Liberty (22-7, 13-3) was able to bounce back in a big way with a win at Jacksonville State (11-18, 4-12), 79-55, on Saturday evening.
“Really proud of our guys response,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “I thought having lost a really tough game that we knew there was a lot of significance on, I thought we were more intentional defensively. Darius McGhee gets going a little bit, I think we did a good job playing for the full 40 minutes. Grateful we were able to do what we did today.”
The Flames seized control of the game early and coasted to the win. The margin was 20 at halftime and quickly ballooned in the second half. Darius McGhee finished the game with 27 points. He was one of three players to reach double figures, joined by Colin Porter with 12 and Joseph Venzant who had 10.
Liberty will conclude the regular season this week with two games against Queens. The Flames and Royals will play in Charlotte on Wednesday before Liberty’s senior night on Friday at Liberty Arena. Queens is currently 17-12 on the season and 7-9 in ASUN play coming off their upset win at Kennesaw State on Saturday afternoon.
NO HANGOVER FOR THE FLAMES
Following the hard fought and difficult loss on Thursday night at Kennesaw State, it would have been easy for Liberty to sulk from the loss and not be laser focused less than 48 hours later. That wasn’t the case as the Flames bounced back in a big way with a business like approach.
“I think it’s the character of our group,” McKay said of his team’s ability to bounce back. “I think we have great leadership from our players. I think our assistants do an excellent job of game-prepping. I felt like they handled it like professionals.”
The same can not be said of Kennesaw State who suffered a setback Saturday afternoon. The lost to Queens was the first for the Owls on their home floor this season, and Liberty and KSU is now tied once again atop the ASUN standings.
With the win over Liberty in the teams’ only meeting during the regular season, Kennesaw does maintain the tiebreaker with just two games left in the regular season. The Flames will have to gain one game this week to claim the outright regular season title and homecourt throughout the ASUN Tournament. The Owls will play at surging North Alabama and Central Arkansas this week.
PORTER BOUNCES BACK
Liberty true freshman point guard Colin Porter had a difficult ending to Thursday’s game at Kennesaw State. He missed the front end of a one and one while committing three turnovers late in the game. Porter would not let those late game struggles linger into another contest. Porter had 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists against Jacksonville State. He was able to return to the lineup in the second half after being helped to the bench late in the first half when he rolled his ankle when landing after making a three pointer.
“He came out here, he was doing his thing until he rolled his ankle or something happened to his foot,” McGhee said of Porter. “He is so special. We value him tremendously. I’m excited for his future.”
DARIUS HAS ANOTHER BIG NIGHT
Coming off his 43 point performance on Thursday night at Kennesaw State, Darius McGhee had another big performance against Jacksonville State. He finished with 27 points as he was 7 of 13 from the field and 5 of 10 from three. McGhee has now reached the 2,500 career point mark in his college career.
COACH McKAY POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
