Liberty drops their Big South opener at home to UNC Asheville, 83-69. What we learned against the Bulldogs:
- As I expected, Liberty was competitive with the 2 time defending conference champions. The Flames just did not have enough to last 40 minutes.
- It was a tale of 2 halves again for Liberty, with Asheville dominating the 2nd half, 55-40.
- The Flames will not win many games giving up 55 points in one half. That needs to be how many points they’re giving up for the entire game. Liberty simply does not have that much offensive firepower.
- The first half defense was stellar; perhaps Liberty’s best of the season. Liberty held Asheville to just 28 points on and forced 10 turnovers.
- Asheville had 1 turnover in the 2nd half while shooting 57%.
- Hornsby can play. Bruce’s son is quickly making his own name in Big South play. He ended up with a career-high 27 points.
- John Caleb Sanders paced the Flames with 19 points. He was aggressive, attacking the rim, all evening.
- Joel Vander Pol continues to impress with 7 points and 8 rebounds in 20 minutes. If he’s 100% healthy, which it sounds like he is, he needs to play 25-30 minutes the rest of the season.
- Liberty will win or lose games the rest of the season on the defensive end. Giving up 83 points won’t get it done.
The Flames return to action Wednesday night in Lexington as they take on the 1-0 (Big South) VMI Keydets. VMI is coming off a road victory over Presbyterian, 86-77.
I’m afraid we didn’t really learn anything from this game. Liberty blew another second half, shot poorly from the field, and played terrible defense. We just reaffirmed how bad we are. UNC-A should be near the top of the Big South but that’s where Liberty should be and just aren’t good enough.