You can catch our initial High Point primer from prior to the teams’ first meeting.
Since defeating Liberty 76-70 in Lynchburg back on January 18, High Point and Liberty have been going in 2 very different directions. Will the Flames be able to stop their current 6 game losing streak? Here are 5 things to consider for the rematch.
John Brown as Grandmama
1. Since defeating Liberty 76-70 in Lynchburg back on January 18, High Point and Liberty have been going in 2 very different directions. The Panthers have won 6 of their past 8 games since facing the Flames, while Liberty’s loss to the Panthers set the Flames into a tailspin having lost 8 of their past 9 including the first meeting with HPU. High Point could be the hottest team in the conference while Liberty may be the coldest.
2. John Brown is the best player in the conference, hands down. And it’s not just his scores of highlight reel dunks, if you look at the Big South statistical leaders, Brown’s name pops up in nearly every category. He’s 2nd in the conference in scoring (20), 6th in rebounding (7.7), 1st in offensive rebounding (3.33), 2nd in field goal percentage (54.4%), 7th in steals (1.6), 3rd in blocked shots (1.76), he’s even 8th in free throw percentage (77.7%). Against Liberty in January, Brown had 21 points and 7 rebounds.
Wallace is shooting over 60% from 3 in conference play
3. Perhaps the biggest key for the Panthers since getting things turned around has been junior guard Devante Wallace’s emergence. In the past 10 games, Wallace is averaging 16 points per game. In the first 15 games of the season, he was averaging just 9 points per game. He is coming off back-to-back 18 point performances against Radford and Charleston Southern. He has been scorching from 3-point range, shooting over 61% on 65 field goal attempts from long distance in conference play. In the 1st meeting with the Flames, Wallace scored 16 points while knocking down 4 of his 6 3-pointers. He knocked down 6 3-pointers Monday night in HPU’s win over Charleston Southern.
4. Freshman guard Jorge Perez-Laham has also been a pleasant surprise for head coach Scott Cherry’s crew. Perez-Laham leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio in conference play recording 50 assists against just 13 turnovers. Prior to conference play, Perez-Laham was averaging less than 3 assists per game, a number which has increased to over 4. On January 18th against Liberty, he had just 2 points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field, but did register 6 assists and just 1 turnover.
5. High Point’s 2nd leading scorer, Adam Weary (12.3 ppg), has missed the past 2 games with an ankle injury. While his absence hasn’t hurt the Panthers (wins over Radford and Charleston Southern), he was their leading scorer in their win over Liberty in January. Weary scored 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 7-of-8 from the FT line. No official word on his status, but it is doubtful he plays against Liberty.
Prediction: Sounds like a repeat of the VMI projection from Saturday, High Point is on fire while Liberty is struggling. High Point 73 Liberty 69
