Liberty (15-4, 3-3 CUSA) was able to get back in the win column thanks to a 68-60 victory at home in front of 3,776 fans at Liberty Arena over New Mexico State (11-7, 4-1). It was the Aggies’ first setback since Dec. 12 when they lost at Texas and their first loss in conference play.
“Really proud of our group, that was hard fought,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “New Mexico State is terrific defensively, and they have a lot of options on the other end. Anytime we shoot 3 for 14 from three, it’s going to typically be a bit of a grind. Happy with our looks, just a lot of them didn’t go in. I think we’ve got to clean up our defensive glass a little bit. Quality win against a quality team, really balanced attack, proud of everybody that wore one of our jerseys.”
The Aggies got off to a strong start in the game, leading 11-4 in the opening minutes as they were tough on the defensive end and took advantage on the offensive glass. Liberty would battle back and take their first lead midway through the first half on a Owen Aquino layup. That was part of a 7-0 Liberty run that helped the home team take a four points lead.
Colin Porter was an early aggressor for Liberty on offense. He was frequently attacking the basket and finished with nine first half points. Coming off the bench, Zander Yates knocked down two of his three first half three point attempts to help the Flames to 10 first half bench points.
Liberty had its largest lead of the game at 8 following six straight points from Zach Cleveland, his latest one coming with 51 seconds remaining in the opening half to put the Flames up 34-26. The Aggies would claw back with five straight to close the half, including a stepback three from Christian Cook at the first half buzzer, cutting Liberty’s advantage to 34-31.
The Flames would struggle coming back onto the floor after the halftime break, making just 1 of 14 field goals to open the second half including a stretch of 11 straight. It allowed the visitors to claw back in front, as they led 41-38 with 13:17 left to play. A Taelon Peter reverse layup would end the drought at the 11:54 mark. That bucket sparked a 6-0 Liberty run that lasted nearly three minutes and put the Flames back in front, a lead they would not relinquish.
Leading by two with six minutes remaining, Liberty utilized a 7-0 run to take control and push the lead to nine following a Jayvon Maughmer layup with 4:18 to play. The Aggies would not get closer than six the rest of the way. The Flames’ defense buckled down during the stretch, holding New Mexico State without a field goal for over five minutes.
“We were hard to play against defensively, especially at the end,” said McKay. “We were hard to play against. That’s a really good team. Really good win.”
Liberty had an uncharacteristic performance from behind the three-point line, finishing just 3 of 14 for 21.4%. It marked season lows in both three point makes and attempts, the previous lows being seven and 18, respectively. It also marked the first time Liberty won a game while making only three three-pointers or fewer since January 19, 2019 when the Flames defeated North Florida, 70-64, while making just three triples. Most surprisingly for the Flames tonight was that it was Zander Yates off the bench making two of his four three-point attempts to lead the way. Colin Porter made the only other three-pointer for the Flames.
Porter led the team in scoring with 14 points while making five of his six free throws. Owen Aquino, Zach Cleveland, and Taelon Peter all scored 11 points while Peter (7) and Metheny (6) led the team in rebounding. Metheny scored 7 points on the night after missing his first five field goals. He finished 3 for 9 from the floor and 0 f or 4 from three.
Both teams struggled offensively in the second half. Liberty shot 35.7% while the Aggies were held to 31.3% from the field, both teams finishing below 50% from the field for the game. Liberty got to the free throw line 26 times, making 17 for 65.4%.
“The way people are playing Kaden, they are really trying to run him off the line, and they try to use a rim protector,” said McKay. “The more we see it, the better we’re getting at executing. I think the selflessness of our group, we’ll always have a chance to get a great shot. I mean this sincerely, no one really cares, this is why I think we run good offense, who scores the ball. We’re all just trying to get a good one. When we do get the floor spaced the right way and we get down hill a little bit, we’ve got a really good chance for something good to happen offensively.”
With the win, Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay tied Jeff Meyer with 259 wins at Liberty, the most in program history.
The Flames will get a week off now before returning to action Saturday against FIU. The Panthers are currently 7-12 on the season and 1-5 in conference play, having lost four straight including an 81-73 setback at home against UTEP on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off from Miami is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
“This is Conference USA,” McKay stated. “For those that don’t know, look at the standings in the other leagues at some high major programs that have 3-3 records or 2-4 or whatever. It’s just like that. We had a great non-conference season. Now, it will be a challenge every night.”
