Liberty will open the 2025-26 season on Monday evening at Liberty Arena when the Flames welcome Kentucky Christian to Lynchburg for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
Here’s what you need to know about the game:
How to Watch
7:00 p.m. ET | Monday, November 3
Lynchburg, VA | Liberty Arena
TV: ESPN+
Liberty vs Kentucky Christian Odds (KenPom)
Spread: N/A
Projected score: N/A
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 Kentucky Christian History
Liberty is 6-0 all-time against Kentucky Christian. The teams last met during the 2019-20 season, a 96-40 Liberty win.
Liberty vs Kentucky Christian Storylines
QUEST FOR REPEAT BEGINS
Expectations are sky high for the Flames, as has become the norm under head coach Ritchie McKay. Coming off the CUSA regular season and tournament titles from last year and returning the big three of Colin Porter, Kaden Metheny, and Zach Cleveland, many expect to see Liberty competing at the top of Conference USA once again this season. Despite those returners, there are plenty of question marks on this year’s team with new faces and key losses. Taelon Peter, Jayvon Maughmer, and Owen Aquino were all key pieces last year and they have departed. The Flames brought in two transfers in Virginia Tech’s RJ Jones and West Liberty’s JJ Harper. Harper is expecting to be a key member of the rotation, perhaps even a starter, as a defensive stopper in a similar role to that of Maughmer last season. Meanwhile, Jones will be competing for playing time early in the season.
FLAMES TO BE SHORT-HANDED
Liberty forwards Josh Smith and Isaiah Ihnen are not expected to play Monday night as they are both recovering from ACL injuries. Smith’s injury occurred during the spring semester of 2024 when he played at Stetson while Ihnen’s happened in December of 2024. McKay stated earlier in the preseason that Ihnen would be limited to begin the season, so it makes sense for him to not suit up in the season opener. Smith’s is a little bit more concerning as it has been about 20 months since his injury. Hopefully it is just precautionary.
In their absence, expect the Flames to play a smaller lineup much of the game, especially against the smaller opponent. We should also see plenty of minutes for returning forward Zander Yates as well as Virginia Tech transfer RJ Jones. True freshman TJ Drain should also get a good amount of playing time, as he is someone McKay said he isn’t planning on redshirting. We should get an answer on the redshirt status for this season for the other true freshmen – Drew Grimes, Torr Sorensen, Zander Carter, and Brady Kester.
Depth in the frontcourt was already a concern coming into this season, and, with Smith and Ihnen being so injury prone, the Flames will need to shore up the depth in the frontcourt. Monday night will be a good first game to see what some of these guys have.
TUNE-UP BEFORE BIG WEEKEND
It’s no secret that Liberty should win this game easily, but it just serves as a tune-up to begin the season ahead of a couple of big tests this coming weekend. The Flames will host the Field of 68 Invitational with Charleston and FAU coming to Liberty Arena. Liberty plays Charleston first, on Friday, before taking on FAU Sunday. Those two teams will also play each other on Saturday. Charleston and FAU are frequently near the top of their respective conference and one of the better teams in the Group of Five. Liberty split the two games against these two last year in this event held in Charleston before dropping both games two years ago in Boca Raton in the first year of the event.
