Liberty (1-1) dropped its first game of the 2022-23 men’s basketball season on Friday night at No. 20 Alabama (2-0). The Crimson Tide picked up the win, 95-59.

“Tough one, we didn’t play the way I think we’re capable of, Alabama had a lot to do that,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Anytime you give up 31 made free throws, 17 second chance points, and 16 points off turnovers. I think that’s 64, that’s not a good recipe for victory. Hopefully we will learn a lot from this.”

The Flames grabbed the early lead in the opening minutes, but eventually the SEC team would work their way into the lead. The Crimson Tide gave Liberty fits on the offensive end of the floor with their size and athleticism. Darius McGhee was limited to only four field goal attempts in the first half as he was blanketed by longer defenders throughout the opening half. McGhee only played nine minutes and had two points as he had two early fouls. Alabama maintained a 40-31 lead at the half.

In the second half, Alabama would push its lead to double digits and create plenty of separation between them and the Flames as they would coast to the win.

Shiloh Robinson led the team with 11 points while Brody Peebles scored 10 in his return to his home town. Darius McGhee was held to just 8 points on 3 of 11 shooting and 1 of 5 from three. It marks the first time he has failed to reach double figures since last year’s game against Manhattan when McGhee had just 9 points, 31 games ago.

The Flames will return to action on Monday night against North Carolina Central at Liberty Arena with tip scheduled for 7 p.m. N.C. Central is 0-2 on the season as they lost at Virginia, 73-61, in their opener and at Appalachian State, 79-74.

ALABAMA’S LENGTH CAUSED PROBLEMS

Liberty had difficulty finding anything consistently to go to on the offensive end. It seemed like the Alabama length, especially on the perimeter, was a lot for the Flames to handle. They were able to contest shots, create turnovers, and keep Liberty uneasy and out of rhythm for much of the game.

“I’ve sat on that sideline for a few games as a Liberty representative,” said McKay. “I just don’t remember us being as overwhelmed as I felt like we were today, in the second half especially. I just felt like we rushed a little bit offensively. Defensively, our program’s been built on a defensive identity for whatever reason. I’ll do a better job of coaching. They got 38 foul attempts, it’s part of their game plan. I’ve got to do a better job at teaching our guys how to keep them out of the paint without fouling.”

CRIMSON TIDE SHOT IT AT A GOOD RATE

It was going to be a tough go of things for the Flames against the No. 20-ranked team in the country regardless, but Alabama shot over 50% for the game and knocked down 10 of their 22 20 three-point attempts on the night. To have a chance to keep things close and try to pull off the big upset, Liberty would need the home team to struggle from the floor, particularly from distance.

GOOD EXPERIENCE FOR THE TEAM

Over the past several seasons under Coach McKay, Liberty has grown its program to the level where it doesn’t play for moral victories but actual wins on the court. While the win didn’t come tonight, it is a long season and a test like this helps the team in the long run. This is the first time competing against a Division I team for freshmen Colin Porter and Zach Cleveland. It was also the first time the Flames saw how teams will be playing Darius McGhee and trying to take him out of the game. Liberty can learn from this game and improve moving forward. There isn’t likely another team on the schedule as good as Alabama until March.

“This is one game,” McKay stated. “To their credit, our guys have raised expectations so high people expect us to win it every time. I’ve been around it long enough to know there’s a long runway to conference play and to postseason play. I don’t think you will see too many teams overwhelm us like Alabama did.”