Liberty (19-5, 10-2) vs. Bellarmine (13-5, 10-2)
Louisville, Kentucky – Freedom Hall
Saturday, Feb. 27, 12:00 p.m. ET
ESPNU

Last Meeting: This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs.
Series History: N/A

Projected LU Starters:

1 Chris Parker (Sr., 6-1, 170) – 9.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.6 apg
2 Darius McGhee (Jr., 5-9, 150) – 14.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.9 apg
10 Elijah Cuffee (Sr., 6-4, 200) – 9.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.6 apg
22 Kyle Rode (So., 6-7, 220) – 6.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 apg
32 Blake Preston (R-So., 6-9, 225) – 8.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.3 apg

Projected Bellarmine Starters:

13 Dylan Penn (Jr., 6-3, 190) – 12.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.6 apg
25 CJ Fleming (Sr., 6-0, 180) – 11.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.9 apg
32 Pedro Bradshaw (Jr., 6-7, 185) – 15.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.8 apg
0 Ethan Claycomb (Sr., 6-7, 205) – 10.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.7 apg
30 Nick Thelen (So., 6-7, 217) – 5.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.5 apg

QUICK FACTS

  • Liberty has won 8 straight games, which is tied for the 9th longest winning streak in the country.
  • The Flames’ 19 wins this season are the most among Division I programs in the state of Virginia.
  • Liberty is trying to become the third program in ASUN history to win three straight regular season titles. The last team to accomplish the feat was former ASUN member Georgia State who won the regular season title from 2000-2002, earning a share of the title twice and winning it outright once. College of Charleston also accomplished the feat from 1996-1998 and actually won 5 straight dating back to 1994.
  • Liberty’s first two ASUN regular season titles have been clinched on the road.
  • The Flames are one win away from winning 20 wins in a season for a 5th straight season.
  • Elijah Cuffee is just two wins away from tying Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz with the most wins in program history. Cuffee currently has 100 wins.
  • The Flames end the season with a 36-game winning streak at home which is the second longest streak in the country, trailing only Gonzaga. Liberty has gone two full seasons without a home loss, with the last loss coming on Jan. 29, 2019.
  • Liberty ranks No. 90 in the NET Rankings, the highest in the ASUN.
  • Elijah Cuffee has played in 130 career games, which ranks No. 3 in Division I.
  • Chris Parker ranks No. 89 in the country with 87 assists this season.
  • Blake Preston ranks No. 20 in the country shooting 64.1% from the field.

PREVIEW

Liberty will be playing for its 5th regular season title at the Division I level on Saturday as the Flames look for a third straight ASUN regular season championship under head coach Ritchie McKay. The fact that Liberty is here may not come as a surprise, but their opponent who is currently tied for first place atop the ASUN may come as a suprise.

Bellarmine is in their first season in DI and the ASUN and they have taken the conference by storm, winning 10 straight games to join the Flames at 10-2 in a first place tie entering Saturday’s regular season finale.

“I played Division II,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “I have a really healthy respect for the quality of basketball that’s played and coached (at that level). It’s a really good level. They’ve been to 12 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, that’s really hard to do, I don’t care what level. Scott Davenport’s been an incredibly successful coach and they have three Division I transfers, one of which was recruited by Rick Byrd a mentor of mine, Pedro Bradshaw, and I know how good of a player he is. They have a system, they have an expectation, they have a culture.”

Bradshaw began his collegiate career at Belmont under head coach Rick Byrd before transferring to Eastern Kentucky for the 2018-19 season. He has spent the past two years at Bellarmine where he averaged 9.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in his first season with the Knights.

“Dylan Penn is a really complete scorer,” McKay said. “Bradshaw, obviously, is an MVP candidate, but the other guys you’ve got to pay attention to. Claycomb has a tremendous feel and plays with great effort. Although, I could say the same thing about 1 through 9 or 10 on their roster, really good feel, play with great effort, very sacrificial in nature. They are a lot like our group although we have different schemes. They are a lot like our group in terms of the parts that they have.”

Bellarmine has the top rated offensive team in the ASUN according to KenPom’s offensive efficiency ratings. The Knights rank just ahead of the Flames who are 2nd in the conference. Bellarmine leads the conference in scoring at 74.3 points per game while Liberty ranks 2nd at 74.1.  The Knights also lead the conference in field goal percentage (51.1%) and are third in three point percentage (37.3%).

“They move the ball with such a great pace, it’s hard to guard no matter what your defensive style is,” McKay said. “I think they have proven that by the opponents that they’ve played, but we are who we are and we’re probably an easy prep because people know what we’re going to do. We’re going to try and play our everyday defense and see if it’s good enough to slow down the Knights because they are very proficient.”

As expected, Liberty is the top rated defense in the conference by several factors including KenPom’s defensive efficiency. By that measure, Bellarmine has the third best defense in the league behind the Flames and FGCU, but the Knights have a weakness that Liberty could try to exploit.

Bellarmine ranks 307th in the country in three-point field goal defense and are the worst in the ASUN allowing opponents to make 38.1% of their three point attempts. The Knights also rank 325th, according to KenPom, by 38.1% of their opponents’ points coming from three-point range.

Not only is Liberty the best three-point shooting team in the ASUN but one of the best in the country. The Flames are 10th in Division I with 233 three-point field goals made, 12th in three pointers made per game (10.1), 15th in three0point field goal attempts (616), and 28th in three-point field goal percentage (37.82%).

“They are really committed to what they do every day,” Liberty guard Darius McGhee said of Bellarmine. “They run their sets very well. They are a team that plays hard and they are very efficient and very effective at what they do.”

KENPOM PREDICTION

Liberty 67, Bellarmine 64