Liberty (0-1) vs. Mississippi State (0-1)
Melbourne, Florida – Titan Field House
Thursday, Nov. 26, 6 p.m. ET
CBS Sports Network

Last Meeting: Liberty won, 80-76, on March 22, 2019 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It is Liberty’s only win in the Big Dance.
Series History: The all-time series is tied, 1-1.

Projected LU Starters:

1 Chris Parker (Sr., 6-1, 170) – 4.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 4.0 apg
2 Darius McGhee (Jr., 5-9, 150) – 21.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.0 apg
10 Elijah Cuffee (Sr., 6-4, 200) – 5.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.0 apg
22 Kyle Rode (So., 6-7, 220) – 6.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 4.0 apg
24 Micaiah Abii (Fr., 6-7, 260) – 19.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.0 apg

Projected Miss. St. Starters:

5 Deivon Smith (Fr., 6-1, 165) – 2.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg
3 DJ Stewart, Jr. (So., 6-6, 205) – 12.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.0 apg
4 Cameron Matthews (Fr., 6-7, 220) – 8.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.0 apg
24 Abdul Ado (Sr., 6-11, 255) – 0.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.0 apg
35 Tolu Smith (So., 6-10, 245) – 12.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1.0 apg

QUICK FACTS

  • Micaiah Abii’s 19 points against Purdue is the most in a Liberty freshman debut since Seth Curry scored 23 in 2008.
  • Coach McKay is 3-2 all-time against Ben Howland as the two also met while McKay was at Portland State and Howland was at Northern Arizona.
  • Liberty has won back to back conference regular season titles and tournament titles, the only team in the country to do so.
  • The Flames have defeated five Power Five opponents under McKay and four in the last three seasons.
  • Darius McGhee scored a career high 21 points on Wednesday against Purdue.

PREVIEW

The biggest storyline is obviously the rematch of the 2019 NCAA Tournament game where the Flames got the 12-5 upset of Howland’s Bulldogs. However, there are very players on the current roster that played in that game for both teams.

Mississippi State opened the 2020-21 season Wednesday night with a 53-42 setback to the Clemson Tigers. Tolu Smith and DJ Stewart paced Howland’s squad with 12 points each as both teams struggled offensively. MSU shot just 30.0% from the field and were 4 of 13 from beyond the three point line while making only 8 of 27 free throw attempts.

The Bulldogs were in the discussion to make last year’s NCAA Tournament at 20-11 overall and 11-7 in the SEC. They didn’t have many wins of note and had narrow losses to LSU, Oklahoma, New Mexico State, and Villanova. Mississippi State lost a pair of guys to the NBA Draft as Robert Woodard II and Reggie Perry were both second round selections last week. Their 2019 NCAA Tournament appearance was the program’s first in 10 years.

It will be a new look team for the Bulldogs this season who return just four scholarship players who saw action last season. Top 100 recruit Deivon Smith may have the most immediate impact of the newcomers as the 6’1″ point guard is expected to start from day one.

KENPOM PREDICTION

Mississippi State 68, Liberty 61

*photo courtesy Liberty Athletics