Liberty (18-5, 6-4 CUSA) led from wire to wire on Thursday night at Liberty Arena in front of 3,152 fans to defeat Louisiana Tech (16-7, 5-5), 77-53.
“I thought we were really hard to play against,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Nearly each possession, even when they scored, I thought we made it tough for the most part. Against a team that is as good as Louisiana Tech that was a necessity. I hope our fans know how good of an opponent is coming into Liberty Arena to play. I know we got away from them a little bit tonight, but our guys played really well. I think having lost in Ruston 32 days ago, I think we keep improving. It may not show it in whatever the record is, but I see it. I see guys really trying to star in the roles, that’s the beauty of being a part of this team.”
Zach Cleveland opened the game with a bucket on the designed play, and then the Flames forced the visiting Bulldogs into a shot clock violation. Those first two possessions set the tone for the start of the game as Liberty led from the opening jump.
The strong defense aided the team’s start as Liberty frustrated Louisiana Tech, starting with their big man and preseason CUSA player of the year Daniel Batcho. The Flames threw bodies at the nation’s leader in field goal percentage all evening, frustrating him and forcing four first half turnovers from the 7-footer.
Liberty led by as many as 18 in the first half and entered the locker room with a 39-23 lead. It extended a streak of 23 straight games to open the season where the Flames have led or been tied at the break, having not trailed at halftime this season.
Louisiana Tech held Liberty without a field goal and only one point for four minutes in the early going of the second half, cutting the Flames’ deficit from 20 to 13 to stay within striking distance. The Bulldogs would get as close as 12 with 11:26 left but Liberty went on a 10-0 run to push the lead to 22 and put the visitors away. During that run, Taelon Peter had 7 points, and Liberty would coast to the 24-point win with the lead reaching as high as 28.
Due to Liberty’s defense, the Flames completely took Batcho out of the game. So much so that Louisiana Tech head coach Talvin Hester left his big man on the bench for much of the second half as he only played seven minutes after intermission. He was 0/1 from the field, did not score, and had just one rebound and one turnover after halftime. For the game, Batcho finished with 8 points on 4 of 9 shooting with 5 rebounds and 5 turnovers.
The Flames also did a really good job on defense against Sean Newman. The Louisiana Tech point guard struggled to a 2 of 9 shooting from the field, finishing with 4 points. Newman and Batcho combined for 51 points in the win over Liberty earlier this season, but the Flames held them in check in the rematch.
“We tried to mix it up a little bit,” McKay said of defending Batcho. “He’s had his way a couple of times (against us). He does that to a lot of teams because he’s such a good player. Owen Aquino, he won’t come to the podium because he only scored two points, but he did a terrific job on him. I thought everyone that was in the game with Owen, had a real sense of where Batcho was because you have to. Him and Newman are as good of a 1-2 punch as there is in our conference.”
Liberty had a huge edge in turnovers, forcing 16 for the Bulldogs while only committing four of their own. The Flames converted those 16 turnovers into 24 points while the Bulldogs only scored 2 points off Liberty’s turnovers.
“if you’re good defensively you have a chance every night,” McKay said. “That Jax State game, the last 20 minutes, hopefully we learn from that. You’ve got to do it on that end of the floor if you are going to have a chance, especially in a league that is as good as this. Man, Colin Porter made a huge difference tonight. We lost him in the second half of the game in Louisiana. I thought right from the start, and Kaden too, those guys know people are going to try to dribble down on them and shoot over the top. I thought they stood their ground pretty effectively tonight.”
Peter led the Flames in scoring with 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting to go along with 4 assists. Colin Porter had 15 points and 4 assists while Zach Cleveland added 14 points, 5 assists, and 7 rebounds. Jayvon Maughmer rounded out Liberty’s double figures scorers with 11. It was his first time scoring double figures since the previous Louisiana Tech game and his first time with more than one three-pointer since January 9th as he knocked down three of four.
“He is a career 40% three-point shooter,” McKay said of Maughmer. “I know it sounds like coach speak, but we don’t judge a guy’s shot by whether it goes in or not. It’s not outcome based. We judge it by was that a quality shot. Jayvon takes very few tough shots. He’s really discerning that way, all of our guys are. Tonight we probably took two or three that were uncharacteristic, but we have a lot of belief in Jayvon Maughmer.”
After not making a field goal on Saturday at Jacksonville State, Kaden Metheny went the entire first half against the Bulldogs without a bucket. His field goal drought lasted 44 minutes played before he finally got one to fall. He went on to finish with 7 points and made 3 of 9 from the field.
Liberty also got production from the bench outside of Peter as Zander Yates came in and connected on two first half three pointers. Gabriel McKay and Brett Decker also got some first half action.
The Flames conclude the two-game home stand on Saturday against Sam Houston. The Bearkats are currently 8-15 on the season and 1-9 in conference play following their loss at FIU on Thursday night. Liberty defeated Sam Houston, 76-68, in Texas back on January 9. Tip is scheduled for 4 pm and will be televised on ESPNews from a sold out Liberty Arena.
