Liberty (5-3) vs. Stephen F Austin (7-2)
Forth Worth, Texas – Dickies Arena (Capacity: 14,000)
Saturday, Dec. 11, 7:00 p.m. ET
FloSports
Last Meeting: N/A
Series History: First meeting
Projected LU Starters:
2 Darius McGhee (Sr., 5-9, 150) – 17.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.6 apg
23 Joseph Venzant (Fr., 6-3, 170) – 5.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.3 apg
20 Keegan McDowell (R-Sr., 6-6, 180) – 12.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.5 apg
22 Kyle Rode (Jr., 6-7, 220) – 4.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.1 apg
33 Shiloh Robinson (R-Jr., 6-7, 200) – 7.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.4 apg
Projected Stephen F Austin Starters:
4 David Kachelries (Sr., 6-1, 170) – 12.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 4.2 apg
5 Jaylin Jackson-Posey (Fr., 6-2, 196) – 5.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.9 apg
23 Roti Ware (Sr., 6-3, 187) – 12.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.8 apg
13 Calvin Solomon (Jr., 6-7, 194) – 7.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.2 apg
14 Gavin Kensmil (Sr., 6-7, 260) – 16.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.0 apg
PREVIEW
Saturday’s game between Stephen F Austin and Liberty is part of a triple-header being played at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic. The Flames and Lumberjacks will be the third game played, following Mississippi State vs Colorado State at 2 p.m. EST and North Texas vs UMass at 4:30 p.m. EST.
Stephen F Austin will be playing about a three hour drive away from their campus in Nacogdoches, Texas in the first ever meeting between the two programs. SFA is led by sixth year head coach Kyle Keller who has taken the program to the NCAA Tournament as a 14-seed in 2018 and they were the favorite to get back in 2020 before the Tournament was canceled due to the COVID pandemic.
Prior to Keller, current Illinois head coach Brad Underwood had a very successful three-year run at Stephen F Austin. In 2014-2016 under Underwood, the Lumberjacks won at least 28 games each year, advancing to the Big Dance each season, and winning a game in two of the three NCAA Tournaments.
So far this season, SFA has four non-Division I wins, have defeated Middle Tennessee, Buffalo, and Northwestern State. Their two losses came against South Dakota State and Saint Louis.
“Kyle Keller is a really good friend of mine, love him,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “I’ve watched his team play a bunch. They are going to pressure and deny you for 40 minutes. It will be a really good test for our group.”
KENPOM PREDICTION
Liberty 67, Stephen F Austin 65
