The Liberty Flames (15-4, 3-3 CUSA) are back in action on Saturday night at FIU (7-12, 1-5) to continue conference play.
Here’s what you need to know about the game:
Liberty at FIU How to Watch
6 p.m. ET | Saturday, Jan 25
Miami, Florida | Ocean Bank Convocation Center
TV: ESPN+
Liberty at FIU Odds (KenPom)
Spread: Liberty -8
Projected score: Liberty 70, FIU 62
Liberty Projected Starters
#0 Colin Porter
Junior Guard | 5’10”, 170
8.4 ppg, 4.3 apg, 44.8% from 3
#3 Kaden Metheny
R-Senior Guard | 5’11”, 170
13.4 ppg, 41.7% from 3
#32 Jayvon Maughmer
Senior Guard | 6’6″, 205
9.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg
#25 Zach Cleveland
Junior Forward | 6’7″, 220
11.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 5.0 apg
#8 Owen Aquino
Junior Forward | 6’8″, 230
9.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.3 bpg
Liberty at FIU History
FIU leads the all-time series, 2-3. The teams split last year’s series, with each team winning on their home floor. Prior to last season, the previous meeting came during the 1996-97 season.
Liberty at FIU Storylines
PANTHERS TRYING TO STOP 4-GAME SKID
FIU opened just 2-6 on the season but then rebounded to win four of their final five non-conference games, entering conference play at 6-7. Playing as Liberty’s travel partner, the Panthers have played a very similar schedule in conference play to the Flames. They dropped their league opener against Middle Tennessee but came right back to get in the win column with an 85-66 win at home over Western Kentucky.
Since the win over the Hilltoppers, FIU has not been able to scratch out another win. They were swept on the two-game road trip to Louisiana Tech (81-64) and Sam Houston (81-74) before seeing their losing streak reach four with losses at home last week to New Mexico State (59-52) and UTEP (81-73). FIU will be desperate to get back in the win column on Saturday evening against the Flames to try to stay in the conference race.
MATCHUP OF CONTRASTING STLES
Under seventh year head coach Jeremy Ballard, the Panthers like to play with tempo and speed the game up. They currently rank 88th in the country in adjusted tempo, compared to Liberty’s 289.
Ballard comes from the Shaka Smart coaching tree where he was an assistant under Smart at VCU from 2012-15. He then returned to Richmond as an assistant at VCU under another of Smart’s protege, Mike Rhoades, in 2017 for one season before accepting the head coaching position at FIU. Like Smart, Ballard’s teams typically like to use some full court pressure, trapping the ball handler to force teams to speed up.
Ballard and his Panthers do have some length at their disposal to help create havoc for the opposition. 6’6″ junior Jayden Brewer is currently leading the team with 13.8 points and 5 rebounds per game. North Florida transfer Jonathan Aybar, who has been at FIU the past two seasons, is a 6’9″ forward who is averaging 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. 6’11” junior Vianney Salatchoum is averaging 10.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Originally from Cameroon, Salatchoum is a JUCO transfer that joined FIU this season. Another JUCO transfer, 6’2″ junior guard Asim Jones is averaging 9.9 points per game. 6’3″ junior guard Dashon Gittens is averaging 8.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
FLAMES LOOKING FOR ROAD SUCCESS ON LONGER REST
Saturday’s game is the first of three straight away from home for the Flames, who are 7-2 away from Liberty Arena this season. Many of those games were at neutral site venues, as Liberty is 3-1 in true road contests this season, including a 1-1 mark in conference play.
Last year, Liberty was just 1-7 in road games during CUSA play. With two losses already at home against CUSA teams, the Flames will need to improve on its road record in conference games this season if the team will compete for the league’s regular season title.
The Flames are also benefiting from only having one game this week, giving its short and banged up rotation somewhat of a break before getting back to the normal two-game week schedule.
“We’ve had a few guys that are banged up,” said head coach Ritchie McKay. “We haven’t practiced much because of those ailments. Just having a little bit of a respite and only game to prepare for is good, but FIU has the same thing so we will have to be ready. We got beat there last year. We will have to be ready. Coach Ballard is doing a good job.”
