Liberty (17-5, 5-4 CUSA) saw its three game win streak end at Jacksonville State (15-7, 7-2), falling 72-61.

“40-23 differentiation in the second half score led to our demise,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Our group, they are tough. We had some shots that I would take every day of the week, 365, and they didn’t go in. For the first time in a while, it affected our defense a little bit. This is a team you can’t put on the line. They had 14 attempts, some of those were late because we were fouling. They deserved the victory. Coach Harper is a good coach. They have a really good team. We will learn and grow from this and see if we can’t improve from it.”

It was a battle for first place with the Gamecocks ending the day remaining in sole possession of first place in Conference USA. At the halfway point of league play, the Gamecocks are on top at 7-2 with Middle Tennessee just behind at 6-3. The Flames are part of a group of six teams at 5-4.

The Flames got off to a strong start, scoring the first seven points of the game thanks to an Owen Aquino corner three and two Zach Cleveland layups. Jacksonville State missed its first five field goals and did not get in the scoring column until 15:22 in the first half on a Michael Hogue jumper off the bench.

Liberty would score five straight and eight out of the next 10 points after that to push its lead to a high water mark int he first half at 11, 15-4. The Gamecocks would respond with an 8-0 run of their own to cut their deficit to, 15-12.

Taelon Peter would knock down four of his six first half three-point attempts to lead the team with 12. As a team, the Flames shot 8 of 19 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes despite Kaden Metheny missing all five of his. Liberty would go into the locker room with a 38-32 lead after Porter hit a bucket in the paint with just three seconds left on the clock as the Flames lead throughout the half.

The teams exchanged buckets in the opening couple of minutes before the home team went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game. Aquino ended the run with a layup at the 14:19 mark, cutting the Flames’ deficit to two at 46-44, but the Gamecocks added six more in a row for an extended 16-2 run over 6:30 of game action. Liberty went from up six to down eight during this span.

The visitors, clad in blue, would continue fighting to close the gap, getting as close as three following a Peter triple with 6:43 to play. Jax State would close the door though as they scored the next six points. Liberty would only get as close as six the rest of the way.

“We couldn’t cut it to under four,” said McKay. “I thought if we made it a one possession game maybe there’s some game pressure, but you got to give Jax State some credit. They made some big plays. They are really physical down there and tried to play over the top of our smaller players and really were aggressive. 11 attempts from three (for the game). Nine in the first half. Second half you could tell the game plan was drive the ball to the lane.”

Liberty finished the game shooting 40.7% from the field and 10 of 34 (29.4%) from three. After a hot shooting first half where the Flames made 42.1% of its threes, they struggled after the break, shooting 34.5% from the field and just two of 15 from behind the arc.

“I’d have to watch the film to see how much they changed,” McKay said when asked what the Gamecocks did to get the Flames out of rhythm. in the flow of the game, I still thought we were getting good looks. There was about a four minute stretch where we just settled. We were playing around the defense. We had a little bit of a choice to make to go small to try and counter them playing spy off of Owen and Zach or to rock with those guys. I made that decision to go small. We will see if we do that again after we review the film.”

Taelon Peter led the way for the Flames with 19 points as he knocked down five of his 12 three-point shots. He also led the team with 9 rebounds.

Zach Cleveland added 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field to go along with his 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Colin Porter added 12 points and 3 assists while Owen Aquino had 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Kaden Metheny entered the game averaging 13.6 points per game to lead the team and shooting 41.2% from three. He struggled in Jacksonville on Saturday evening though, failing to make a field goal as he was 0 for 9 from the field and 0 for 7 from three. He wouldn’t get on the scoreboard until 3:14 left in the game as he made 1 of 2 from the free throw line.

“That dude is a special shooter,” McKay said of Metheny. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen or coached. Not worried in the least about that. If he’s anywhere close to normal and a lot of those rattled around and out. Even Darius McGhee had one of those nights. Hopefully Kaden’s will come at the midpoint instead of in the conference tournament, but we’re going to keep believing in him to get some open looks.”

Jaron Pierre entered the day leading the conference in scoring at just a hair under 21 each night. Liberty did a good job keeping the 6’6″ guard in check as he was held to nine points on 3 of 13 shooting. That was his lowest scoring output of the season, marking an end to his 21 game stretch of reaching double figures.

It didn’t matter though as Pierre got help from his teammates. Quel’ron House, a freshman guard, scored 18 points, 16 of those coming in the second half. Jao Ituka added 13 while Michael Houge scored 12.

Liberty finishes its three game road trip 2-1, picking up wins over FIU and Kennesaw State before falling on Saturday to the Gamecocks. It puts the Flames at 5-4 in conference play at the midway point of conference season. Liberty will have five of their next seven contests from the friendly confines of Liberty Arena.

“We’re at the mid-point. It is February 1st,” said McKay. “I don’t think they crown champions at the halfway point, if I’m not mistaken. We missed on opportunities that were served on our home court. (The Gamecocks) are the only undefeated team at home in the league and that’s why they’re in first place. I do think our guys have the belief that wherever we end up, if we’re right, we can win the game.”

Every team in Conference USA has now played its first half of league games, playing every team once. The second half of conference play begins in earnest this coming week as Liberty returns home for two contests beginning Thursday night against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs, preseason favorites in the league, are currently 16-6 on the season and 5-4 in conference play following their win over Sam Houston, 66-61, in overtime on Saturday. Tip-off from Liberty Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.