Return to Seattle
Liberty has been very successful away from home this season. The Flames currently sport a 16-3 record in games played on the road or on a neutral court. The road trip began early in the season with trips to Ohio, Seattle, Charleston, the Virgin Islands, and then all the CUSA road trips that included stops in New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Now, Liberty prepares to head back to Seattle for a second time this season to take on Oregon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Flames have played in five different time zones already this season and have traveled over 20,000 miles. The trip from Lynchburg to Seattle is the furthest any one team is making to their first-round destination in this year’s tournament.
In just the second game of the season, Liberty defeated Seattle University, 66-64, in Seattle at the Redhawk Center. Last week’s CUSA Tournament MVP Kaden Metheny hit the game-winning three pointer with 3.7 seconds remaining to lift the Flames to the dramatic, comeback win. The Flames trailed by six points with 1:57 remaining before closing on an 8-0 run to escape with the victory. Metheny led the team in scoring with 15 while Owen Aquino added 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals, and Jayvon Maughmer added 12 points.
“We’ve been all over the country this year,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “I think they will just be excited to play in the NCAA Tournament. I don’t think it has any bearing on advantage or disadvantage. We expected we were going to go somewhere. For it to be the furthest city that we could have gone to in the Tournament is par for the course, but it’s all good.”
The return to Seattle is also a bit of a Homecoming for Coach McKay. He played college basketball at Seattle Pacific and then began his coaching career in the Pacific Northwest, at Washington and Seattle Pacific. He met his wife, Julie, in Seattle and they still have some family in the area.
“I love Seattle,” he said. “It’s where I went to college and met my wife. We have family there still. So, that will be fun and enjoyable. You work all year for this. I’m happy that I get to see them, but I’m more excited about the opportunity to compete in what I think is the greatest sporting event in the world. Just to have an inclusion in that is an honor.”
Former players connected to the current team
If you are active on social media and follow any of Liberty’s former men’s basketball players, you certainly saw some of their activity last week and into the weekend as the Flames made the run to the CUSA Championship to receive another NCAA Tournament appearance. Caleb Homesley, Lovell Cabbil, Kyle Rode, Ryan Kemrite, Ryan Hiepler, Myo Baxter-Bell, the list could go on and on of the former players that have been publicly showing their enjoyment and support of the current team’s successful run.
“It’s what makes us different,” McKay said of the former players still being so closely connected to the program. “I’m sure a lot of former players to back to their place. The way our guys follow the present guys, it means so much to me. It’s why I’ve stayed here. We’ve got an authentic brotherhood in those shared experiences that we’ve had. It’s transformative to not only our group and our room, but those that get a chance to see or witness us being as connected as we are.”
Both teams Dancing
For just the third time in program history, both the men’s and basketball teams are heading to the Big Dance. That also happened in 2004 and 2013 when the Flames were a member of the Big South. Both teams will be playing on Friday with the men taking on Oregon in Seattle at 10:10 p.m. Eastern and the women playing at Kentucky in Lexington at Noon. Liberty is one of 27 schools in the country sending both its men’s and women’s basketball teams to the NCAA Tournament.
“I think our athletic administration, Dr. Costin, and all of our upper administration, they have a deep commitment to athletics, but it’s balanced,” said McKay. “They provide an opportunity as far as resources, prayer support, and their physical presence, as well as having us make the move to Conference USA which I think has been beneficial for our department. I think that support allows all the teams to have opportunity for success. There are tremendous coaches on our campus. You feel like, man, I want to stay out of the lane of comparison because there are some legends that are here. I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
