OPENING TIP
Forces collide this week in Nicoson Hall, as the Greyhounds - arguably the hottest team in the Great Lakes Valley Conference - put their seven-game winning streak on the line against a pair of East Division rivals, No. 10 Bellarmine Thursday at 7:45 p.m. and No. 12 Southern Indiana Saturday at 3:15 p.m.
 
TUNE IN
As always, fans not making the trip to Nicoson Hall can watch Thursday's and Saturday's games on the GLVC Sports Network. Links for the GLVCSN, as well as WICR radio and live stats, can be found above.
 
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
Perennial juggernaut Bellarmine enters the week 16-3 overall (8-1 GLVC), earning the No. 10 spot in the latest NABC Division II Top 25 after a convincing 82-62 victory over then-No. 22 Wisconsin-Parkside last Saturday. The Knights are coached by 12th-year head man Scott Davenport, who is 16-5 against UIndy's Stan Gouard.
 
UIndy will have its hands full Thursday night, as Bellarmine leads the league in several offensive categories, including field goal percentage (52.7%), free throw percentage (80%), assists per game (18.5) and assists/turnover ratio (1.44). On the other side of the ball, the Knights lead the conference in field goal percentage defense (41.9%) and scoring defense (65.8).
 
Sophomore forward Adam Eberhard leads BU in points (17.8) and rebounds (7.2) per game, ranking in the top 10 in-conference in both categories.
 
GREYHOUNDS VS. KNIGHTS
UIndy and Bellarmine have a storied past, meeting 98 times since the 1955-56 season. The Knights hold a 54-44 all-time series record, including four wins in a row, but the Hounds won the last meeting in Nicoson Hall, 66-62, back on Jan. 15, 2015.
 
ABOUT THE SCREAMING EAGLES
One of the most decorated programs in the GLVC and NCAA Division II, Southern Indiana appears to be back to its winning ways this season, sporting an 18-1 overall record (8-1 GLVC) and No. 12 ranking entering Thursday's game at Saint Joseph's. Head Coach Rodney Watson is in his eighth season, and is 8-6 in head-to-head contests against Gouard.
 
The Screaming Eagles have the second-best scoring margin in the entire country, winning by an average of 22.4 points per game thus far, and have the seventh-best offense in D-II scoring more than 93 points per game.
 
Their high-powered attack is led by senior guard Jeril Taylor, who leads the GLVC at 20.8 points per game. Sophomore guard Alex Stein follows with 17.7 points per, and ranks fifth in D-II in made free throws (111).
 
GREYHOUNDS VS. SCREAMING EAGLES
USI has a sizeable 54-21 record against UIndy in 75 meetings, but the Hounds won last season's game in Evansville, 82-78, and also won the most recent meeting in Nicoson Hall, 84-67, back on Jan. 17, 2015.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Hounds upped their winning streak to seven games with wins at McKendree (88-70) and Illinois Springfield (70-67). Sophomore Jimmy King scored a career-high 18 in the rout against the Bearcats, and classmate Jesse Kempson recorded a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) in the narrow victory against the Prairie Stars.
 
The full recaps and box scores from the Hounds' last games can be found on pages 18 and 19 of the game notes.
 
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Since the beginning of 2017, UIndy is on a seven-game tear that's brought the Hounds out of the GLVC East cellar. All but two wins have been by 10 or more, and the average margin of victory during the streak has been 16.1 points.

Increased effort on the defensive end of the court has helped spark the streak. UIndy is giving up only 68 points per game - down from 82.3 per in games prior - while holding teams to 40 percent shooting from the field.
 
Offensively, the Greyhounds have scored 84.3 on average and are shooting above 47 percent overall and 43 percent from 3-point range. UIndy is also recording more than 16 assists per game during the streak.
 
#ED3
Junior Eric Davidson has been a major factor in UIndy's recent win streak, leading the team in scoring (18.4 points per game) while converting more than 57 percent from the floor. Even more impressively, the Fishers, Ind., native has hit 27 of 46 threes (58.7%) in the past seven games, including a pair of 8-for-10 performances in consecutive games against Drury (Jan. 12) and Missouri S&T (Jan. 14).
 
At this point in the season, Davidson is second in the GLVC in free throw percentage and 3-point percentage (18th and 22nd in Division II, respectively), and seventh in overall field goal percentage, based on NCAA minimums. He also has a remarkable 69.7 true shooting percentage for the season, which is a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.
 
FIT FOR A KING
Sophomore Jimmy King put together three solid outings at point guard for the Hounds last week, averaging 14.7 points, 5.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 60 percent (15-25) overall and a perfect 7 of 7 from long range. He also recorded an impressive 2.8 assist/turnover ratio.
 
Perhaps the most prolific games of his collegiate career came in the 88-70 decision at McKendree, where he scored a personal-best 18 points behind a 4-for-4 effort from 3-point range. The Circle City native also matched his career high with six assists, adding six rebounds.
 
BOMBS AWAY
This Greyhound squad shattered the single-game team record for 3-pointers two weeks ago, draining 20 against Missouri S&T to pass the previous record of 18, first set back in 2008 (and matched earlier this season at Nova Southeastern). Davidson shouldered a lot of that load with eight, but six others contributed at least one triple. Redshirt-junior Alex Etherington tied his personal best with four 3-pointers.
 
Not only did the Hounds break the record, but they did it in 34 attempts, finishing with a ridiculous 58.8% clip.
 
They've kept it up since that record-breaking night, and have hit nearly half (66-133) of their threes over the past five games combined, hitting 13.2 per contest. This run has lifted UIndy to second in the GLVC and 20th in D-II averaging 10.2 threes per game for the season.
 
IF IT AIN'T BROKE...
UIndy has employed six different starting lineups so far this season, with only one player (Kempson) starting all 15 games. Gouard's latest lineup of Jimmy King, Eric Davidson, Alex Etherington, Jesse Kempson and Milos Cabarkapa are now 7-0 as starters.
 
THE EAST'S HOT START
Halfway through the conference slate, the GLVC East Division has proven to be stacked with quality teams. Bellarmine and USI sit atop with identical 8-1 records, followed by UIndy and Wisconsin-Parkside (7-2) and Lewis (6-3). The Hounds, who began in a 0-2 hole after early losses to UWP and Lewis, can improve their standing greatly this weekend with upsets against the Knights and Screaming Eagles. They also still have home rematches against the Rangers and Flyers in mid-February.