Liberty’s 2020-21 season came to an end on Friday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana. The No. 13 seed in the Midwest region, the Flames lost to the No. 4 seed Oklahoma State, 69-60. With the win, the Cowboys improve to 21-8 on the season and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they will face No. 12 seed Oregon State on Sunday.
“Congratulations to Oklahoma State,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “That’s a really good basketball team, with a special player. And they did a great job of making it really hard for us. But really proud of our group, the way they represent our program, our university, and tonight just wasn’t quite our night.”
The Flames fall to 23-6 after advancing to the program’s 6th ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Liberty is now 1-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
Turnovers and fouls were too much for Liberty to overcome. The Flames had a season-high 18 turnovers and Oklahoma State scored 18 points off those turnovers. Liberty was also called for 22 fouls, 16 of them coming in the second half as the Cowboys reached the bonus by the first media timeout of the final 20 minutes. Oklahoma State finished the game with 29 free throw attempts, making 20 of them.
“It was the difference in the game,” said McKay. “That’s uncharacteristic. We average nine turnovers a year. We led the nation in fewest turnovers last year. The game was extremely physical, and you can just look at those two stats, the turnovers and how many free throw attempts they had. I think we’re like the 15th fewest fouling team in the country, but they really just put their head down, they drove it and they were the aggressor.”
Oklahoma State grabbed the early lead, but the pace was at Liberty’s preferred tempo from the start of the game. The Flames have not allowed the Cowboys to get out into transition frequently, and possessions are routinely reaching single digits on the shot clock. It took OSU over 12 minutes to pick up their first fast break points of the evening.
The Flames trailed 8-4 early in the first half, when ASUN Player of the Year Darius McGhee scored 5 straight points in just 16 seconds to give Liberty its first lead of the game at 9-8. McGhee’s insanely quick release helped him to get a three-point attempt off which he buried. He then made a layup in transition after an Oklahoma State turnover.
McGhee’s burst was part of a 12-2 run by the Flames as the 13-seed in the Midwest grabbed a 16-10 lead, a lead they would maintain throughout the duration of the first half.
First-team All-American and likely number one overall selection in the 2021 NBA Draft, freshman Cade Cunningham struggled in the first half of his first NCAA Tournament appearance. The 6’8″ guard had just one point, was 0/5 from the field, 0/3 from three while making 1 of 2 from the charity stripe to go along with 3 turnovers. He checked out at the 6:04 mark of the first half after picking up his 2nd personal foul on a charge drawn by ASUN Defensive Player of the Year Elijah Cuffee.
After Cunningham checked out, guard Avery Anderson picked up the scoring for the Cowboys. He scored their final 10 points in the first half to keep Oklahoma State within just a possession or two throughout the final 6 minutes of the first half. Liberty would take a 30-27 lead into the halftime locker room.
Coming out of the halftime break, OSU scored the first four points to take their first lead of the game since it was 8-7 at the 14:11 mark of the first half. Elijah Cuffee would score the Flames’ first five points of the second half as he immediately gave Liberty the lead back and then tied the game at 35 with his three pointer.
The two teams exchanged buckets the next few possessions until Oklahoma State went on an 8-0 burst that took just 65 seconds. Liberty would twice cut the lead to 3 points the rest of the way but were unable to get any closer.
Senior Elijah Cuffee paced the Flames with 16 points as he made 6 of 9 field goals and 4 of 6 from three. He also added 3 rebounds and 4 assists in 35 minutes in what could be his final game.
“Elijah Cuffee’s so special on the court,” McKay said of his senior. “We can talk about his accomplishments and his career leading win total, we can talk about his defensive prowess, but what I love about him is his person. He’s really become an exceptional leader. Our team wouldn’t be where we are programmatically without the selfless investment that Elijah has made and we’re going to miss him. I’m going to miss coaching him, but at the same time, I’m so happy for him that, he had a career that was worthy of remembrance.”
McGhee finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds. He made 4 of 13 field goals and was 2 of 8 from three. Preston finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds as he made 4 of 11 from the field. Chris Parker finished with 10 points and 5 turnovers as he made just 3 of 10 from the field and 1 of 2 from behind the arc.
Cunningham would finish with 15 points, 14 coming after the break. He was held to just 3 of 14 from the field and 2 of 8 from three as he made 7 of 9 from the charity stripe to go along with 4 turnovers. Anderson led the Cowboys with 21 points.
Liberty was held to just 38% shooting from the field and from behind the arc, making 8 of 21 three point attempts. Oklahoma State outscored the Flames, 12-2, in second chance points and 32-26 in points in the paint, as well as 19-12 in fast break points. The 19 fast break points allowed was the most the Flames have allowed all season.
“I love our program, I love the direction that it’s going,” McKay stated. “These are young men that we as coaches are really privileged to be a part of their lives. They’re special. And I know a lot of coaches use those words, but for me they’re not just words out of my mouth or words on a screen or words on a paper or on the computer that you’ll read. These young men, they’re inspirational in the way they really try and make someone else’s life better. They have really invested in being a part of something that’s bigger than themselves.”
*photo courtesy NCAA
