Liberty (11-0) vs. Vanderbilt (6-2)
Nashville, Tennessee – Memorial Gym (14,316 capacity)
Saturday, Dec. 14, 8:00 p.m. ET

TV: SEC Network +
Radio: Alan York will have the Liberty radio network call on 107.5 FM in Lynchburg or also streaming online.
Last Meeting: Liberty lost to the Commodores, 79-70, last season.
Series History: Vanderbilt leads 2-0.

Projected LU Starters:

11 Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz (Sr., 6-1, 175) – 8.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.1 apg
2 Darius McGhee (So., 5-9, 150) – 10.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.9 apg
10 Elijah Cuffee (Jr., 6-4, 200) – 9.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.4 apg
1 Caleb Homesley (R-Sr., 6-6, 205) – 11.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.6 apg
31 Scottie James (R-Sr., 6-7, 230) – 10.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.2 apg

Projected Vanderbilt Starters:

2 Scotty Pippen, Jr. (Fr., 6-1, 170) – 11.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.6 apg
3 Maxwell Evans (Jr., 6-2, 190) – 7.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.8 apg
24 Aaron Nesmith (So., 6-6, 213) – 22.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.6 apg
15 Clevon Brown (Sr., 6-8, 232) – 9.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.0 apg
1 Dylan Disu (Fr., 6-9, 220) – 5.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.1 apg

QUICK FACTS

  • Coach McKay has now won 300 career games and is Liberty’s winningest coach in DI history. Jeff Meyer won 259 games at Liberty, as he is the program’s winningest coach, but only 134 of those wins came at the Division I level. McKay has 135 wins during his time at Liberty.
  • Of the 440 minutes Liberty has played this season, the Flames have trailed for just 20 minutes and 21 seconds.
  • Liberty is ranked #2 in the country in scoring defense, allowing 49.6 ppg. The 546 points allowed in the first 11 games in the fewest Liberty has ever allowed through the team’s first 11 games of the season.
  • The Flames rank #11 in the country with 101 three-pointers made this season.
  • Liberty has three 1,000 career point scorers on the team, the most of any team in school history.
  • Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz is 3 victories away from becoming Liberty’s all-time winningest player in school history, surpassing Lovell Cabbil who set the record last year with 85 wins.
  • Liberty is favored by 1.5 points.

PREVIEW

Liberty faces its toughest challenge of the season thus far as the Flames travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. Liberty and Vandy played last season, with the Commodores taking a 79-70 victory behind 33 points from NBA lottery pick Darius Garland. The Flames are happy they won’t have to face the dynamic guard who was injured in the game after the Vanderbilt defeated Liberty and would miss the rest of the season.

“They don’t have Garland,” Liberty redshirt-senior Caleb Homesley said. “I think they are trying to find their way just like we are. It’s a new season, but we have to respect any opponent. They’re a good team. I think they’re a really good team. They space the floor well and just play together.”

The Flames are trying to remain one of five unbeatens in Division I college basketball and avoid Vanderbilt being the first team to defeat the Flames for the second straight season.

This will be the first chance for the Flames to pick up what could be described as a signature win even though Vanderbilt was picked to finish last out of the 14 SEC teams. Still, they are one of only two Power Five opponents on Liberty’s schedule this season, and the Flames need to secure some marquee wins to improve its postseason tournament resume.

“I’m not too indicted by the schedule commentaries,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said of the Flames’ non-conference slate. “We played who we could get. I did the best we could to prepare ourselves, to prepare for league, and put ourselves in position that would warrant an opportunity come March. Vanderbilt is another one of those games, obviously, because of the conference they reside in and how well coached they are. I think they will present as stiff of a challenge as we’ve had this year. For us, I think we want those opportunities because we get a realistic picture of what we’re not, as well as who we might be.”

Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew is out and former NBA star Jerry Stackhouse is in. In his first season at Vandy, Stackhouse has the Commodores at 6-2. Their best win came in their last outing, December 3rd, when they defeated Buffalo, 90-76. Their two losses were at Richmond in overtime, 93-92, and at home to Tulsa, 67-58.

“I think they’re completely different in their philosophy,” McKay said of the new look Commodores. “I know Bryce (Drew) really well because I coached him with USA basketball, and I had a pretty good familiarity with what they were trying to do. They had a kid that we didn’t defend very well by the name of Darius Garland. The good news is Darius isn’t back, the bad news is Coach Stackhouse has them playing really well.”

The Commodores are led by a couple of veterans in Aaron Nesmith and Saben Lee, who combine for over 40 points per game between the two of them. The 6’2″ junior Lee comes off the bench even though he is 2nd on the team with 28.8 minutes per game.

“They are tremendous offensively, get in transition, put a lot of pressure on you the way they space the floor,” McKay said. “Aaron Nesmith is playing like a pro, so is Saban Lee. We will have our work cut out for us, but hopefully the way we defend will keep it close.”

KENPOM PREDICTION

Liberty 67, Vanderbilt 66