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Box Score

LOUISVILLE -- Wilbur O'Neal led UIndy men's basketball with 20 points and six rebounds, but No. 2 Bellarmine defended Knights Hall, 84-70, in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday night in front of 2,400.

First Team All-GLVC guard Darius Adams added 16 points, 13 in the second half, while freshman Daniel Daudu had nine points, career-high seven assists, career-high-tying five rebounds and one steal for the eighth-seeded Greyhounds (19-9).

The top-seeded Knights (28-2) were led by Braydon Hobbs with 25 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Jeremy Kendle had 21 points, four rebounds and three assists. Justin Benedetti tallied a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

The Hounds couldn't slow the Knights for the third time this season as they shot 52.7 percent (29-55), including 24-of-37 from inside the arc. The Hounds also committed 10 more fouls than Bellarmine, which led to the Knights making 21-of-29 free throws. The Hounds hit 13-of-16 at the charity stripe and 38.8 percent from the field (26-67), including just 5-of-21 (.238) three-pointers.

"I thought the difference was Bellarmine had four guys in double figures," head coach Stan Gouard said. "They are a very solid basketball team that does a great job of playing together. They got to the free throw a lot more than us tonight and that hurt us. They beat us off the bounce too easy and we fouled. They didn't panic when we tried to speed them up and we went away from the gameplan a little in the second half, especially offensively."

The Hounds countered by winning the rebounding battle, 41-33, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to a 14-2 edge in second chance points.

Trailing by seven, 33-26, at halftime, Adams scored the first four points of the second half to pull within three. Bellarmine scored, but the Hounds pulled within a three-pointer two more times before the Knights pushed their lead to eight, 45-37, four minutes into the half.

A jumper by Adrian Moss in the paint, Adams jumper and steal and lay-up by Daudu pulled the Hounds within two, 45-43, before BU could score again. UIndy came back as Daudu drove inside to create an easy lay-up for O'Neal, 47-45, with 13:48 still to play.

As well as the Hounds played on offense, they couldn't slow the Knights. Bellarmine went on a 16-6 run over 5:16 to build its largest lead, 63-51, with 8:07 left on the clock. UIndy never got closer than nine points the rest of the way in falling to Bellarmine for the eighth time in a row.

The Greyhounds opened the scoring as DeWann Squires lobbed the ball to O'Neal for a lay-in, but Bellarmine came back to score the next four. Another lob inside to O'Neal tied the score, 6-6, with 17:26 to play, but then the Knights took over. BU went on a 12-3 run to build a nine-point lead, 18-9, just under seven minutes into the game.

The Greyhounds responded with a 10-2 run to pull back within one, 20-19, with 9:58 to go after Daniel Daudu scored four in a row on a floater in the paint and long two on the wing.

With its top four scorers on the bench with two fouls, the Greyhounds had to survive playing six newcomers, including five freshman (Daudu, Jarrett Hamilton, Brennan McElroy, Leland Brown, Cody Vest, Cory Zackery), for the final 6:58 of the half. Another long jumper by Daudu kept UIndy within two, 25-23, with 5:40 to go. Bellarmine answered with eight of the final 11 points to lead by seven, 33-26, at the break.

"Our freshmen did a great job of keeping us in the game," Gouard said. "They brought some needed energy on the court. They kept us close and it makes me feel good about the future of this program that those guys got a taste of tournament play."

In the first half, Bellarmine made 10-of-16 free throws, while UIndy missed both its attempts. UIndy shot 12-of-32 (.375), while Bellarmine made 11-of-23 (.478) field goals, but only 1-of-7 three-pointers.

The Hounds fought hard on the boards to pull down seven offensive rebounds and out-score the Knights 6-0 in second-chance points and 16-14 in the paint.

"I'm happy for my seniors (Adams, DeWann Squires, Nate Blank)," Gouard said. "We had a good year. Not the way we wanted to end it, but those guys did a whole lot for this program and will always be a part of UIndy men's basketball."

The Hounds' 19 wins are the most since the 2004-05 team won 19 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. UIndy saw a seven-win improvement from 2009-10, while also entering the NABC Coaches Top 25 (No. 22) for the first time since Feb. 3, 2004. The Greyhounds actually received votes in the national poll for seven weeks.