On Monday November 21st, 2022, I saw my 111th Division One College Basketball teams. On this occasion, I saw the Bellarmine Knights take on the Duke Blue Devils. Bellarmine is the 3rd team that I have seen out of the Atlantic Sun. Bellarmine has a 3-1 record on the year. They most recently played Clemson and they lost by a score of 76-66. The leading scorer for Bellarmine is Peter Suder and he is averaging 15.3 PPG. Duke has a 3-1 record on the year. They most recently played Delaware and they won by a score of 92-58. The leading scorer for the Blue Devils is Jeremy Roach and he is averaging 14 PPG.
As always, Cameron Indoor is a great venue for a game. I was a little nervous the atmosphere wouldn't be that great since the undergrads were on Thanksgiving break. It was still the same atmosphere that I witnessed when I saw the Devils play Florida State last year. When the first half started, you could tell that Bellarmine was not going to go down easy. They were very fundamentally sound. They pass the ball very well. They use a lot of the shot clock. Every time that comes to Cameron in the Non-Conference is going to give your best shot. This game was no different. Bellarmine moved the ball extremely well in the first half. Yes, Duke had the superior athletes but Ballarmine held their own. Justin Betz and Peter Suder lead the Knights in scoring in the first half. They each had nine points a piece. I already came into this game thinking that Kyle Filipowski might be the best of the Duke freshman. The first half of this one confirmed those ideas. Derrick Lively and Dariq Whitehead are still weeks away from being fully healthy. Without Filipowski and Illinois transfer Jacob Grandison I am not sure Duke is leading at the half in this one. Duke is a much better defensive team this year than last year. Which to me is crazy because at this point the starting lineup is four freshman and an undersized Jeremy Roach. Duke will likely win some low scoring games this year that they would not of had last year. The offense will come in spurts but overall I think this team is better on the defense end. In the first half, the Blue Devils got 10 points from Kyle Filipowski to give them a 41-33 lead at halftime.
This much like every game on the North Carolina roadtrip, never really felt as close as the score. Duke did everything they needed to do to keep Bellarmine at arm's length. Bellarmine would hit a shot, Duke would hit a shot. The Knights are an extremely good mid-major. Yeah, beating Louisville is nothing to be proud of this year but continue to follow this team as the year goes on. Unfortunately, they can't make the NCAA Tournament again. NCAA please fix this rule. But they are going to provide some sparks again in the Atlantic Sun again. Bellarmine was able to get good contributions from all five starters in this one as all starters at least had eight points. Two Knights, Curt Hopf and Peter Suder were able to collect 11 points on the night to lead them in scoring. As for the Devils, Kyle Filipowski lead them in scoring with 18 points and Jacob Grandison chipped in 16 points. Grandison has been a pleasant surprise for Duke. He showed spots at Illinois but at the end of the season did not see the court much. If Grandison continues to produce, does this take minutes away from Tyrese Proctor? Duke would go onto win this game 74-57. Was the score closer than most of the Duke faithful would have liked, sure. But at the end of the day, this to me was like a 3-14 or 2-15 matchup in March. This was a great test for a young Blue Devil team that has all the potential to win a National Champion in Jon Scheyer's first year as Head Coach.
For my next game, I head back to Wisconsin. This time I am watching the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers take on the St Thomas Tommies.
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