Liberty (14-5, 5-1) remained unbeaten in conference play on their home floor, defeating Central Arkansas (6-13, 1-5), 82-62, on Saturday night in front of the fourth largest Liberty Arena crowd ever.

“Our crowd had a great deal to do with us playing some inspired basketball,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “I thought Liberty Arena was tremendous tonight. I think we’re developing a little bit of a home court advantage, that always helps your cause.”

The Flames began the game slow from behind the arc but would improve as the game continued to create some separation from the Bears. Liberty would finish the game 13 of 36 (36.1%) from three point range.

Darius McGhee led the team with 32 points while Colin Porter had a career high 16 points. Kyle Rode (11) and Blake Preston (10) rounded out Liberty’s double figure scorers on the evening.

This coming week, Liberty will head to Jacksonville, Florida for two games away from home. The Flames will face Jacksonville on Thursday and North Florida on Saturday. The Dolphins are currently 10-7 on the season and 3-3 in ASUN play following their win

DARIUS McGHEE SCORING ONSLAUGHT CONTINUES

McGhee struggled from behind the arc early in the game, making just one of his first nine three-point attempts. After the slow start, the two-time reigning ASUN Player of the Year made a concentrated effort of attacking the basket. Due to UCA overplaying him on the perimeter, McGhee was able to get into the paint and to the rim seemingly at will.

He would finish the game with 32 points and also rebounded with his three-point shooting. McGhee finished making 4 of his final 7 three-pointers and has now tied former Duke star JJ Redick for fourth all-time on the NCAA Division I three-point made field goals list.

“We get so used to watching Darius make almost every shot that he takes from beyond the arc, especially when he is in rhythm, aren’t you surprised when he misses,” said McKay. “That’s as quiet as a 32 I’ve seen, I was kind of surprised when I saw that. To his credit, I think he created as many opportunities as he has in the last few games than he has his whole career, that’s good for our offense.”

COLIN PORTER HAS CAREER HIGH

Liberty freshman point guard Colin Porter set a career high against Central Arkansas Saturday evening. He finished the game with 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting and 4 of 7 from three. That bested his previous career high of 14 that he scored against VUL. This is also only the third time Porter has scored in double figures this season, also accomplishing the feat against Eastern Kentucky this past Sunday.

“I trust Colin,” McKay said. “He’s 19 games in his career and looks like a seasoned vet. He will be mad because he shot an airball but the kid is a warrior. He’s very dependable and trustworthy. He plays alongside a group of guys that think he’s really good. Because of that, I think it helps his confidence and it helps our growth as a team.”

FLAMES BACK IN FIRST PLACE

After losing to Eastern Kentucky this past Sunday, Liberty had slipped into second place behind the only remaining unbeaten team in ASUN play, Stetson. The Hatters lost on Saturday afternoon, also falling at Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels picked up the win, 85-70.

By virtue of that loss and Liberty’s win over the Bears Saturday, the Flames have moved back into first place. There’s currently a four-way tie at 5-1 in conference play between Liberty, Eastern Kentucky, Stetson, and Kennesaw State. There are five teams behind that group of four that are sitting at 3-3. There’s still a long way to go obviously, with every one still needing to play 12 more regular season conference games.

“I watched a little bit of almost every game except the latter part of the day because I was in our prep,” McKay said of the conference games Saturday. “You cannot show up and win in this league, just because you’re home doesn’t mean you are going to win the game. I think it will be a week by week thing. Those that look too far ahead that will be not very conducive to the outcome that they want.”

McKAY POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE