The Flames fall to UNC Greensboro, 72-65, on Saturday nigth. Here’s our rapid reactions:

  1. The Flames trailed from the onset, as UNCG jumped out to an early lead. In what is becoming all too common for this team, Liberty struggled to shoot the ball. McKay’s squad relied on the 3-point shot, as they usually do, but couldn’t connect from deep. The Flames finished the game shooting 40.4% from the floor thanks to 58.6% shooting in the 2nd half. Liberty finished 8/27 from 3 on the night.
  2. Coach McKay has to find a way for the team to have some type of threat in the paint. Too quickly and often so far this season, this team has forgotten the inside game and resorted to launching 3’s. That won’t work most nights. When the team works through Myo Baxter-Bell in the paint, they find some success.
  3. The first half performance was a disappointment. This is a game Liberty needs to find a way to win as McKay continues to try to build this program. In the 2nd half, we saw the team compete at a high level, but the putrid shooting in the first half was too much to overcome.
  4. The Flames struggled with turnovers all night. Liberty had 17 turnovers which led to 20 points for the Spartans. Many of the turnovers led to uncontested layups for Greensboro.
  5. Ryan Kemrite missed the game due to injury. No official word on his status.
  6. Caleb Homesley continues to develop and look like an all-conference performer. He’s under-sized, but battles with established post players for position and rebounds. He hits clutch buckets. He makes solid plays on defense. The sophomore finished the game with his 2nd straight double double, the first 2 double doubles of his career. He had 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists.
  7. Myo Baxter-Bell and Ray Chen both played well. Baxter-Bell had 12 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes. He’s getting more comfortable in the paint with more experience. Chen had 14 points, connecting on 2 of his 4 three point attempts and also making 6 of 7 free throws.
  8. John Dawson has not played up to his potential much of this season, especially the past 2 or 3 games. He scored just one point on 0/5 shooting and 0/3 shooting from 3-point range. He fouled out in 25 minutes, and had just 1 rebound and 1 assist against UNC Greensboro. This follows up a 4 point game on 1/7 shooting Tuesday night against Central Penn. He’s fouled out 4 of Liberty’s 8 games this year. The Flames will need their senior captain to return to his normal self to compete for a conference championship this season.
  9. The Flames struggled from the free throw line, shooting just 15/23 on free throws against the Spartans. Even usual reliable shooters struggled. Ray Chen missed his first free throw of the year while Lovell Cabbil, who flirted with 90% from the charity stripe last year, even missed one of his 2 free throws.
  10. Brock Gardner put together his 2nd consecutive solid performance. It’s great to see and much needed from the 6’7″ true freshman. Gardner had 8 points on 4/7 shooting including a couple nice dunks. He added 3 rebounds in 18 minutes played.
  11. Liberty returns to action on Tuesday night for a nice home test against Furman. Tip is scheduled for 7pm.