The Liberty Flames (23-5, 11-4 CUSA) are back in action on Sunday against Kennesaw State (16-13, 8-8) to continue conference play.
Here’s what you need to know about the game:
Liberty vs Kennesaw State How to Watch
1 p.m. ET | Sunday, Mar 2
Lynchburg, Virginia | Liberty Arena
TV: CBS Sports Network
Liberty vs Kennesaw State Odds (KenPom)
Spread: Liberty -10
Projected score: Liberty 73, Kennesaw 63
Liberty Projected Starters
#0 Colin Porter
Junior Guard | 5’10”, 170
9.1 ppg, 4.2 apg, 45.4% from 3
#3 Kaden Metheny
R-Senior Guard | 5’11”, 170
13.1 ppg, 38.3% from 3
#32 Jayvon Maughmer
Senior Guard | 6’6″, 205
8.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg
#25 Zach Cleveland
Junior Forward | 6’7″, 220
10.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.9 apg
#8 Owen Aquino
Junior Forward | 6’8″, 230
9.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.1 bpg
Liberty vs Kennesaw State History
Liberty leads the all-time series, 10-2.
Liberty vs Kennesaw State Storylines
OWLS LOOKING TO HALT TWO-GAME SKID
Kennesaw is coming off two losses, facing setbacks to New Mexico State, 60-49, on their home floor last Saturday and falling at FIU, 76-61, on Thursday night. With those losses, KSU has fallen into 5th place in the conference standings, but they are within a half game of both 3rd and 8th place as the middle of the pack is jumbled together greatly. The Owls have just two games remaining on the regular season, as they conclude the regular season next Saturday at Jacksonville State. The Owls will be looking to stay out of the bottom four in the conference standings to earn a spot into the CUSA Tournament quarterfinals with a first round bye. In order do that, Kennesaw likely needs to win at least one of their last two games.
They will also be looking to avenge a home loss to the Flames back on January 30, 76-68. In t hat game, Kaden Metheny led the Flames with 17 points while Zach Cleveland had 14, Colin Porter added 13, and Taelon Peter reached 11 points. Liberty led from wire to wire, utilizing an 11-1 first half run to push the lead into double figures for much of the contest. Behind a large crowd at the KSU Convocation Center, the Owls kept making runs, cutting the lead to six on a couple of occasions, but Liberty kept answering those punches to pick up the win and halt a two-game losing streak to Kennesaw State dating back to the two teams’ time in the ASUN.
FLAMES CELEBRATING SENIOR DAY
Sunday’s game is Liberty’s senior day as the Flames close out the regular season portion of the team’s home schedule. The Flames will recognize their seniors prior to the game with Taelon Peter, Jayvon Maughmer, Gabriel McKay, and Kaden Metheny expected to be honored.
Sunday will also be the first home game played on a Sunday in Liberty Arena history. The Flames’ last home game on a Sunday was the 2020 ASUN Conference Tournament championship win against Lipscomb on March 8, the final game played in the Vines Center. The prior regular season home game on a Sunday was earlier that season when the Flames beat Maryland Eastern Shore on Nov. 10, 2019.
RACE FOR REGULAR SEASON TITLE
With Liberty’s win Thursday night over Jacksonville State, the Flames moved into sole possession of first place in the CUSA standings for the first time of the program’s two-year stint in the league. With just three games remaining in the regular season, a regular season title in one of the top 10 conferences in the country is in plain sight. Still, it’s not a guarantee and the Flames need to continue to play well and win games to secure that top spot and the No. 1 seed in the CUSA Tournament.
The Gamecocks are just a half a game behind the Flames at 11-5 but a full game back in the loss column. Meanwhile, Middle Tennessee is lurking just behind at 10-5. Of course, Liberty heads to Murfreesboro to take on MTSU next Thursday night in what should be a critical matchup. The Blue Raiders also play at UTEP on Saturday and conclude the regular season at home against FIU. Jax State’s remaining schedule includes a trip to FIU on Saturday and then they host Kennesaw next Saturday.
The easiest path for Liberty to the regular season title and No. 1 seed is to win its remaining three games, but that won’t be easy with three difficult games on hand including two on the road. A win over MTSU next Thursday would also go a long way as the Flames would then own the tiebreaker over the Blue Raiders while also knocking them down another game. The next most important scenario for the Flames if they were to slip up in one of the final three games is to have New Mexico State finish in the No. 4 slot because that would be the next tiebreaker following the head to head as the Aggies would be the next highest team to finish in the standings and Liberty is 2-0 against NMSU this season while both MTSU and Jax State went 1-1.
