— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall is after a winning home stand to start the season on Saturday when the Thundering Herd plays host to Bellarmine at the Cam Henderson Center.
The game, which tips off at 7 p.m., can be seen on ESPN+, and is wrap-up of the three-team I-64 Showcase that began in Huntington Monday when Marshall defeated Southern Indiana 77-63 behind 19 points and three steals from Canadian transfer guard Dezayne Mingo.
On Wednesday, Southern Indiana played at Bellarmine, and defeated the Knights 71-69 on a Jack Campion jump shot with 1.4 seconds left. Bellarmine fell to 0-3 in the process having dropped earlier contests against Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) and Virginia Military Institute (VMI).
The Knights are members of the Atlantic Sun Conference and are in their fourth season as a Division I program after several years as a D-II power. The Knights won the 2011 NCAA Division II championship.
Scott Davenport is in his 20th year as Bellarmine’s head coach and has compiled a 421-174 record at various levels.
“I coached against them when I was an assistant at West Virginia State,” first-year Herd head coach Cornelius Jackson said. “They’re one of those teams that moves the ball and doesn’t dribble a lot, so we’ll have to be on point defensively, communicating well.”
Junior forward Jack Karasinski leads Bellarmine with an average of 17 points. He’s joined in double figures by senior guard Dezmond McKinney’s 10 points.
Curt Hopf and Dylan Branson are the Knights’ top rebounders at 5.3 boards.
Bellarmine is shooting 46.6 percent from the field, 32.4 percent from the three-point line and nearly 79 percent from the free-throw line this season.
Marshall (2-1) opened the season with a win over D-II Davis & Elkins, before losing to Toledo. After Saturday’s game, the Herd are off a week and return to action November 23 at nationally-ranked Purdue.
Saturday’s game is the first meeting between Marshall and Bellarmine.