I would not put much stock in the UofL v. Bellarmine result. Davenport made little effort at winning or even playing a close game against Pitino. I suspect that he will play more of a realistic player rotation against UC. Look for a relatively close game. I wouldn't be surprised if UC has to pull one out in the end.
Here's the straight scoop on Bellarmine: The front line is very long for any college basketball team, D1 or D2: Likely lineup (although Davenport may not start his regular season starters): (1) Davis 5'10", (2) Troutman 6'5", (3) Derksen 6'9", (4) Suggs 6'10", and (5) Kolo 6'10".
Although long, the front line in not strong. Kolo is solid at 240lbs, and will not be easily pushed around. Suggs and Derksen are finesse players and will have trouble standing their ground against the big, strong UC players. Suggs and Derksen, however, are highly skilled players with the ball, who can shoot and slash. Derksen is a particularly gifted offensive player (he had 20 pts against UofL in 23 minutes). Suggs is a very good spot up 3 shooter, although he had a bad shooting game against Louisville. Suggs had 15 pts, 5 assists and 5 blocks against UC two years ago. All three big guys are a threat to hit a three pointer. Probably the big difference between Bellarmine and a typical D2 team, like GVSU, is that Bellarmine is capable of playing very solid interior defense, assuming they can keep their big guys out of foul trouble.
Troutman at the 2 is a very good player with a D1 body. Stat stuffer, he will contribute in every area. The question, like this time last year, for Bellarmine is the point position. Davis is a Juco xfer with a great deal of physical tools, but is unproven on this level.
Where Bellarmine cannot hang with UC will be when they go to their bench. It is inexperienced and lacks the size and strength to compete with UC's rotation. If Davenport keeps the rotation down to 7 people, I would look for a relatively close game, less than 15 pts, if he is playing everybody, it will be more like 25.
Bottom line is that Bellarmine is very good, much better than Grand Valley. I think UC, however, has a very good team, probably better than Louisville, and will ultimately win this game but by a respectable spread.
