After opening the season Monday night with a 98-57 win at Liberty Arena over Kentucky Christian, Liberty (1-0) now prepares for the third annual Field of 68 Media Network Tip-Off Event to be hosted by the Flames at Liberty Arena beginning with Charleston (1-0) Friday night.

Here’s what you need to know about the game:

How to Watch

6:00 p.m. ET | Friday, November 7
Lynchburg, VA | Liberty Arena
TV: YouTube

Liberty vs Charleston Odds (KenPom)

Spread: Liberty -7
Projected score: Liberty 80, Charleston 73

Liberty Projected Starters

#0 Colin Porter

Senior Guard | 5’10”, 170
2024-25 stats: 9.1 ppg, 4.3 apg, 2.2 rpg

#3 Kaden Metheny

R-Senior Guard | 5’11”, 170
2024-25 stats: 13.3 ppg, 2.0 apg, 2.9 rpg

#4 Brett Decker

Sophomore Guard | 6’3″, 190
2024-25 stats: 4.3 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 0.4 apg

#9 JJ Harper

R-Senior Guard | 6’5″, 200
2024-25 stats (at West Liberty): 15.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.2 apg

#25 Zach Cleveland

Senior Forward | 6’7″, 220
2024-25 stats: 11.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.1 apg

Liberty vs Charleston History

Liberty is 1-3 all-time against Charleston. The teams have split the two meetings over the past two seasons as part of the Field of 68 event. Charleston won in 2023, 76-67, in Boca Raton, Florida, and Liberty won last year, 68-47, on Charleston’s home floor.

Liberty vs Charleston Storylines

FIRST REAL TEST FOR THE FLAMES

The competition ramps up in a big way for Liberty this weekend with this event, first Friday night against Charleston and then Sunday evening against FAU. By the end of the weekend, we will have a much better understanding of where this Liberty team stands currently. Regardless, with Colin Porter, Kaden Metheny, and Zach Cleveland on the roster, and head coach Ritchie McKay manning the sidelines, this team should be competitive in CUSA, as a baseline. How the rest of the roster comes together and gels throughout the year, as well as staying healthy, will determine the ceiling for this team.

Led by second-year head coach Chris Mack, Charleston is a team that has the talent, size, and athleticism that will test Liberty, especially with the unknowns in the front court due to the injuries to Josh Smith and Isaiah Ihnen. The Cougars went 24-9 last year under Mack in his first season and 13-5 in the CAA before losing to eventual conference tournament champ UNC Wilmington in the conference semifinals. It snapped a streak of two straight NCAA Tournament appearances for Charleston, as they advanced to the Big Dance in both 2023 and 2024 under former head coach Pat Kelsey who is now at Louisville.

“We want to challenge ourselves,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “One of the unintended blessings that it’s hard to see when you are in it, is when you play quality people in the non-conference, you get to find out what your team isn’t. We try not to ever make fear-based decisions. If we can get a quality opponent and schedule a series i.e. the Dayton one that we started this year or this Field of 68 Event, we are all in on those.”

NEW LOOK CHARLESTON ROSTER

Like is the case for many in college athletics these days, it will be almost an entirely new roster Liberty faces Friday compared to what the Flames saw last year in Charleston. Of the 10 that played in that Liberty win last season, none played in Charleston’s regular season win over Tusculum, 79-58, Monday night. Additionally, the Cougars had four first-year players in the starting lineup and six of the top eight in minutes played were first year players.

“Especially at the mid (major) level, there’s a lot of rotation in your roster,” McKay noted. “We’ve had the good fortune of being able to experience some retention which we’re blessed by. I think our university affords us that opportunity, not so much in the financial realm as much as what this place is about in trying to recruit missional fits for our program.”

Of course, just because there is a new look roster, that doesn’t mean Charleston doesn’t have talent. Jlynn Counter is a familiar name to Liberty, as he starred for Middle Tennessee last year, averaging 10.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists for the Blue Raiders. The 6’3″ guard had 10 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds in the opener for the Cougars. Former Duke big man, 7’2″ Christian Reeves also made his Charleston debut Monday night. He finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Fellow 7-footer, Chol Machot, also made his debut. The first year big from the Junior College ranks scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“Jlynn Counter, we’re very familiar with him when he played at Middle for Coach McDevitt,” McKay said. “He looks a lot different for Coach Mack in a Cougar uniform. Although we have some historical data on him and maybe a little bit of knowledge because we’ve experienced playing against him, he’s a different player. He’s really improved and fits tremendously well in their system and he had different pieces (at Middle Tennessee).”

The two 7-footers will certainly be a test for Liberty who is still piecing things together in the frontcourt. Zach Cleveland is the only known commodity right now with Smith and Ihnen’s status still uncertain as they recover from serious knee injuries. Virginia Tech transfer RJ Jones should have a great opportunity to showcase his worth in the paint for the Flames.

“They present a ton of challenges,” said McKay of the Cougars and their size. “We are well aware of them. We have seen it before. We reside in a league where there is good size, length, and athleticism. This will be a great test. I have a ton of respect for Chris Mack. He’s literally one of the best coaches in the country, and they have a terrific staff. They will be well prepared for us.”

The other starters for the Cougars in their season opener was 6’5″ Kendall Taylor, 6’6″ Martin Kalu, and 6’6″ Jaxon Prunty. Taylor is a transfer from Division II Wingate. He scored 12 points and had 11 rebounds against Tusculum Monday. Kalhu is a first-year freshman from Germany who reached double figures with 11 points to go along with 6 rebounds in his Charleston debut. Prunty played in 5 games last year as a true freshman while missing most of the season due to an injury. He had 3 points and 3 rebounds Monday night.

Charleston was also without a few key pieces in the season opener including Mister Dean, Colby Duggan, Bryce Baker, and Will Mortimore. Dean was the Big South Freshman of the Year last year at South Carolina State. The 6’6″ guard averaged 15.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and ranked 24th in the national with 2.1 steals per game. Head coach Chris Mack said Dean is “very close” to returning and that they “opted to be safe” with a calf injury he suffered.

Duggan was first-team All-CAA last year at Campbell in averaging 15.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He led the conference in scoring during conference games at 19.9 points per game. The 6’7″ forward has the ability to light up the scoreboard as he had seven 20-point games and 2 30-point games last season. His status seems a little more uncertain as he was injured in a shootaround prior to their game Monday night.

Baker is listed as day-to-day. The 6’5″ guard is a transfer from Winthrop who averaged 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting 40% from three last season. Mortimore is a 6’10” JUCO transfer big man who has been in concussion protocol and the Cougars are hopeful he can return this weekend.

CONTRASTING STYLES?

If the first game for each team is any indication, this may feature a team of contrasting styles. As has been the case for McKay’s teams at Liberty, the Flames rely on the three-point shot quite a bit. Against Kentucky Christian, Liberty made 16 of 33 from deep, highlighted by an 8 of 10 night from sophomore Brett Decker. The Flames ended up with 44 of 98 points scored in the paint. Compare this to Charleston who scored 56 of their 79 points in the paint and made just 1 of 24 from three.

“You want these games,” said McKay. “They are hard for us to get and next to impossible to get at home. I do think it will be a big test for us in terms of how we combat their size, but we have to be ourselves. We are who we are. It would be nice of Josh (Smith) and Isaiah (Ihnen) were available – they are day-to-day – so we will see. We’ve got to make sure we do a good job of being Liberty as well as kind of combatting some of the things they do well, and there are a plethora of those things.”