The Liberty Flames (10-3, 2-0) will look to conclude it’s opening conference home stand weekend with a perfect 2-0 split at Liberty Arena on Sunday afternoon by playing host to Jacksonville State (7-6, 2-0).

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

How to Watch

2 p.m. ET | Sunday, January 4
Lynchburg, Virginia | Liberty Arena
TV: ESPN+

Liberty vs Jax State Odds (KenPom)

Spread: Liberty -11
Projected score: Liberty 74, Jax State 63

Liberty Projected Starters

#0 Colin Porter

Senior Guard | 5’10”, 170
2025-26 stats: 11.8 ppg, 3.5 apg, 2.6 rpg

#3 Kaden Metheny

R-Senior Guard | 5’11”, 170
2025-26 stats: 13.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.4 apg

#4 Brett Decker

Sophomore Guard | 6’3″, 190
2025-26 stats: 18.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 52.5% 3-point field goals

#9 JJ Harper

R-Senior Guard | 6’5″, 200
2025-26 stats: 10.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 apg

#25 Zach Cleveland

Senior Forward | 6’7″, 220
2025-26 stats: 10.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 7.4 apg

Liberty vs Jax State History

Series tied, 4-4. Liberty won 2 of 3 games last year, including a 59-55 advantage in  Lynchburg and a 79-67 win in the CUSA Tournament Championship Game in Huntsville, Alabama.

Liberty vs Jax State Storylines

REMATCH OF CUSA CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday’s game will be a rematch of the CUSA Tournament Championship Game from this past March in Huntsville, Alabama. It was a game where the Flames won, 79-67, after a lengthy delay to begin the game due to the roof leaking at Propst Arena. Kaden Metheny led the way with 21 points for the Flames on 5 of 10 shooting from three. The Liberty guard was named Tournament MVP following the Flames’ first ever CUSA Championship. Taelon Peter added 20 points while Colin Porter had 13 points and 9 assists and Zach Cleveland added 10 points and 7 rebounds. CUSA Player of the Year Jaron Pierre led the Gamecocks with 19 points. That meeting came following the two team’s splitting the season series during the regular season after both teams finished atop the CUSA standings in the regular season.

EARLY FIRST PLACE BATTLE

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that preseason CUSA favorite Liberty currently resides in first place in the very, very early CUSA standings at 2-0, but the Gamecocks are also at 2-0, coming as somewhat of a surprise, especially following their non-conference performance. Head coach Ray Harper and Jax State dropped six of their first seven games against Division I teams with losses to South Alabama, Arkansas State, North Dakota State, North Alabama, Georgia State, and Eastern Kentucky, having many thinking this year’s JSU team might not be at the same level as Coach Harper’s squad from a year ago. However, the Gamecocks have hit a rhythm recently, winning three straight including their first two in CUSA play, with wins at home over Western Kentucky, 78-67, and at Delaware this past Friday night, 67-64.

CONTRAST OF STYLES

You may remember Jaron Pierre from last year’s Jax State squad who led the conference in scoring and was named conference player of the year. Well, Pierre has moved on and transferred to SMU, but Coach Harper brought in Louisiana transfer Mostapha El Moutaouakkil who has stepped into that Pierre role. The 6’6″ senior is currently second in the country in usage rate and is second in CUSA in scoring at 18.8 points per game, only trailing Kennesaw State’s Simeon Cottle. El Moutaouakkil is 5th in the league in rebounding at 7.5 boards per game.

6’3″ senior guard AC Bryant, a transfer from Alabama A&M, is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game. Other primary contributors for the Gamecocks so far this season including 6’4″ freshman guard Jacoby Hill (7.5 ppg), JUCO transfer 6’9″ forward Emondrek Erkins-Ford (7.1 ppg), 6’3″ senior guard Jamar Franklin (6.9 ppg), 6’2″ guard and Tennessee State transfer Marcus Fitzgerald (5.4 ppg), and 6’3″ guard and Tulsa transfer Jaye Nash (4.2 ppg, 4.1 apg).

“I know Coach Harper,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said of the Gamecocks’ head man. “I don’t care what their record is, every year he has a team that will execute a game plan that will be really hard to play against, but again that will be the norm in Conference USA.”