Liberty true freshman Micaiah Abii had been the talk of preseason practice among those close to the team and his season debut will have all Liberty fans jumping on his bandwagon immediately. He was named to the starting lineup, and finished the game with 19 points and 3 rebounds without missing a shot while playing only 19 minutes. The big man even showed the ability to step behind the three-point line, as he made three three-pointers on the evening.

“Obviously, offensively I was feeling it with my shot,” Abii said after the game. “I’d say it was a pretty good start.”

His 19 points were the most by a true freshman in a debut at Liberty since Seth Curry scored 23 points in his first game a Liberty uniform in November 2008. Curry played 30 minutes and was 9 of 22 from the field.

“I think he sat out 28 of his first 33 days at Liberty because of contract tracing,” McKay said. “When he came back and he started to get his playing condition, we kind of saw that, boy, he’s really good. He plays with a sense of confidence and also unselfishness that I think he’s got a really bright future. I obviously don’t know if he will score 19 a night, and we’re usually a little more balanced in our scoring, but he’s got a chance to be one of the best. The thing about Micaiah, which is way underrated, is how good his hands and feet are.”

Abii, who says he’s put on about 15 pounds of muscle since getting to Liberty and is currently playing near 250 pounds, did his damage against a big, strong Purdue team featuring size like the Flames are unlikely to see again this season. The freshman from Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas showed no fear against the Big Ten team.

“Those first two shots shook off the nerves,” said Abii. “I was definitely really nervous going into the first game. It’s been so long since I played in an actual game too. Being able to knock down shots, it definitely helped going throughout the game.”

Abii says he can’t recall every playing in a game where he didn’t miss a single shot. He will be back in action with the Flames on Thanksgiving Day at 5:30 p.m. playing in the third place game of the Space Coast Shootout.

*photo courtesy Liberty Athletics