Liberty lost for the third time in four games on Wednesday night at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, getting blitzed by the NC State Wolfpack, 85-45. The 40-point margin of defeat was the Flames’ worst since losing by 45 points, 101-56, to Alabama at the C.M. Newton Classic on Dec. 30, 2023.
The loss to the Wolfpack was very reminiscent of the loss to Oregon, 81-52, in the first round of this past March’s NCAA Tournament where both the Ducks and Wolfpack jumped out to early leads and never looked back. A 25-6 first-half Wolfpack run turned a 6-6 tie into a 31-11 advantage with 5:42 left to play in the opening half. The run lasted 10:55 with NC State stretching the lead to 26, 45-19, at the half. The home side scored 19 of the first 22 second half points to push the lead to 42 with 13:22 remaining.
The Flames shot a season-worst 35.3% percent (18 of 51) from the field as well as season worsts from three-point territory (21.4%, 6 of 28) and the free throw line (30%, 3 of 10). NC State was dominant in many facets of the game including points in the paint (42-24), bench points (35-13), and second chance points (8-2). Liberty committed a season high 17 turnovers, leading to 21 Wolfpack points. It was the most turnovers in a game for the Flames since committing 18 turnovers in a 58-45 home win over FIU on Feb. 22, 2025.
“We sped them up,” said NC State head coach Will Wade.
He was exactly right. The Flames, who are based on rhythm and space, were flustered all night by the Pack’s size, length, speed, and athleticism. NC State had a season-high 40 deflections in the win.
“They didn’t have enough time to keep hunting the matchups and hunting the open shots,” Wade said of the Flames.
Liberty’s 19 first half points were its fewest in a half since scoring 17 in the first half against Manhattan in the ASUN/MAAC Challenge in Orlando, Florida on Nov. 20, 2021. The Flames lost that game, 76-60. The Flames’ 45 points in the game are their fewest in a game since a 48-43 loss at Stetson on Jan. 25, 2020. The 43 points scored in that contest are the fewest in a game under head coach Ritchie McKay.
“They are a good team,” Wade said of Liberty. “I think our athleticism, I think our speed…We were able to pick at the matchups. We got Decker in the post. We got Porter in the post a little bit. We sped them up. Cleveland is a great player. He got his 5 assists, but he turned it over. They are a great team. They are way better than they played tonight, but sometimes it just snowballs when you miss those threes. They missed a couple open threes at the beginning. If they hit those, it could be a different game.”
The Flames fall to 0-3 all-time against NC State, suffering the largest margin of defeat against the Wolfpack in the series history after losing by 34 in 2004 and 35 in 1999. Meanwhile, Wade improves to 5-1 against McKay and the Flames, bouncing back from a loss to Liberty when he was at McNeese last year. He’s now beaten the Flames while the head coach at VCU, LSU, and NC State.
“I think the biggest difference is the kid 7 (Isaiah Ihnen) killed us last year, the big kid” Wade said comparing the Flames to last year’s squad. “They’ve got a really good team, but I think there’s a difference in some of the front line with Cleveland. I think 7 and 8 (Owen Aquino) from last year, those guys were a little bit bigger bodies than 9 (JJ Harper) is this year. 9 can hit threes. He was 10 of 19 coming into the game, but it didn’t look real fluid to us, so we’re going to live off of him. If he hits some threes, it may be a little bit different. I think some of the physicality on the front line is the biggest difference. Now, I’m sure Coach McKay, he will put that post trap in pretty quick for conference play and they will be swarming people.”
Harper, a transfer from Division II West Liberty in his first year with the Flames, has been playing out of position much of the season. Listed at 6’5″, he has gotten most of the matchups with the opposing team’s post player. This has happened in large part due to the loss of Owen Aquino through the transfer portal at the end of last season and Josh Smith and Isaiah Ihnen fighting back to full speed from injury. Smith continues to ramp up after missing about 21 months of action following an ACL injury suffered in February 2024 while at Stetson. Ihnen tore his ACL last December and was getting close to a return before suffering a setback recently and his prognosis does not sound promising.
McKay and the Flames will have to look for other options in the paint. One of those could be Smith as he continues getting back into game shape. Virginia Tech transfer RJ Jones has some potential but has been inconsistent through the early part of the season. It also should be noted that Liberty won’t be playing teams with the length and athleticism of NC State frequently. In order to get back to the Big Dance and have a better showing there than against Oregon or what we saw in Raleigh Wednesday night, the Flames will have to find answers for their weaknesses which have been highlighted in the recent losing skid.
