Liberty (14-3, 6-0 CUSA) was able to withstand a strong second half surge by New Mexico State (9-7, 2-4) on Thursday night to pick up the hard-earned, 73-71, win at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, Virginia in front of 2,580 fans.
“Another hard fought night in Conference USA,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “New Mexico State did a great job coming back in the second half, playing with a ton of energy. We didn’t look like ourselves coming out of the locker room, that certainly is always going to be on me. I’m not looking for us to play in perfection. We had like a one-point something points per possession in the first half. (Derek Johnston) said it best, that that was going to come down because they are a really good defensive team.”
The visitors hit their first two triples of the game as they took an 8-4 lead in the opening minutes, but Liberty quickly responded. The Flames had an immediate 10-0 run, one of two such runs in the opening half as the home team pushed its lead to as high as 17 points in the first half thanks to a Brett Decker corner three just prior to the horn before intermission. Liberty’s offense was pristine in the opening stanza, shooting 62.1% from the field, 5 of 9 from three and a perfect 5 of 5 from the charity stripe. The Flames held an 11-0 advantage in points off turnovers and 26-12 edge in points in the paint in the first half. It was a balanced scoring effort with six players between 4 and 11 points and just one turnover in the first 20 minutes.
It was a much different second half though. The Aggies had the edge and played the aggressor. They opened with a 13-2 run to quickly cut it to six while Liberty had three turnovers in its first six possessions after halftime. NMSU kept chipping away at the lead behind strong three-point shooting and dominating the offensive glass, clawing all the way back from the 17-point hole at halftime to tie the game at 60 with 7:46 remaining, the first time the contest had been tied since it was 8-8 at the 15:42 mark of the first half.
“We didn’t respond,” said McKay. “We turned it over three times (early) in the second half, didn’t respond to being a defensive team with great purpose and identity. Credit New Mexico State, they are very well-coached.”
Liberty responded with a quick 6-0 burst to retain the advantage and keep New Mexico State at bay. The lead would get no higher than six the rest of the way as the Aggies stayed within striking distance. A three by Anthony Wrzeszcz with 1:28 remaining cut it to one at 70-69. Zach Cleveland answered on the next Liberty possession by knocking down both of his free throws. Jae’coby Osborne scored a bucket with 38 seconds left to make it 72-71. The Flames then had a shot clock violation with 8 seconds remaining, giving the Aggies possession with an opportunity to take their first lead since the opening minutes of the contest. Jemel Jones got a clean look from three on the wing, but it rimmed out with 1 second remaining. Josh Smith grabbed the rebound and made 1 of 2 free throws before time ran out.
“Happy with finding a way to win,” said McKay. “Colin was out. We had some foul trouble, had some matchups that we probably would have chosen to go differently, but it’s the mark of a good team. I’m a little burdened by the expectation and I think they are too of the ‘you got to win every game.’ I felt like we were not ourselves. Happy that we found a way, but certainly don’t want to take the joy out of why those guys play.”
New Mexico State shot 7 of 12 (58.3%) in the second half and also had 8 offensive rebounds after halftime. The Flames were able to outlast the Aggies despite doing so with Colin Porter and Brett Decker each having to check out of the game at points due to injury.
Cleveland surpassed the 1,000-point mark with a free throw in the second half. He joins Kaden Metheny and Colin Porter who have also reached that plateau earlier this season. Liberty is one of only two programs in the country with three guys that have 1,000 career points scored at their current school, joining Purdue’s Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Cleveland finished the game with 11 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. He was also 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
Brett Decker scored 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting while JJ Harper also reached 17 points on 6 of 7 shooting. It’s the third straight game Harper has scored in double figures, doing so for the first time this season. Josh Smith added 14 points off the bench in 26 minutes. Colin Porter and Kaden Metheny each had 7.
Liberty is back in action on Saturday afternoon from Liberty Arena when the Flames play host to UTEP. The Miners are currently 6-11 on the season and 2-4 in conference play following their 70-69 win at Delaware Thursday night. Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m. on ESPN+.
