Liberty will begin a crucial stretch of the season with a contest tonight against High Point. The Flames, along with seven other Big South teams, find themselves at 2-1 after three conference games to co-lead the Big South. The Flames will have a chance to make some seperation during this next stretch, facing the three worst teams in the conference in their next three match ups. Winning these games against High Point, Longwood, and Presbyterian will probably be a must if the Flames are to compete for a regular season championship.
Here’s what you’ll need to know about the Panthers going into tonight’s game:
Introduction: Before their win against Longwood on Wednesday, High Point had been on a nine game D1 losing streak. They are 5-11 overall and 1-2 in the conference after dropping games against Radford and Campbell. Scott Cherry is in his 5th year as head coach at High Point.
The Panthers unfortunately have not been the same since losing one of their best players, Allan Chaney, due to heart problems. They were 3-2 with Chaney and only 2-9 since. He was definitely extremely valuable to the Panthers.
Though they have been struggling, remember that this is a team that went 12-4 in the Big South last year and didn’t lose any of their major production except for Chaney. I expect the Panthers to find themselves eventually.
Offense: High Point has a solid offensive attack that likes to do their scoring in the paint if they can. Sophomore, John Brown, leads with 18.4 points per game, and Adam Weary is the only other player averaging double digits with 11.3.
Defense: The Panthers are one of the worst defensive teams in the entire NCAA. They rank 340th in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom, out of 351 total teams. John Brown is their only bright spot on this side of the court with 7.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 1.6 steals per contest. High Point somehow allows opponents to shoot 56% from the field from 2 point territory.
Player Turnover: Outside of Corey Law (5.9 points, 4.2 rebounds per game) the Panthers did not really lose any of their main contributors. This makes their struggles all the more confusing, even in the absence of Allan Chaney.
Potential Starters
John Brown and the Panthers kept it close in the 1st half against Syracuse
Guard: Dujuan McGaughy (#1) 6’1″ Senior- McGaughy leads the team with 2.6 assists per game while also contributing 5.4 points himself.
Guard: Adam Weary (#22) 6’3″ Sophomore- Though Weary doesn’t receive the love that fellow sophomore John Brown gets, he is extremely vital to the team. He averages 11.3 points per game and shoots 52% from the field, extremely impressive for a guard. He has the ability to shoot the 3 but has struggled a bit this year from beyond the arc.
Wing: Devante Wallace (#25) 6’5″ Junior- Devante Wallace has really stepped up his game since last year. Last season he averaged 5 points per game, this year he is averaging 9.9. The same goes for rebounds as he’s jumped from 2.7 to 4.4 since last season.
Forward: Lorenzo Cugini (#15) 6’7″ Sophomore- The sophomore is averaging 7.6 per contest on 49.5% shooting. He will need to be more active on the boards as he only averages 3.8 rebounds in 25.1 minutes per game.
Forward: John Brown 6’8″ Sophomore- The uber athletic sophomore gets it done at both ends of the floor for the Panthers. 18.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 1.6 blocks, 51% shooting, on 30.5 minutes per game. You can’t say enough about this guy.
Prediction: High Point is not nearly as bad as they have been playing lately, but there’s no reason to bet against the Flames in this one. As long as Liberty’s big guys keep up their level of play and the Flames don’t have a heavy turnover day, I’d expect them to come out with the W. LU 76-65.
