On Saturday, Liberty and Bellarmine will meet at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky in the regular season finale for both teams, and the Flames and Knights will be playing with a regular season title on the line as both have identical 10-2 conference records entering the game.
Saturday’s contest will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools, but neither team is new to competing for championships. Liberty will be looking for a third straight regular season ASUN title as the Flames have won the regular season and conference title in each of its first two years in the league. Bellarmine may be new to the ASUN and Division I as they moved up from Division II and the Great Lakes Valley Conference just prior to this season.
“Proud of our group for being in this position,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “I do think it will be a little unique – an arena we’ve never been in, a team we’ve never played against – and we didn’t start our prep until (Tuesday). I do think our guys will be primed to try and compete and give our very best with the number one seed on the line.”
The Knights won the GLVC regular season title four straight seasons from 2015-2018 and won the GLVC Tournament Championship from 2017-2019. Behind 16-year head coach Scott Davenport, Bellarmine has advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament each of the past 12 seasons.
“It’s really impressive what they’re doing coming in from Division II to Division I and being a contender,” Liberty senior guard Elijah Cuffee said of the Knights. “I think that’s really impressive. Props to them, I think they are doing a good job.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Liberty finds itself in this position once again as the Flames have won a share of the ASUN regular season title in each of the program’s first two seasons in the conference in addition to two straight ASUN Tournament championships. However, coming from DII, Bellarmine was picked by the media in the preaseason ASUN poll to finish last.
“I knew and expected them to be in the hunt because of how quality of a program that they have,” said McKay. “Now, the individual parts, I’m starting to acquire a greater knowledge of. It’s fun to watch if you’re not playing them.”
Bellarmine is ineligible for the NCAA Division I Tournament this season and for the next three years as they make the transition from DII; however, the Knights will still compete in next week’s ASUN Tournament. If Bellarmine (or North Alabama who is in their third year of the transition) were to win the ASUN Tournament, the ASUN’s auto bid would be awarded to the regular season champion. If Bellarmine is the regular season champ, the highest eligible regular season finisher will be awarded the auto bid. In layman’s terms, if Bellarmine or UNA would the ASUN Tournament, Liberty will be dancing.
The ASUN recently announced Saturday’s game has been picked up by ESPNU, marking the second straight year an ASUN men’s basketball regular season game will be carried on the network as last season’s contest between Liberty and FGCU in Fort Myers, Florida on January 2nd was also televised by ESPNU.
The Knights are currently on a 10-game winning streak and have not lost since a 65-58 setback to Lipscomb on Jan. 9, while Liberty is riding an eight-game winning streak. Both streaks are currently the two longest in the conference while Bellarmine’s 10-game streak ranks No. 5 in the nation. In the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, Liberty is ranked seventh, a season-high for the Flames, while Bellarmine is listed as receiving votes.
Typically, the ASUN regular season title has more riding on it than in this COVID plagued year. In previous years, the ASUN regular season champ would clinch an automatic bid to the NIT provided that team did not win the conference tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Also, the ASUN usually plays the conference tournament at the higher seed’s home court.
This year, the NCAA has ruled that there will be no automatic bids to the NIT given to regular season champions who don’t make the Big Dance, and the ASUN Tournament will be held in Jacksonville, Florida, regardless of how Saturday’s game plays out. Don’t tell the players and coaches that Saturday’s game doesn’t matter though.
