Rapid reactions following Liberty’s loss to Winthrop, 71-56, Thursday night:

  1. The loss drops the Flames to 0-7 in Big South Conference play. That’s the 2nd worst start to Big South play in school history. In 1998-99, Liberty started conference play 0-9 under first year head coach Mel Hankinson. They went on to finish that season 4-23 overall and 0-10 in Big South play.
  2. Liberty used their 10th different starting lineup this season. This was the 20th game. If you’re not good at math, that’s an average of a different starting lineup every other game. That’s not good for continuity.
  3. For the 2nd straight game, Liberty attempted a 2nd half comeback, and for the 2nd straight game, they came up short. The Flames got as close as 6 points with 5 minutes left, but were unable to overcome Winthrop’s 1st half lead which was as high as 21. Liberty trailed Longwood by 23 on Saturday before cutting it to 9 on a couple of occasions.
  4. James Johnson played terrible in the first half. He was so bad I had written a note at halftime that he should be benched. He was a turnover machine in the first half, but he had a 3-4 minute stretch in the 2nd half where he was very active. He drew several fouls and got to the free throw line. If he could bottle those 3-4 minutes up and play like that whenever he’s on the court, then Liberty would have what they thought they had when Johnson transferred to LU.
  5. Liberty had 20 turnovers and it didn’t even feel like a major storyline.
  6. The Flames made 0 3-pointers. Zero. The last time Liberty went without a 3-pointer was in 2005. Streak of 318 straight games with a made 3 is over.
  7. Liberty’s starting point guard finished the game with 1 assist and 5 turnovers. Peter Moller had 3 assists and 8 turnovers in his previous 3 games.
  8. Drew Smith had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
  9. That’s 5 straight losses by double digits.
  10. Is this the worst Liberty team ever? It has to be in the conversation.