefanovic has seen his scoring go up every year he’s been in college and his senior year is off to a great start. He scored 23 on 6-8 (5-6 three) shooting. He also went 6-7 from the free-throw line. Stefanovic added 3 assists and 2 rebounds to go along with a great game as he was key for the Boilermakers’ dominance.
Next Opponent
The Knights (0-1) will travel to Murray State (1-0) on Saturday to take on the Racers. The Racers are coming off a 109-77 victory over Cumberlands. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ or listen on 93.9 The Ville.
