The Flames will end its six-game road trip on Wednesday at Stetson with tip-off set for 7 pm and streamed on ESPN+.
The Hatters are 4-11 on the season and ranked 342 out of 353 Division I teams, according to KenPom. They have yet to play an ASUN game, as they were off this past weekend. This will be the 2nd ever meeting between the two programs, with Stetson winning the only previous matchup by a score of 88-66 from a game that was played during the 1988-89 season.
After dropping its first 8 Division I games to open the season, Stetson has rebounded with wins in 2 of its last 5 DI games, they are also coming off a win over non-DI team Edward Waters on January 3rd. The Hatters have played several familiar opponents to Liberty fans, losing to VMI in overtime, 87-79, and Longwood, 77-63, but beating UNC Asheville, 80-74.
Stetson is led by 6th year head coach Corey Williams. The Hatters have lost 20 or more games in each of Williams’ 5 previous seasons, including a 12-20 mark last year. Stetson finished with a 4-10 mark in ASUN play a season ago, losing to Lipscomb as the 7-seed in the first round of the conference tournament.
Liberty is looking to start conference play 2-0 for the 2nd time in three years and for just the third time in the program’s Division I history. With a win, the Flames would also conclude the 6-game trip away from home with a 4-2 mark.
McKay’s squad leads the ASUN in numerous categories including field goal percentage, 3-pointers made, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage, fewest turnovers, and scoring defense. The Flames are also 2nd in the league in scoring offense and will challenge the Hatters’ defense who are giving up a league worst 80.1 points per game.
Darius McGhee enters Wednesday night’s game as the league leader in three pointers made while connecting on 39.3% of his shots from deep. The true freshman is coming off his 4th ASUN Newcomer of the Week award which is just 2 away from tying the conference record. He is the early favorite to win ASUN Freshman of the Year, a feat only Larry Blair and Seth Curry accomplished in Liberty’s Big South history.
