The Liberty Flames (22-5, 10-4 CUSA) are back in action on Thursday against Jacksonville State (19-9, 11-4) to continue conference play.

Here’s what you need to know about the game:

Liberty vs Jax State How to Watch

7 p.m. ET | Thursday, Feb 27
Lynchburg, Virginia | Liberty Arena
TV: ESPN+

Liberty vs Jax State Odds (KenPom)

Spread: Liberty -8
Projected score: Liberty 71, Jacksonville State 63

Liberty Projected Starters

#0 Colin Porter

Junior Guard | 5’10”, 170
9.1 ppg, 4.2 apg, 44.7% from 3

#3 Kaden Metheny

R-Senior Guard | 5’11”, 170
13.1 ppg, 42.9% from 3

#32 Jayvon Maughmer

Senior Guard | 6’6″, 205
8.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg

#25 Zach Cleveland

Junior Forward | 6’7″, 220
10.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.9 apg

#8 Owen Aquino

Junior Forward | 6’8″, 230
9.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.0 bpg

Liberty vs Jax State History

The Gamecocks lead the all-time series, 4-2, including a 72-61 win over the Flames in Jacksonville, Alabama on Feb. 1.

Liberty vs Jax State Storylines

FIRST PLACE BATTLE

Thursday night’s game features the top two teams in Conference USA, separated by just a half game in the conference standings and tied in the loss column. As we enter the final two weeks of the regular season, this game will go a long way in determining who wins the regular season title and is the No. 1 seed in the CUSA Tournament in Huntsville, Alabama.

“Our guys know,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said of the implications of this game. “They look at the standings. I think part of getting over yourself as a coach, especially, because we want to control things, is just staying committed to being process-oriented. I know it sounds cliche, but if that is a pursuit you can acquire on the daily, you will be able to look past what  you are not in order to continue to build into what you are.

Maybe it doesn’t matter too much who wins the regular season either. Once these teams get to Huntsville, with as balanced as Conference USA is, being either the 1 or the 2 seed doesn’t have too much of an impact. There is no home court, there is no extra bye you can receive.

“Whatever the outcome is in the game on Thursday, we still have three regular season games and they are really hard,” McKay continued. “I want to fixate on how can we be the best version of ourselves today. That’s been our messaging, but it’s been our messaging in the last decade, so I think our guys are probably used to it by now.

TOP SCORERS STRUGGLED IN FIRST MEETING

Liberty’s Kaden Metheny struggled in the first meeting at Jacksonville State as he finished the game with just one point and was 0 for 9 from the field, including an 0 for 7 mark from three. Metheny is averaging over 13 points per game and is shooting 38.9% from behind the arc. The one-point scoring performance against the Gamecocks is the lowest output for the Liberty guard during his two seasons with the Flames.

Meanwhile, Jax State features the top scorer in CUSA and one of the top in the country in Jaron Pierre. The favorite for CUSA Player of the Year, the 6’5″ senior guard is averaging 22.1 points per game, which ranks 2nd in the country just behind Villanova’s Eric Dixon, and shooting 43.6% from the field. Back on February 1st in the first meeting between these two teams, like Metheny, Pierre also struggled. He finished the night with 9 points and was just 3 of 13 from the field. That game marks the only time this season Pierre has not reached double figures in scoring. Since that game against Liberty, Pierre is averaging 28.7 points per game over the past six games, four times reaching the 30-point mark.

“He actually did a really good job of deferring,” McKay said of PIerre in the first meeting. “It was what was working for them. They were driving us. House got hot a little bit. Brigham hit a couple of really big baskets, he’s a really good player, very underrated. Offensively, I don’t think we were ourselves. You can’t be a great team or a championship team if your only momentum or consistency lies on making shots. You’ve got to be able to win games because you are really sound defensively, as well. I don’t think we did that in (the 2nd half). I think it’s been more the aberration for our season, thus far, in conference play.”

GAMECOCKS HAVE WON 3 STRAIGHT IN SERIES

Jacksonville State has owned the recent series against the Flames, having won three straight and are 3-0 against Liberty since both teams moved to Conference USA prior to last season. JSU is 4-2 all-time against the Flames, with all of those meetings coming in the past few years as the teams both joined the ASUN and then moved together to CUSA.

Further, the Gamecocks have had a lot of success at Liberty Arena. They are 2-1 all-time at Liberty’s new facility including a win in their last trip, last season. Jax State also handed the Flames their first ever loss at their new facility, coming back on January 29, 2022. That loss snapped a 21 game win streak the Flames owned at Liberty Arena and also snapped a 45-game home winning streak dating back to the Vines Center. It was the nation’s second longest home win streak in all of Division I.

“They kind of play similar to us, slowing the game down on the offensive side, especially if they take the lead,” said Liberty guard Kaden Metheny. “Their lineup is a big lineup that switches everything to kind of confuse us. We know that’s going to be a battle. Did not like losing at their place, we know how big this one is. We are going to be preparing extra this week, pretty excited for this one.”