Liberty (0-0) vs. Purdue (0-0)
Melbourne, Florida – Titan Field House
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 5:30 p.m. ET

TV: CBS Sports Network, Dave Ryan and Bob Wenzel
Radio: Alan York will have the Liberty radio network call on 107.5 FM in Lynchburg or also streaming online.
Last Meeting: N/A
Series History: First meeting

Projected LU Starters:

1 Chris Parker (Sr., 6-1, 170) – 15.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.4 apg (at Henderson State)
2 Darius McGhee (Jr., 5-9, 150) – 9.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.7 apg
10 Elijah Cuffee (Sr., 6-4, 200) – 7.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.3 apg
22 Kyle Rode (So., 6-7, 220) – 4.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.1 apg
33 Shiloh Robinson (So., 6-7, 200) – 2.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 0.5 apg

Projected Purdue Starters:

11 Isaiah Thompson (So., 6-1, 160) – 5.6 ppg, 1.1 rpg,0.7 apg
2 Eric Hunter Jr. (Jr., 6-4, 170) – 10.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.6 apg
55 Sasha Stefanovic (Jr., 6-5, 200) – 9.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.7 apg
1 Aaron Wheeler (Jr., 6-9, 205) – 3.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 0.9 apg
50 Trevion Williams (Jr., 6-10, 265) – 11.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.5 apg

QUICK FACTS

  • Liberty currently has a six game winning streak on neutral courts which is the second longest in the country, trailing only Virginia.
  • The Flames sport a 23 game home winning streak which is the fourth longest in the country.
  • Liberty has posted 115 wins since Ritchie McKay returned at the helm of the program in 2014 which is No. 2 in the state of Virginia.
  • Liberty has defeated five Power Five opponents under McKay and four in the last three seasons.
  • Liberty is 0-4 all-time against Big Ten opponents with the last meeting with one coming in 2016 against Indiana.

PREVIEW

The Flames will get the 2020-21 season underway Wednesday evening against the Purdue Boilermarkers. It marks just the second time in the six seasons under McKay that Liberty will open the season against a Division I program, and second consecutive as Liberty faced Radford in last year’s lid-lifter. The Flames haven’t opened a season against a Power Five conference opponent since the 2011-12 season when Liberty faced Texas A&M under head coach Dale Layer.

Purdue begins the season ranked No. 25 in the KenPom preseason rankings coming off a 16-15 campaign a season ago. The Boilermakers are under head coach Matt Painter who is beginning his 16th season on the sidelines. Under Painter, Purdue has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 11 of his first 14 seasons, obviously last year’s NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID pandemic.

Three starters return for Painter and the Boilermakers as Eric Hunter, Jr., Sasha Stefanovic, and Trevion Williams hope to guide Purdue back to the Big Dance this season. Purdue is 14-1 in season openers under Painter, having won seven straight by a combined 30.3 points.

KENPOM PREDICTION

Purdue 71, Liberty 57