To help reduce travel and the risk of COVID, the ASUN adopted a new scheduling format this season where teams would play on back-to-back nights against the same team at the same site every Friday and Saturday during the men’s basketball season. Many mid-major conferences across the country have adopted a similar scheduling format for this season.
This has created an interesting dynamic with many teams splitting the weekend series. It’s also given an advantage to teams who are deeper and more mature in being able to bounce back quickly from a loss.
“These back-to-backs are different,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said earlier this year. “There is a mental part of it that you have to be very mentally prepared for it. There is a mental part of this. You’ve got to have some maturity and mental toughness to get a sweep.”
For Liberty, it has been much more challenging to play at its best in the first game of the back-to-back with the Flames just 1-2 on Fridays in ASUN play and a perfect 3-0 on Saturday. The Flames’ only win on Friday came against Kennesaw State who is currently 0-8 in conference play this season. Liberty won that game by just six points while rebounding on Saturday to win by 29 points.
In the games on Friday, Liberty is allowing 68.3 points per game to its opponents, compared to just 51.6 points per game allowed on Saturday. The Flames enter this weekend’s games at Jacksonville (9-7, 3-3) holding opponents to 59.1 points per game on the season, good for 5th best in the country.
In the first Friday night ASUN game, which happened on New Year’s Day at Lipscomb, the Flames fell behind by 24 points in the first half. Without McKay on the sideline, the Flames responded with a 20-3 run to cut the Bisons lead to as close as four points in the second half but were unable to complete the comeback.
A week later, Liberty fell behind Kennesaw State, who resides in the ASUN basement, 12-0 and did not score a point for over eight minutes to begin the game. The Flames would ultimately turn things around and hold off the Owls for the team’s only win in conference play on Friday.
In the Flames’ previous Friday night game, Liberty led Stetson 29-20 late in the first half and maintained that lead until midway through the second half before ultimately falling to the Hatters on the road.
“It’s been like a Rubik’s Cube, for me” McKay said when asked about his team’s struggles on Friday. “Is it a coincidence that we just haven’t played great on Friday night or is there something to it? We’ve been searching for answers. We tried to tweak practice in the way we did it this week, but I also know our team is maturing.”
That Rubik’s Cube has an additional twist to it this week as the Flames prepare to face Jacksonville in Florida Friday and Saturday evening this weekend. Friday night’s game will be the first time Liberty has hit the court for a game in 13 days, having not played since the Flames defeated Stetson, 68-58, on Saturday, Jan. 16. With the extra week off, McKay gave his team off Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday a week ago, as the team practiced Monday and Thursday and had a scrimmage on Saturday.
“I’m not sure what to expect tomorrow,” McKay said. “I’ve watched other teams who have had mandatory breaks because of COVID or contact tracing and it seems like there is a little bit of rust to shake off. We play a really good Jacksonville team that is confident and well coached.”
The only previous time Liberty has had an extended break of more than six days this season was over Christmas when the Flames went 10 games in between games against Alcorn State and Lipscomb. Liberty lost that game to the Bisons in Nashville on Friday night, 77-70. The Flames played that game without having McKay on the bench or traveling to the game as he had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Not to sound like an excuse, but Scottie (James) and Myo (Baxter-Bell) and Georgie (Pacheco-Ortiz) and Caleb (Homesley), they knew,” McKay explained. You didn’t have to tell them, ‘Hey, this team is really good and they are capable.’ Those guys knew. They had been through it. They’ve been through the lows and felt the disappointment. This group is still in that practice. I hope we are better (Friday) night, but if we’re not, we’ll go back to the drawing board board and try to figure out how to do something different.”
