Liberty (26-3, 12-2) vs. Kennesaw State (1-26, 0-14)
Kennesaw, Georgia – KSU Convocation Center (4,600 capacity)
Thursday, Feb. 27, 7:00 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN+
Radio: Alan York will have the Liberty radio network call on 107.5 FM in Lynchburg or also streaming online.
Last Meeting: Liberty defeated the Owls, 83-45, in Lynchburg on January 30th earlier this season.
Series History: Liberty leads 3-0.

Projected LU Starters:

11 Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz (Sr., 6-1, 175) – 10.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.1 apg
2 Darius McGhee (So., 5-9, 150) – 9.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.7 apg
10 Elijah Cuffee (Jr., 6-4, 200) – 7.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.2 apg
1 Caleb Homesley (R-Sr., 6-6, 205) – 14.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.4 apg
31 Scottie James (R-Sr., 6-7, 230) – 11.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.3 apg

Top LU Reserves:

0 Myo Baxter-Bell (R-Sr., 6-5, 255) – 7.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg
22 Kyle Rode (Fr., 6-7, 220) – 4.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.2 apg
33 Shiloh Robinson (Fr., 6-7, 200) – 2.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 0.5 apg

Projected Kennesaw State Starters:

4 Tyler Hooker (Sr., 5-10, 147) – 13.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.7 apg
13 CJ Washington (Fr., 6-4, 208) – 5.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.4 apg
15 Ugo Obineke (So., 6-6, 191) – 8.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.5 apg
24 Bryson Lockley (Sr., 6-8, 208) – 8.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.4 apg
23 Antonio Spencer (So., 6-9, 233) – 3.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.3 apg

Top Kennesaw State Reserves:

12 Jamie Lewis (Fr., 6-4, 175) – 8.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.5 apg
3 Adili Kuerban (So., 6-2, 183) – 3.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.8 apg
45 Pietro Agostini (So., 6-9, 224) – 2.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.1 apg

QUICK FACTS

  • 26 wins is the most for a Liberty team during the regular season and third most all-time.
  • The Flames have tied its ASUN record with 7 straight wins.
  • For the first time in school history, Liberty ended the regular season with an undefeated record at home.
  • The Flames have posted 98 wins in the last four seasons, which ranks 23rd in Division I and 9th among non Power Five schools.
  • Liberty has held an opponent under 50 points on 14 occasions this season.
  • The Flames have the 10th longest winning streak in the country.
  • Liberty’s 20 game winning streak at home is the fifth longest in the country.
  • Liberty ended 2019 with the second highest winning percentage (.882) in Division I going 32-4.
  • Liberty looks to become the first team since FGCU in 2017 to repeat as ASUN Champions.
  • The Flames are favored by 21.5.

PREVIEW

Liberty is currently in its 32nd season as a Division I member. In the previous 31 years, the Flames have never won an outright regular season conference title and have claimed a share of a regular season title on just three occasions – 1997, 2004, 2019. With a win Thursday night, Liberty will clinch at least a share of the ASUN regular season title for the second consecutive season, and coupled with either a North Florida loss Thursday night or a Liberty win Saturday at Lipscomb, the Flames will win its first outright regular season title in school history.

More importantly, a win Thursday will wrap up the 1-seed in next week’s ASUN Tournament which guarantees the Flames home court advantage throughout. Also, if Liberty is unable to win the ASUN Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament, the 1-seed will guarantee Liberty a spot in the NIT.

“Not really,” was Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay’s response when asked if they ever talk about regular season titles. “I learned this from Tony Bennett, Brad Stephens, Dick Bennett. They all continuously talk about that process of getting better. If you own that, what you want you will usually have a chance for, and it’s been really true here. It would mean a lot to repeat as champions. I think that would be great, but we don’t have a goal board. We just want to keep getting better.”

The Kennesaw State Owls are what stands in the way of the Flames’ getting that regular season title. KSU has yet to win a game in conference this season and has just one win all season, but McKay says his team won’t overlook them.

“It would be crazy to overlook them,” he said. “KenPom had Duke beating Stephen F. Austin by 26 points, and that didn’t happen. Belmont was supposed to win by 28 (against SIU Edwardsville), but they lost the game. This year, this day and age, if you overlook someone, it would be asinine. They have improved. I think Amir (Abdur-Rahim) has done a good job. He’s slowing it down a little bit, and they’re playing better. They won’t make it to the (ASUN) tournament, so this is a chance for them to have some momentum going into next year because they recruited incredibly well, one of the best ASUN classes I’ve seen in the two years we’ve been in the league.”

KENPOM PREDICTION

Liberty 70, Kennesaw State 49