Liberty (6-0) vs. Rice (5-2)
the Bahamas – Islands of the Bahamas Showcase semifinals
Saturday, Nov. 23, 5 p.m. ET

TV: FloSports
Radio: Nick Pierce 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 between the two programs.

Projected LU Starters:

11 Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz (Sr., 6-1, 175) – 8.0 ppg, 1.8 apg
2 Darius McGhee (So., 5-9, 150) – 11.2 ppg, 3.3
10 Elijah Cuffee (Jr., 6-4, 200) – 8.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg
1 Caleb Homesley (R-Sr., 6-6, 200) – 11.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg
31 Scottie James (R-Sr., 6-7, 230) – 9.8 ppg, 8.7 rpg

Projected Rice Starters:

3 Ako Adams (Sr., 6-3, 175) – 11.9 ppg, 3.0 apg
10 Robert Martin (Sr., 6-6, 220) – 10.1 ppg, 6.1
15 Max Fiedler (Fr., 6-10, 235) – 5.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg
23 Drew Peterson (So., 6-8, 185) – 8.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg
24 Chris Mullins (So., 6-3, 190) – 6.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg

QUICK FACTS

  • Liberty is trying to improve to 7-0 for the first time in school history. The Flames are 6-0 for the first time in its DI era and only the second time in program history having done so in 1974.
  • In the first six games, Liberty has allowed just 307 points, the fewest during Liberty’s Division I era and fewest since 1984.
  • The Flames are ranked number 5 in the country in scoring defense, allowing 51.2 ppg.

PREVIEW

Liberty and Rice will meet in the semifinals of the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase with the winner advancing to Sunday’s championship game. The Owls advanced with a 75-69 win over Milwaukee to improve to 5-2 on the season.

Rice’s only two losses have come against top 30 KenPom opponents in Arkansas and Houston. They lost to the Razorbacks to open the season, 91-43. Their best win is against Penn, who is ranked #129 in KenPom. The Owls won that game 80-61.

The Owls are led by third year head coach Scott Pera who is coming off consecutive losing seasons including a 13-19 mark last year. Rice has had one winning record in conference play in the past 13 seasons, going 11-7 in Conference USA during the 2016-17 season when Rice was coached by Mike Rhoades. Rhoades left Rice following that season to take over as head coach at VCU.

KENPOM PREDICTION

Liberty 73, Rice 66