#1 Liberty (26-6, 13-5 CUSA) will take on #4 Kennesaw State (19-13, 10-8) on Friday afternoon in the CUSA Quarterfinals.

Here’s what you need to know about the game:

How to Watch

12:30 p.m. ET | Friday, March 14
Huntsville, AL | Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center
TV: CBS Sports Network

Liberty vs Kennesaw State Odds (KenPom)

Spread: Liberty -7
Projected score: Liberty 74, Kennesaw 67

Liberty Projected Starters

#0 Colin Porter

Junior Guard | 5’10”, 170
9.0 ppg, 4.1 apg, 43.1% from 3

#3 Kaden Metheny

R-Senior Guard | 5’11”, 170
12.9 ppg, 37.7% from 3

#32 Jayvon Maughmer

Senior Guard | 6’6″, 205
9.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg

#25 Zach Cleveland

Junior Forward | 6’7″, 220
11.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.2 apg

#8 Owen Aquino

Junior Forward | 6’8″, 230
8.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.1 bpg

Liberty vs Kennesaw State History

Liberty leads the all-time series, 10-3. The two teams split the season series, with both winning on the other’s home floor this season.

Liberty vs Kennesaw State Storylines

OWLS DEFEAT AGGIES TO ADVANCE

It was a game of runs as both teams put together multiple runs throughout the game as they exchanged blows back and forth throughout the night. Kennesaw trailed by as many as 8 in the first half before they battled all the way back to tie the game in the closing minutes of the opening half. The Owls pushed their lead to as many as 12 in the opening minutes of the 2nd half before the Aggies had a 12-0 to tie it.

Ultimately, Kennesaw would outlast NMSU in the closing seconds. The Aggies missed a free throw that would have tied it with three seconds left and then missed a half court shot at the buzzer. Simeon Cottle led the Owls with 32 points as they picked up the win, 80-77. Cottle and dynamic freshman Adrian Wooley for the Owls appeared to be banged up late in the game Thursday night against the Aggies. They were able to finish the game, but it will be interesting to see if they are full speed for a game less than 24 hours later.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT REMATCH

Just two years ago, Liberty and Kennesaw State met in the ASUN Tournament Championship Game. It was the Flames’ final game in the ASUN before making the move to Conference USA, a jump that the Owls would follow one year later. The Flames and Owls tied for the regular season title that season, but KSU got to play the game on their home court by virtue of winning the only regular season meeting between the two, also played at the KSU Convocation Center, earlier in the season.

The game went down to the final horn with the Owls prevailing by one point and earning the ASUN automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Liberty freshman guard, at the time, Colin Porter drilled a clutch three-pointer to tie the game in the final seconds before Kennesaw made 1 of 2 free throws on the final possession of the game to earn the win.

Now, both teams will meet in the CUSA Tournament semifinals as they renewed their rivalry this season and one team will play for the ultimate prize on Saturday night for the conference tournament title.

FLAMES TO DEAL WITH DYNAMIC GUARD DUO COTTLE, WOOLEY

Liberty will have to deal with Kennesaw’s dynamic guard duo of Simeon Cottle and Adrian Wooley. Cottle scored 32 points in the win over New Mexico State in the Quarterfinals Thursday night and he was named to the CUSA All-Second Team after averaging 17.7 points per game this season.

Meanwhile, Wooley, who broke the CUSA record with 11 CUSA Freshman of the Week titles was just named the league’s Freshman of the Year earlier this week. He is the third-leading scorer in CUSA, averaging nearly 20 points per game. He has scored in double figures in all but three games for the Owls this season.

Wooley scored exactly 22 points in each of the two games against the Flames this season while Cottle scored 10 in the loss to Liberty and bounced back with 24 points in the win over the Flames just a couple weeks ago.