17 UIndy Greyhounds
vs. 3 Bellarmine Knights
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m. ET, Nicoson Hall

ON TAP
The No. 17 UIndy men's basketball team takes its best start in five years into Tuesday evening's GLVC opener against No. 3 Bellarmine University, with tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside Nicoson Hall. 

The Greyhounds have defeated the Knights in each of the past two seasons at Nicoson Hall, including last year's 78-69 victory over the third-ranked rivals. 

ABOUT BELLARMINE
The Knights enter the top-20 matchup as one of the efficient shooting teams in the country, ranking second in NCAA Division II with a 55.9 field-goal percentage. The Knights also rank third in the nation with a 84.8 percent mark from the free-throw line. 

Four Knights are averaging double figures in the early going, including leading scorer Ben Weyer with 18.8 points per contest. The senior is shooting 60 percent from the field, including 50 percent (16 of 32) from 3-point range. An All-GLVC Second-Team honoree a season ago, Weyer ranks second on the team with 5.0 rebounds per game, as teammate Alex Cook paces the team on the glass with 5.6 boards per contest. 

Cook, along with Dylan Penn and Pedro Bradshaw, also average double digits through the team's first five games, with Bradshaw ranking 18th in DII with a 65.4 field-goal percentage. The Bellarmine offense is making 33 field goals per game, as Penn leads one of six Knights with at least 2.0 assists per game. 

Bellarmine enters Tuesday ranked third in both the NABC and D2SIDA national polls. Head coach Scott Davenport is in his 15th season on the Bellarmine bench, and has led the Knights to 11 straight NCAA tournaments. Under Davenport, Bellarmine claimed the 2011 national championship. 

LAST TIME OUT
A hot first half led the UIndy men's basketball team to a dominating 112-66 win over the visiting Spring Hill Badgers on Tuesday evening inside Nicoson Hall.
 
Jordache Mavunga drilled five straight 3-pointers to end the first half, as redshirt-senior Jimmy King soared into fourth place in the program record book, dishing out seven of his eight assists to surpass the 400 mark. Trevor Lakes tallied 15 of his game-high 21 points in opening half.

Lakes kicked off the shooting for the Greyhounds, who drilled 65.6 percent of their shots to lead 56-31 at halftime. Mavunga totaled all 20 of his points in the first half, with his five deep balls coming in the final three minutes.
 
The fiery Greyhounds did not relent in the second half, as Cory Miller Jr. proceeded to slam one home before blocking an opposing 3-pointer in the first two minutes. UIndy pulled away from Spring Hill, putting up 56 points in both halves.
 
Kendrick Tchoua dominated the second half for the Greyhounds, scoring 14 of his 20 points after the break. The true freshman sunk eight of nine shots from the field, while hauling in three rebounds.

HELPING HAND
UIndy has rightfully earned its best start since the 2014-15 season, ranking nationally in the top 50 in five categories, with scoring offense (52nd) and scoring scoring margin (53rd) just on the outside of the list. 

The Greyhounds have been thrifty on the offensive end, ranking 19th in DII with a 1.61 assist:turnover ratio. Redshirt-senior Jimmy King leads UIndy with 7.7 assists per game, with senior Jordache Mavunga posting a 2.5 to 1 assist:turnover ratio. As a unit, the Greyhounds are turning the ball over 10.9 times per contest, while assisting on 56.7 percent of the team's field goals.

COMING UP BIG
Sophomore Jacob Polakovich and freshman Kendrick Tchoua have been an offensive plus this season, combining to shoot 82.7 percent from the floor in over 30 minutes per game. The underclassmen duo is averaging 14.3 points and 2.9 offensive rebounds per game.

RENOUNCED RIVALRY
With Bellarmine's departure to NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference after the 2019-20 academic year, the Greyhounds and Knights are scheduled to meet just twice more with the first coming on Tuesday. UIndy travels to Knights Hall on January 20 for what could be the final battle between the GLVC charter members.

LIVING LEGACY
UIndy freshman guard Ben Nicoson is a fourth-generation Greyhound, following in the footsteps of Angus (great grandfather), Dan (grandfather) and Brent (father). Nicoson Hall, home of UIndy basketball, is named after Angus, who is the program's all-time wins leader as a coach with 483 victories.

Ben is currently averaging 10.0 minutes per game in his freshman season.

2020 VISION
UIndy head coach Stan Gouard announced the addition of two members to its 2020 recruiting class on Wednesday as part of the early signing period. Matthew Ambrose (Kildeer, IL) and Keegan O'Neill (Montgomery, IN) will both begin their senior seasons at their respective high schools this winter. 

Ambrose was named All-Area by three separate publications as a junior before choosing UIndy as his collegiate destination. Ambrose led Adlai E. Stevenson High School with 16 points/game, while grabbing seven boards and handing our four assists each contest.

O'Neill rounds out the small early-signing class for the Greyhounds, who comes from Montgomery, Ind. The 6-8, 245 lb. big man has averaged double figures the last two seasons with Barr-Reeve, including 15.4 points/game as a sophomore. As a junior, O'Neill averaged 11 points and six rebounds per game.

NEWCOMER LANE
UIndy boasts a high number of newcomers in 2019-20, with eight of the team's 16 players tabbed as newcomers this season. Of the eight, five are freshmen and three are transfers, with Dee Montgomery (Purdue Fort Wayne) and Trevor Banks (Arkansas Pine Bluff) coming in from NCAA DI programs. Cory Miller Jr. was named an All-America First-Team selection his final season at John Wood CC. 

Jesse Bingham was named an Indiana All-Star after his senior season at Warren Central, the lone NCAA DII commit to earn the distinction. Joining Bingham as rookies for UIndy are fellow all-state players Josh Bryan, Frankie Davidson and Kendrick Tchoua, along with Ben Nicoson. 

HOMEGROWN HOUNDS
UIndy has five players from the Indianapolis area, including Jesse Bingham (Warren Central) and Jimmy King (Roncalli). Overall, head coach Stan Gouard has 10 players from the state of Indiana.

GLVC POINT RATING SYSTEM
For the third straight season, the GLVC will determine its conference standings by using a designated point rating system. Points shall be awarded for each conference contest.

The eight teams with the highest ratings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the postseason tournament. There are no automatic qualifying bids to divisional champions, nor is there a number of tournament bids allocated for each of the three five-team divisions. Team ratings, which will be determined by total points divided by league games played, may not be comparable with other teams in the league given each team's bye this season. A given team's win or loss early in the conference season will have an assigned point value based on their opponent's winning percentage, although that point value is likely to fluctuate should that opponent improve or weaken throughout the remainder of the conference season.

7 points – win over a .750 or better team on the road
6.5 points – win over a .750 or better team at home
6 points – win over a .500 or better team on the road
5 points – win over a .500 or better team at home
4.5 points – win over a .250 or better team on the road
4 points – win over a .250 team or better at home
3.5 points – win over an under .250 team on the road
3 points – win over an under .250 team at home
2.5 points – loss at home or on the road to a .750 or better team
2 points – loss to a .500 or better team at home or on the road
1 point – loss to a .250 or better team at home or on the road
.5 points – loss to an under .250 team on the road
0 points – loss to an under .250 team at home