The regular season comes to an end on Saturday afternoon and Conference USA has a potential CUSA Tournament Championship preview as the top two teams meet in Lynchburg when the Liberty Flames (24-6, 16-3) and Sam Houston Bearkats (21-9, 13-6) meet.

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

How to Watch

2 p.m. ET | Saturday, March 7
Lynchburg, Virginia | Liberty Arena
TV: ESPN+

Liberty vs Sam Houston Odds (KenPom)

Spread: Liberty -2
Projected score: Liberty 80, Sam Houston 78

Liberty Projected Starters

#0 Colin Porter

Senior Guard | 5’10”, 170
2025-26 stats: 11.6 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.0 rpg

#3 Kaden Metheny

R-Senior Guard | 5’11”, 170
2025-26 stats: 13.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.1 apg

#4 Brett Decker

Sophomore Guard | 6’3″, 190
2025-26 stats: 16.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 49.8% 3-point field goals

#9 JJ Harper

R-Senior Guard | 6’5″, 200
2025-26 stats: 11.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 60.4% FG

#25 Zach Cleveland

Senior Forward | 6’7″, 220
2025-26 stats: 11.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 6.9 apg, 60.7% FG

Liberty vs Sam Houston History

Liberty leads, 5-2. Liberty defeated the Bearkats, 82-74, in Texas on Jan. 10.

Liberty vs Sam Houston Storylines

PREVIOUS MEETING

JJ Harper and Zach Cleveland provided most of the offense for the Flames in the opening half, scoring 22 of the team’s 34 points before intermission. Harper was very active on the offensive end, knocking two three-point shots while making four of his six shot attempts in the first half. Their offensive output helped offset a cold first half for Liberty’s two leading scorers, Brett Decker and Kaden Metheny. Decker and Metheny combined for just 2 points on one of nine shooting in the opening half.

Decker would quickly change that in the second half, scoring a bucket at the rim on Liberty’s opening possession. He scored 9 points in the first 8 minutes of the second half to help the Flames begin to stretch its lead. A 14-4 run helped extend the lead to double figures at 13. The lead would get to as high as 17 before the Bearkats cut into the deficit in the closing minutes.

Zach Cleveland led the Flames with a career-high tying 23 points on 11 of 16 shooting to go along with 10 assists and 7 rebounds. JJ Harper scored a Liberty high 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Decker finished the game with 16 points. Josh Smith added 8 while Colin Poter scored 7 and Zander Carter had 6. Metheny was held to just 2 points on 1 of 7 shooting and 0 for 4 from three.

Liberty shot 56.9% from the field and 6 of 18 (33.3%) from three. The Flames also made 18 of 23 (78%) from the free throw line. The Bearkats shot 43.5% from the floor and 9 of 24 (37.5%) from three after starting 5 of 7 from behind the arc.

SINCE THEN

That loss dropped Sam Houston to just 1-4 to begin conference play, but they have been on a torrid pace ever since. Following the loss to the Flames, the Bearkats reeled off seven straight wins and have won 12 out of the 14 games since then to clinch the No. 2 seed in next week’s CUSA Tournament. Their only loss was an 87-78 road trip up at Louisiana Tech on Feb. 7 before losing on Thursday night at Delaware, 83-80. The loss at Louisiana Tech, was the team’s first game playing without guard Justin Begg who started the team’s first 20 games and is averaging 9.5 points per game. Begg has not played in the past seven games.

Projected Sam Houston starters:

  • 6’1″, FR, Jacob Walker (10.8 ppg)
  • 6’3″, SR, Kashie Natt (10.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg)
  • 6’4″, SR, Damon Nicholas (8.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
  • 6’5″, SR, Po’Boigh King (14.4 ppg)
  • 6’10”, SR, Veljko Ilic (10.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg)

Jacob Walker has slid into the starting spot with Begg out of the lineup. The freshman has not let Sam Houston miss much of a beat without Begg. He’s scored in double figures in seven straight games including 20 or more in three straight and four of the last five games.

MEETING OF TOP 2 CUSA TEAMS

On the final day of the regular season and just one week prior to the CUSA Tournament Championship Game, we could a potential preview when the top two teams meet in Lynchburg. The previous meeting between these two teams happened back in early January before Liberty ran out to its 15-0 start in conference play and before Sam Houston emerged from the pack as the Flames’ top challenger. Now, it’s clear that these two teams have a championship run next week in Huntsville on their mind. Can the Bearkats prove that the first meeting was a mirage of who they are now and that they should perhaps be the favorite in next week’s conference tournament? Can Liberty prove its late season slide was just a blip on the radar and the CUSA defending champs are the team to beat next week?