The 2021-22 men’s basketball season may have just ended this past Monday night when Kansas defeated North Carolina in the national championship game, but Liberty basketball’s plans for the 2022-23 season are already falling in to place.
As was announced last November, Liberty will compete in the 2022 Cancun Challenge along with Auburn, Bradley, Northwestern, Eastern Michigan, Purdue Fort Wayne, Southern Miss, and Winthrop. The Cancun Challenge features four games played in the US before the teams make the trip to the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya during Thanksgiving Week in a modified ball room.
Liberty will host Southern Miss at Liberty Arena on Nov. 18 as part of the Cancun Challenge. In Mexico, the Flames will open against Northwestern on Nov. 22 in the final game of the day, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. On Nov. 23, Liberty will either face Bradley or Auburn.
This will be Liberty’s second appearance in the Cancun Challenge, with the first one being in the 2014 version of the tournament. Liberty lost both games it played to North Florida and Morgan State. The Flames also played in the 2020 Space Coast Challenge after the 2020 Cancun Challenge was not held due to the COVID pandemic. Instead, a four team tournament was held in Melbourne, Florida. Liberty split its two games in the Space Coast Challenge to begin the 2020-21 season, falling to Purdue and defeating Mississippi State.
Liberty is coming off a season that saw the program win 20 or more games for a sixth consecutive year. The Flames finished the season at 22-11 overall and 12-4 in ASUN play, finishing first in the ASUN’s East Division. Liberty saw its three straight ASUN championships come to an end when the Flames lost to Bellarmine, 53-50, on March 5 in the ASUN Tournament semifinals.
Southern Miss finished this past season with a 7-26 overall record and 1-17 mark in Conference USA play. Northwestern was 15-16 this past year, finishing at 7-13 in Big Ten play.
