Liberty dropped a second straight game, falling to Bradley, 74-64, on Wednesday afternoon in the 3rd place game of the 2025 Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational, The Flames fall to 5-2 on the season while Bradley evens its record at 4-4.
“I don’t ever want to discredit the other team because I thought Bradley played really, really well today,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Super physical. They knocked down some shots early, kind of came out and really punched us. After we got down 21, I thought our fight was authentic and representative of who we want to be. Obviously, disappointed in the result. I’m not too discouraged though. It’s really hard to play 120 minutes of basketball with five guys. Again, that’s on me. But I’m too competitive and want to win the game. I do think Josh (Smith) and Zander (Carter) are coming. I thought we reeled it in a little bit after the initial blow, but obviously it wasn’t enough to get the victory.”
It was a slow start for the Flames, as they fell behind early. The Braves utilized a 10-0 run in the opening minutes to grab an 11 point lead at the 14 minute mark of the first half. It extended to as many as 21 following a 16-2 Bradley run, as the Braves took advantage of cold Liberty shooting and were able to get clean looks and knock them down. The Flames made just one field goal during this stretch that lasted nearly eight full minutes of game action. After missing the first seven three-pointers of the game, a JJ Harper triple with 2:44 left in the first half gave the Flames some energy and end the Bradley run. It propelled the Flames to a first half closing 13-2 run to cut the Bradley lead to 43-33 at intermission.
Bradley shot 62% from the field in the first half and made 6 of 11 from three=point range while the Flames knocked down their last two three-pointers after missing its first seven. Liberty did get to the foul line frequently, converting on 9 of 14 first half free throw attempts. Much like Liberty’s loss to Towson Tuesday, Bradley dominated the glass, holding a 17-7 edge on the boards in the first half, including a 5-1 advantage on the offensive glass leading to a 7-0 edge in second chance points.
The Flames tried to make a push several times in the second half, but Bradley had an answer every time. Out of the halftime break, Liberty scored five straight to cut their deficit to five only to have the Braves respond with a three of their own. After that, the Flames got it six one other time and then couldn’t get closer than eight the rest of the way.
Decker, who entered the game averaging 19.3 points per game, led the Flames in scoring with 21 points. He was 5 of 6 from behind the arc and is the only Liberty player to score in double figures in each of the team’s first seven games. The sophomore guard has 31 threes this season and entered the game shooting over 55% from behind the arc.
Kaden Metheny was the only other Flame to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points on 3 of 9 shooting and 1 of 5 from three. Colin Porter finished with 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. He exited the game late while his left hamstring was attended to, something McKay said in the postgame that has been bothering him for a couple of weeks. Zach Cleveland had 6 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists. JJ Harper had 7 points before he fouled out. Zander Carter and Josh Smith each had 6 points off the bench.
Former Liberty big man Kai Yu transferred to Bradley in the offseason. He played 2 minutes for the Braves.
Liberty finished the game shooting 45.8% from the field, 9 of 23 (39.1%) from three and 11 of 21 (52.4%) from the free throw line. Bradley shot 50.9% from the field and 8 of 18 (44.4%) from three. The Braves out-rebounded Liberty, 36-20 and had a 15-4 advantage in second chance points and 36-26 edge in points in the paint.
“They were way more physical,” McKay said of Bradley. “When you have the size of the lineup that I’ve chosen to go with, it’s great when you are winning, making shots, doing all of that, assisting on baskets. It’s a little harder when you are getting overpowered, out-rebounded.”
The Flames are now 1-1 all-time against Bradley. The only prior meeting was a 55-44 Liberty win in the third place game of the 2022 Cancun Challenge.
Liberty concludes their time in central Florida this week at the ESPN Events Invitational 1-2 and take home fourth place in the event. UC San Diego won the tournament this weekend as they have begun the season 7-0 following their win Wednesday afternoon over Towson, 87-73. Of course, the Tigers defeated Liberty, 72-69, on Tuesday in the semifinals.
“There’s a lot of season left,” said McKay. “It’s only November. We got off to a great start, but when you play at home, and then when you have a lot of time to prep, you can know what to expect. This third game in three days was a little much for us.”
The Flames rested on their starters considerably throughout the week, with all five playing over 30 minutes throughout the week, with the exception of Wednesday as the game got out of hand a little bit.
“The great thing is we won’t have to do this again until the conference tournament,” McKay said of playing three games in three days. “In the conference tournament, there’s a chance, depending on your seed, you get a day in between. Hopefully by then we will be a little bit more confident in the reps that we have defensively and we are hoping Isaiah (Ihnen) will be back and we will stay healthy.”
The Flames will return to the court on Saturday, December 6 at Liberty Arena against Coppin State. The Eagles are currently 2-7 this season and are coming off their first win over a Division I opponent on Tuesday, defeating Rider, 68-65. They will play two games before heading to Lynchburg, as they play at Loyola Maryland on Sunday and at West Virginia on Wednesday, December 3. Liberty is 2-0 all-time against Coppin State but the two have not met since the 1983-84 season. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
“This is November. We’re going to be alright.”
