13-seed Liberty to face 4-seed Oklahoma State Friday

For the third straight season, Liberty (23-5, 11-2 ASUN) is in the NCAA Tournament as the Flames saw their name flash on the CBS’ Selection Show as a 13-seed. The Flames will face the 4-seed Oklahoma State (20-8, 11-7 Big 12) in the Midwest regional for a game on Friday.

The game is scheduled to tip at 6:25 pm eastern from Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. Indiana Farmers Coliseum will allow approximately 1,700 fans into the venue. The game will be televised on TBS with Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, and Dana Jacobsen on the call.

Indiana Farmers Coliseum is a 6,500 seat multi-use arena located on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. It is home to both the Indy Fuel of the ECHL and the IUPUI Jaguars.

“When you see the Oklahoma State Cowboys pop on the screen, the first think you think about is Cade Cunningham, next year’s number one draft pick,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “Mike Boynton is a good friend of mine. He’s done a fabulous job there. They’re one of the hottest teams in the country and it’s not just a one man bad there. A lot of respect for them, obviously we will have our work cut out for us.”

This is Oklahoma State’s first time in the NCAA Tournament since 2017. They haven’t won a game in the Big Dance since 2009, losing in the first round in their last five tournament appearances, including two as the higher seeded team.

Last year’s NCAA Tournament was canceled amid the COVID pandemic prior to Selection Sunday, and two seasons ago the Flames hosted a watch party in the Vines Center that saw a group of about 1,000 Liberty faithful gathered to watch the Selection Show on the video boards along with the team and coaches. This year’s announcement was in a much different setting, as Liberty’s coaches and players are currently at a hotel in Indianapolis to begin their quarantine period prior to the start of the Tournament later this week.

When the Flames first arrived at their hotel in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon, the team was required to spend a brief period of less than 24 hours alone in their room. Every player, coach, and staff member have their own individual room and meals are delivered to their room. On Sunday, Liberty was able to escape their quarantine and went to a practice facility for a brief shoot around before returning to the hotel to watch the Selection Show.

The Flames are set for the program’s 6th ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Liberty is 1-4 all-time in the Big Dance, losing to 1-seed North Carolina in 1994, 1-seed St. Joseph’s in 2004, and fellow 16-seed North Carolina A&T in 2013 as part of the First Four held in Dayton. In 2019, as a 12-seed, Liberty upset 5-seed Mississippi State for the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament win before falling to 4-seed Virginia Tech in the second round.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are led by Cade Cunningham. The 6’8″ freshman is widely projected to be the first overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He was named Big 12 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year this season. He is averaging 20.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. The rest of Oklahoma State’s typical starting lineup are listed at 6’2″, 6’3″, 6’5″, and 6’9″.

“Someone as good as Cade, it’s always exciting to go and play against them,” ASUN Defensive Player of the Year Elijah Cuffee said. “For me, that’s just an extra motivation, going out there against someone that is well known and really good and being able to just go out there and prove yourself against them. For me, I’m excited and can’t wait to get out there.”

Liberty and Oklahoma State have one common opponent from this season, with the Cowboys going 0-2 against TCU and Liberty losing their only contest against the Horned Frogs. Oklahoma State lost to TCU, 77-76, in Stillwater, Oklahoma on Dec. 16 and also lost to the Horned Frogs, 81-78, in Fort Worth, Texas on Feb. 3. The Flames fell to TCU, 56-52, on Nov. 29 in Kansas City.

After entering the Big 12 Tournament this past week as a No. 5 seed, the Cowboys made a run to the championship game where they fell to Texas, 91-86, on Saturday night. Oklahoma State defeated No. 4 seed West Virginia in the quarterfinals and then upset No. 1 seed Baylor in the semifinals.

“I’m familiar with them,” McKay said of Oklahoma State. “Saw them a bit in the game against Texas because Shaka (Smart) and I are close. I have great respect for them. They are playing as well as any one in the country and rightfully so. They have a really good team with an absolutely outstanding player, but they have a really good supporting cast too.”

The winner will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday and will play the winner of 5-seed Tennessee and 12-seed Oregon State.

“We have a lot of motivation,” ASUN Player of the Year and Tournament MVP Darius McGhee said. “No limits in what we can do, we all believe that and we want to focus in on this upcoming game and take it one game at a time, but I think guys are super excited to see how far we can go.”