Liberty (12-2, 0-1), fell to defending conference champion Western Kentucky (10-4, 1-0), to open Conference USA play with a loss for the second consecutive season.
It was a tale of two halves for the Flames this Thursday night. At the end of the first half, Liberty led 35-21, dominated the paint (22-14), won the turnover battle (1-9), and held Western Kentucky to just 8-22 from the field (36.4%) and 1-9 from three (11.1%). By the end of the game, those numbers flipped, as Western Kentucky controlled the paint in the second (46-38), won the turnover battle (5-9), and shot both 50% from the field and from three-point range in the second stanza.
“Typical Conference USA battle,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “It was hard fought; Western Kentucky did a great job of continuing to believe when they got down. I think they made a conscious decision in the second half just to put your head down and drive it and they did it.”
Liberty led for essentially the entire contest, as the Hilltoppers led for just 54 seconds, but that was all they needed. After an Owen Aquino layup put the Flames up 62-50 with 5:32 remaining, Liberty only managed one field goal until there was six seconds left in the game, when Kaden Metheny hit a three to cut the WKU lead to one. After that three, the Hilltoppers inbound pass was deflected out of bounds by Colin Porter. The Hilltoppers inbounded once again, only for the pass to be stolen by Taelon Pater who found Kaden Metheny for a game-winning three-point attempt. Metheny’s shot was no good, and the Flames fell, 71-70. “We got a good team; we’ll respond, McKay stated. “That’s a good team that we played against, so I’m proud of our guys’ effort.”
Zach Cleveland led the team in scoring with 18 points, while also tacking on 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Kaden Metheny had 17 points on 5-11 shooting and had to earn every bucket he got, as it was evident that the Hilltoppers face guarded him and did everything they could do to prevent the guard from getting the ball and a good look from three. Owen Aquino also had a solid performance, recording a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Taelon Peter provided a nice spark off the bench with 9 points and 7 rebounds. Liberty had 9 players play, but Blair, Decker Jr, and McKay only played for a combined 2:40. Taelon Peter played the most off the bench (21:57), while each starter played at least 34 minutes, as fatigue very well could have played a factor in the scoring drought down the stretch. The Flames shot 27-62 from the field (43.5%) and a measly 8-27 from three (29.6%). Liberty’s struggles at the free throw line also continued, as the Flames went 8-16 from the charity stripe (50%) and missed some crucial free throws down the stretch.
“I’m not worried about that,” Ritchie McKay said. “We have good free throw shooters. I know the stats don’t bear that out, but I watch them every day and they make them. They (Western Kentucky) were 10-19, but when you win no one brings it up.”
Coach McKay also announced that Liberty F Isaiah Ihnen will miss the remainder of the season due to an injury.
Ihnen suffered the injury in the second half of Liberty’s game against North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Dec. 14. Ihnen previously missed two years at Minnesota due to ACL injuries.
The 6’9″ Ihnen is in his first season at Liberty after transferring from Minnesota during the off-season. He quickly made an impact on the Flames, averaging 10.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game through the first 11 games of the season while also starting four. He is shooting 55.7% from the field and 38.9% from three.
Liberty will look to bounce back and get their first conference win this Saturday against Middle Tennessee. That game will tip-off in Liberty Arena at 6:00 PM EST. You can watch the game on the CBS Sports Network, as this will be one of three nationally televised Liberty Athletic events on January 4th.
