#4 Liberty (18-13, 7-9 CUSA) opens up CUSA Tournament play against #5 UTEP (16-15, 7-9) on Thursday evening in the CUSA Quarterfinals.

Here’s what you need to know about the game:

How to Watch

6:30 p.m. ET | Thursday, March 14
Huntsville, AL | Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center
TV: ESPN+

Liberty vs UTEP Odds (KenPom)

Spread: Liberty -4
Projected score: Liberty 70, UTEP 66

Liberty Projected Starters

#0 Colin Porter

Sophomore Guard | 5’9″, 170
8.1 ppg, 3.9 apg

#3 Kaden Metheny

R-Junior Guard | 5’10”, 170
13.2 ppg, 2.8 apg, 3.5 rpg

#23 Joseph Venzant

Junior Guard | 6’3″, 200
5.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg

#22 Kyle Rode

R-Senior Forward | 6’7″, 220
14.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.4 apg

#25 Zach Cleveland

Sophomore Forward | 6’7″, 215
12.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 4.0 apg

Liberty vs UTEP History

The Flames are 1-1 all-time against UTEP with the first two meetings both coming earlier this season. Liberty defeated UTEP, 67-65, in El Paso, Texas, the only road win for the Flames so far this season in CUSA play. The Miners knocked off Liberty, 67-51, in Lynchburg on March 2.

Liberty vs UTEP Storylines

TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS

This game will feature two contrasting styles in terms of of turnovers. Liberty has been one of the best teams in the country and Conference USA this season in protecting the ball. The Flames have given up 10.3 turnovers per game this season which is good for 53rd best in the country. Meanwhile, UTEP leads the nation in turnovers forced, causing their opponents to commit just over 19 turnovers per game.

The Miners do a really good job of forcing the tempo and trying to force teams out of their routine. They frequently trap the ball and force additional passes. In their win over Liberty less than two weeks ago, UTEP forced Liberty into 17 turnovers which was a season high for the Flames.

SENIOR DAY

In their win over Liberty on March 2, the Miners were very effective in attacking the basket, particularly with their guards. UTEP scored 38 of their 67 points in the win came in the paint and many of those were from their guards.

UTEP was able to take advantage of their size at guard and on the wing, getting into the paint and able to pull up, rise and shoot over Liberty’s smaller guards. The Flames will be looking to offset that ability on Thursday. Corey Camper, Jr., Zid Powell, and Tae Hardy all had good games in the win over the Flames in Lynchburg. We will see if they can be successful with that strategy in Huntsville.

3-POINT SHOOTING

Offensively, Liberty has been built around its ability to take and knock down three pointers, that has been very evident this season for the Flames.

In Liberty’s nine conference losses, the Flames have made 10 or fewer threes in each one. Actually, seven of the nine conference losses failed to reach the double figure marks in made three pointers. The two others, Liberty made 10 three pointers, those came in losses to the top two teams in CUSA, Louisiana Tech and Sam Houston. Additionally, the Flames typically struggled to shoot for a decent percentage from three in the losses, with five of the nine losses Liberty shooting below 30% from three.

In the wins, Liberty shot at least 38% from three in each one of the seven wins. The Flames also made 11 or more threes in four of the seven wins. Something to keep an eye on Thursday.