Liberty (8-6) concluded their stay in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Diamond Head Classic with an 80-75 loss to BYU (11-3). Darius McGhee scored 29 points in the losing effort. He became the all-time leader in points scored at the Diamond Head Classic, scoring 92 points in the three games.

“Our guys, they battled,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “If you watched our team play these three days and you’re not proud of them, then I’m not sure what to tell you because they’re giving everything they have, just got to keep improving.”

It was a back and forth affair on Christmas Day. Both teams exchanged blows throughout the contest with neither team able to put together a large lead. The Flames entered the break with a halftime lead at 33-32. Liberty would hold their last lead at 51-49 before BYU took the lead for good with 10:14 left in the game. The Cougars utilized an 8-0 run to push their lead to 9 with just less than four minutes left. The Flames would cut it to as low as three on a few different occasions in the closing minutes but were unable to get closer.

Liberty will now return home and break for a few days before reconvening just prior to the start of ASUN league play. The Flames will have its final non-conference game of the regular season on New Year’s Eve against Boyce at Liberty Arena. Liberty will then begin conference play with a trip to Florida to take on Stetson on Tuesday, Jan. 4 and face Kennesaw State on Saturday, Jan. 8 back in Lynchburg.

Here are our three main takeaways from today’s game:

DARIUS MCGHEE NAMED TOURNAMENT MVP

Despite the team’s loss and the Flames going just 1-2 and finishing fourth place in the Diamond Head Classic, Darius McGhee was named MVP of the event in Hawaii. He set the program record for points and three point field goals made. McGhee scored more than 20 points in each of the three games, highlighted by his 41 points against Stanford.

On Saturday against BYU, the 5’9″ senior guard scored a game-high 29 points on 9 of 19 shooting and 4 of 11 from three while also making 7 of his 8 free throws. He also tied his season-high with 5 assists.

“He’s been arguably as good a player as we’ve seen all year long, whether he’s on our team or the other team, no disrespect to any of our opponents,” said McKay. “He has a unique ability. He can really take over a game. I don’t know if I’ve been a participant in many tournaments where a team goes 1-2 and you have the Tournament MVP. I think it speaks to how well he’s playing and how much his teammates believe in him.”

BYU DOMINATED IN THE PAINT

BYU was able to dominate the Flames in the paint all night. They got to the free throw line 35 times, making 29 of them, compared to Liberty’s 12 of 18 mark from the charity stripe. The Cougars also out-rebounded Liberty, 35-23, including a 10-5 edge in offensive rebounds. They also edged the Flames in points in the paint, 38-30.

Freshman forward Fousseyni Traore dominated inside for BYU. He finished the game with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

“When you’re trying to brand your program and be nationally competitive, the only way to do that is if you play and beat good teams,” said McKay. “Scheduling has been a little bit difficult for us over the course of time…BYU, they are a fantastic team. They really put a lot of pressure on us with their interior. As long as I’ve been in it, not sure you can give up 29 made free throws and win the game. That’s what they do.”

SHILOH ROBINSON BECOMING OFFENSIVE THREAT

Coach McKay has always talked about the defensive ability of junior forward Shiloh Robinson, but his offensive game has never been his strong suit. That may be changing though as Robinson appears to be getting more and more confident on the offensive end of the floor. He finished with 11 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds while making 5 of his 8 field goals against BYU on Saturday. If he continues with that level of performance, Robinson will have a chance to be an all-ASUN performer by the end of the season.