The Liberty Flames (23-4, 15-1) will look to get back in the win column after dropping their first game in over two months when the Flames play at Kennesaw State (16-11, 8-8) on Thursday.

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

How to Watch

7 p.m. ET | Thursday, February 26
Kennesaw, Georgia | KSU Convocation Center
TV: ESPN+

Liberty vs Kennesaw State Odds (KenPom)

Spread: Liberty -2
Projected score: Liberty 80, Kennesaw State 78

Liberty Projected Starters

#0 Colin Porter

Senior Guard | 5’10”, 170
2025-26 stats: 11.8 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.0 rpg

#3 Kaden Metheny

R-Senior Guard | 5’11”, 170
2025-26 stats: 13.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.1 apg

#4 Brett Decker

Sophomore Guard | 6’3″, 190
2025-26 stats: 16.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 48.1% 3-point field goals

#9 JJ Harper

R-Senior Guard | 6’5″, 200
2025-26 stats: 11.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 61.8% FG

#25 Zach Cleveland

Senior Forward | 6’7″, 220
2025-26 stats: 11.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 7.0 apg, 61.5% FG

Liberty vs Kennesaw State History

Liberty leads the all-time series, 12-3. The Flames won 2 of 3 last year, including an 81-79 decision in the CUSA Tournament semifinals and defeated the Owls, 81-73, back in early January.

Liberty vs Kennesaw State Storylines

PREVIOUS MEETING

In a showdown between the preseason CUSA favorite Liberty and the No. 2 team in the poll, the Owls’ only lead was at 1-0 on an administrative technical on Liberty to begin the game due to a shot clock malfunction. From there, Liberty jumped out to a very strong start, making its first seven shots, pushing its lead to 10 before the first media timeout. An 8-0 run later in the half pushed the advantage to 36-21. The lead was as high as 17 on a few different occasions in the closing minutes of the first half.

Kennesaw State closed the first half on a 4-0 run and carried that momentum into the second period. The Owls then scored the eight points of the second half and they went on an extended 18-2 run to cut the deficit to 1. The Owls had 10 field goal attempts over the next several minutes when they trailed by 1, missing all of them as they were unable to get over the hump and take a lead. Colin Porter helped end the Kennesaw good fortune as he scored five straight for the Flames before a 7-0 Liberty spurt pushed its advantage back to 8. The Owls would not get closer than 4 points the rest of the way.

Zach Cleveland led the way for the Flames, scoring a season-high 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Colin Porter added 18 on 5 of 9 shooting with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. All five Liberty starters reached double figures as Brett Decker, JJ Harper, and Kaden Metheny also got into the fun on the offensive end. Decker had 13 points while Harper added 12 and Metheny had 10. Simeon Cottle got the better of the individual matchup between the top two scorers in Conference USA entering the game, as he outscored Decker, 22-13. Cottle’s 22 was a game high as he shot 8 of 23 from the field and 5 of 15 from three.

The Flames shot 8 of 21 from three (38.1%) and 50.9% from the field while the Owls were 33.8% from the field and 10 of 36 (27.8%) from three. Liberty was dominated on the glass, with the Owls holding an impressive, 25-4 edge on the offensive glass. It helped lead to 27 more field goal attempts for the visitors. Kennesaw held a 19-4 edge in second chance points.

SINCE THEN

The Owls have been a bit of a streaky team much of this season. Their loss to the Flames, which was a long time ago – coming all the way back on Jan. 2, was part of a four-game losing skid. Kennesaw then won four straight, before losing two, then winning a pair, before losing three, and, most recently, Kennesaw has won their last two games. The Owls knocked off Missouri State on the road, 91-87, last Wednesday and picked up a win at home over Louisiana Tech, 58-55, on Saturday. Now, Kennesaw is pushing towards either the 2 or 3 seed if they can have a strong finish to the regular season.

Projected Kennesaw starters:

  • 6’4″, SO, RJ Johnson (14.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.6 apg)
  • 6’7″, JR, Frankquon Sherman (9.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg)
  • 6’8″, FR, Trey Simpson (9.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.3 bpg)
  • 6’9″, FR, Amir Taylor (5.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg)
  • 6’9″, SO, Braedan Lue (11.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg)

Kennesaw has had to remake their team down the stretch, as they have been playing without leading scorer Simeon Cottle for the past 10 games. We have seen RJ Johnson become much more aggressive and efficient on the offensive end since then. In the past 10 games, Johnson has scored 20 or more points on six times, including a pair of 30-point performances.

SIZE, REBOUNDING TO CHALLENGE FLAMES

Kennesaw will certainly challenge the Flames in some of the team’s weaker areas including size and rebounding. Look no further than what happened in the first meeting between these two, and the Owls expect those numbers to be similar. Kennesaw currently leads CUSA and ranks 8th in the country in rebounding. They also lead the league and rank 6th in the country in offensive rebounds per game.