Bellarmine beat, then trolled Louisville last night

On3 image — LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - NOVEMBER 09: Juston Betz #1of the Bellarmine Knights celebrates in the 67-66 win against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC YUM! Center on November 09, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

The city of Louisville belongs to the Bellarmine Knights. Last night, Bellarmine upset the Cardinals 67-66 in Kenny Payne’s debut as Louisville’s coach. It was Bellarmine’s first win over Louisville in 13 tries, the Knights’ first victory over a Power Five program since joining Division I in 2020, and the first season-opening loss for Louisville in 18 years.

The Knights led by as many as 14 points in the first half and were up by 12 with just under five minutes to play when the Cards mounted a comeback. Louisville went on an 11-0 run to end the game but came up just short, Kamari Lands and Roosevelt Wheeler failing to score with eight seconds left. From there, Bellarmine’s Juston Betz threw the ball downcourt to run down the clock and Louisville’s El Ellis missed the desperation halfcourt heave at the buzzer.

What a play by @JustonBetz to run the clock down late 👏 pic.twitter.com/xmNvS8Tzkl
— Bellarmine Men’s Basketball (@BUKnightsMBB) November 10, 2022

1-0 ✅ pic.twitter.com/fy2WjOlDjY
— Bellarmine Men’s Basketball (@BUKnightsMBB) November 10, 2022

OUR CITY ⚜️ pic.twitter.com/btHwhsJEoN
— Bellarmine Men’s Basketball (@BUKnightsMBB) November 10, 2022

For Scotty Davenport, a UofL alum and former member of Denny Crum and Rick Pitino’s coaching staffs, it was an especially sweet moment. In his postgame press conference, he mentioned Stan Hardin, the longtime basketball coach at Fairdale who passed away on Wednesday.

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Here are some initial thoughts from Scotty Davenport (@Bellarminehoops) after Bellarmine beats Louisville 67-66. He loves his players. @WHAS11 pic.twitter.com/fUnREiLPtx
— Kent Spencer (@WHAS11Kent) November 10, 2022

Here are the final thoughts from Scotty Davenport (@Bellarminehoops) on what this win will mean to his players…. and a final thought on the passing of Fairdale legend Stan Hardin. @WHAS11 pic.twitter.com/pcP5uBhUnA
— Kent Spencer (@WHAS11Kent) November 10, 2022

For Kenny Payne, it’s another reminder of the rebuilding project ahead. The Cards also lost an exhibition to Lenoir-Rhyne on Oct. 30.

“Understand, this is a hard game. If it was easy, everyone would be winning,” Payne said after the game. “So I am asking them to change and do things that are uncomfortable for them right now. That is why I say, ‘we win or we learn.’ Today is a hard lesson to learn, it is that simple.”

Props to whoever is in charge of Bellarmine’s Twitter account, because these are works of art.