Saturday, Mar. 15, 3:30 p.m. ET, Springfield, Mo.
Bellarmine Knights (23-7) vs. 12 UIndy Greyhounds (23-4)
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ON TAP
UIndy grabbed the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional and will take on rival Bellarmine in the opening round Saturday.
HOUNDS AT THE NCAAs
The Greyhounds own a 2-8 record in eighth NCAA Tournament appearances. This season marks the first time the Hounds have qualified for the "Big Dance" fourth consective years. UIndy's two postseason wins came in the first round of the 1996 and 2012 tournaments. It is still looking for its first trip to the regional final.
This year's No. 2 seed is the highest for UIndy since it earned the top seed and hosting duties in 1997.
The last NCAA victory for the Hounds came in a
67-61 final versus Hillsdale two years ago.
ABOUT BELLARMINE
With a strong showing at the GLVC Tournament last weekend, the Knights jumped from No. 10 in the final regional rankings last week to the No. 7 seed in the regional tournament this week. BU took down UIndy and Wisconsin-Parkside before falling 86-73 to Southern Indiana in the GLVC championship game to help make the leap.
Bellarmine has qualified for the NCAA Tournament each of the previous six years under head coach Scott Davenport. BU advanced to the regional final last season, the Final Four in 2012 and won the national title in 2011. They won the GLVC Tournament in both 2010 and 2011.
Earlier this season, the Knights dropped four games in a five-game stretch to fall out of the national rankings, snapping a span of 54 consecutive weeks in the Division II coaches poll - the second-longest active streak at the time (West Liberty). They are still out of the top 25 but did receive votes in the final coaches poll, released Tuesday.
Statistically, Bellarmine tops Division II in team field goal percentage (.530) while also leading the GLVC in assists (17.7 apg) and blocked shots (4.9 bpg). Its +12.7 scoring margin is second only to UIndy's +12.9 among the GLVC leaders.
The Knights are led in scoring by All-GLVC first-teamer Keisten Jones (15.6 ppg), junior Jake Thelen (15.3) and senior Vance Hall (14.5). Jones ranks second in the GLVC in 3-point accuracy (.475), Thelen paces all NCAA student-athletes (all divisions) in field goal percentage (.740), while Hall is fifth in the conference in assists (4.7 apg).
GREYHOUNDS vs. KNIGHTS
Located just 115 miles from Indianapolis, Bellarmine is the second-most-frequent opponent for UIndy among current GLVC teams, as only Saint Joseph's (99 games) has faced the Hounds more often. Bellarmine holds a 50-42 (.538) edge in the all-time series.
Saturday will mark the fourth time the familiar foes have battled this year. They will faced off three times in the last two-and-a-half weeks and twice in the last eight days.
In last week's GLVC quarterfinal match-up, the Knights shot 56 percent from the floor to hand the Greyhounds a
90-74 defeat.
UIndy has even more incentive to beat the Knights, as it was Bellarmine who bounced the Hounds from the regional last season -- a
67-61 final on the very same Drury floor as Saturday's game.
HOUNDS vs. THE FIELD
Overall, UIndy is 3-4 against Midwest Regional opponents this season. The Hounds recorded victories at Bellarmine Jan. 20, as well as home wins against Wisconsin-Parkside (Feb. 14) and Southern Indiana (Feb. 20). UIndy has not faced any non-Midwest foes in the 64-team field this season.
LOOKING AHEAD
The UIndy/Bellarmine winner will face the victor of the Southern Indiana/Michigan Tech match-up. The Greyhounds are very familiar with USI, as the in-state rivals split the season series this year. UIndy has not faced Michigan Tech since 2003.
DIVIDE & CONQUER
The Greyhounds secured their first-ever GLVC East Division championship this season, sharing the division crown with Wisconsin-Parkside, who also finished with a 15-3 conference record.
Since division play began in 2005-06, Drury has amassed a league-high five division titles, followed by three apiece from Southern Indiana, Quincy and former-GLVC-member Northern Kentucky.
CLASS ACT
This year's senior class of
Leland Brown,
Reece Cheatham,
Joe Daniels,
Jared Grady and
Tyrae Robinson have combined to help UIndy to a 82-31 (.726) record the previous four seasons. That win total is good for the program record for most victories in a four-year period, surpassing the 80 wins amassed by the 1960-64 group.
SHARP SHOOTER
With five 3-pointers versus Bellarmine last week, Cheatham's career triple total jumped up to 171, good for fifth place in the school's annals (shown below).
|
UIndy's career 3FG leaders |
|
|
|
|
NAME |
3FG |
YEARS |
GAMES |
|
1. |
Gary Paul |
354 |
1986-90 |
111 |
|
2. |
David Logan |
321 |
2001-05 |
115 |
|
3. |
Andy Foster |
300 |
1997-01 |
109 |
|
4. |
Kyle Persinger |
247 |
1987-91 |
111 |
|
5. |
Reece Cheatham |
171 |
2011-14 |
83 |
|
6. |
Michael Brooks |
165 |
1992-96 |
106 |
COACH OF THE YEAR
Head coach
Stan Gouard was voted by his peers as the 2014 GLVC Coach of the Year. The sixth-year head man has led the Greyhounds to a 23-4 record this year, upping his career mark to 103-65 (.613). UIndy currently ranks fourth in nation in field goal percentage (.513), seventh in scoring offense (88.2 ppg) and 13th in turnover margin (+4.3).
ALL-GLVC
Also released by the GLVC last week were its
all-conference teams. Four Greyhounds were among those recognized, as senior
Reece Cheatham and junior
Joe Lawson were both on the First Team All-GLVC list, senior
Tyrae Robinson was named second team all-conference, while Robinson and junior
Brennan McElroy were on the all-defensive team ledger.
Both of UIndy's first-team honorees average more than 15 points per game, with Lawson at 15.7 and Cheatham at 15.1. Cheatham was a named to the All-GLVC Second Team last season.
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Robinson has compiled 13.0 points per game on the way to second-team laurels. He also picked up his second consecutive GLVC All-Defensive Team nod, while McElroy garnered his first. A native of Decatur, Ill., McElroy was the league's only unanimous all-defensive selection.
POLL POSITION
The Hounds enter the NCAA Tournament ranked 12th in the season's final
NABC/Division II Top 25 Poll, released Tuesday. Though the four-spot dip broke its streak of seven consecutive weeks in the top 10, UIndy secured just its second-ever ranking in the coaches' final poll*. Overall, the Hounds have been in the top 25 for 13 consecutive weeks, good for the longest such streak in school history.
Joining UIndy in the final rankings are fellow-regional-participants Drury (No. 8), Southern Indiana (14), Findlay (21) and Wisconsin-Parkside (22). Meanwhile, Bellarmine and Michigan Tech each received votes.
*UIndy was ranked No. 3 in the final poll of the 1996-97 season.
1K CLUB
In an 85-59 rout of visiting Rockhurst Jan. 9,
Reece Cheatham became the 36th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. He enters his final NCAA Tournament 15 points shy of moving into the top 20 on UIndy's all-time scoring list.