Liberty drops its Big South Conference Tournament quarterfinal matchup with Radford, 56-52. Here’s our rapid reactions:
- The Flames struggled all afternoon shooting the ball, finishing the game 36% from the field and 29% from 3 point range. It’s hard to win any game with those numbers.
- With the exception of a Liberty 3-2 lead, Radford led throughout, and kept the lead around the 7-10 point margin most of the game. The Flames did go on a 9-0 run to cut the Highlanders’ lead to 1 at 42-41. Liberty then had multiple opportunities to take the lead, but failed to take advantage. Liberty would grab a lead thanks to a John Dawson 3-pointer with 1:50 to play. The Flames were outscored 9-3 in the final stretch.
- For the 2nd consecutive game, Myo Baxter-Bell was Liberty’s most consistent offensive threat. He scored 18 points on 8/14 shooting from the field. Reminder that he’s just a redshirt-freshman, the sky is the limit for him as he continues to develop.
- Lovell Cabbil was the only other Flame to reach double figures, as he scored 12 points.
- Outside of Myo and Cabbil, the Flames were 7/31 from the field. Dawson did connect on three 3s in the 2nd half.
- Liberty continues to struggle at the Winthrop Coliseum, having not won there since February 18, 2004. This was the Flames’ first game against someone other than Winthrop during that stretch.
- The Flames have now lost their first game of the Big South Tournament for 4 straight seasons and 7 out of the last 8. The lone exception was the 2013 Big South Tournament where Liberty won 4 straight games to claim the 2013 Big South Tournament Championship.
- Radford picks up the win after being swept by Liberty during the regular season. The Flames haven’t gone 3-0 against an opponent since the 2003-04 season.
- After a 13-2 stretch to open Big South play this season, Liberty has lost 3 out of their last 4 games.
- The Flames have been eliminated from the Big South and NCAA Tournaments, but with a 19-13 overall record will likely receive an at-large bid to a postseason tournament, the CIT being the most likely. Until then, Liberty has to sulk over this loss.