Liberty (20-9, 11-3) was able to pull away from Central Arkansas (9-18, 6-8) and win going away, 85-66. With the win, the Flames clinched a first round bye in next week’s ASUN Tournament and will not play until the quarterfinals on Thursday.
“I felt like we started taking care of the basketball better in the second half,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “When they came out early in the second half with 19 points in four minutes, that was a rubber meets road media timeout for us. Had we not responded the way we did, I would have had some concern. Proud of our effort. Hard to win on the road, especially in this league. See if we can’t rest up and get back at it on Wednesday.”
The Flames had 11 turnovers in the first half and went into the locker room with a narrow two point lead. The Bears came out with an intensity to start the second half, scoring 19 points before the under 16 media timeout as they grabbed the lead by as many as six points. Liberty would respond and did so on the defensive end of the floor and by taking care of the ball to regain control and pull away for the win.
Darius McGhee led all scorers with 34 points to go along with a team-high 7 rebounds as he passed Peter Aluma for seventh on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,742 career points. Keegan McDowell chipped in 14 points on 4 of 7 shooting from behind the arc. Kyle Rode finished with 13 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds.
Liberty will now return home for the final two regular season games of the year. The Flames will host Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday night at 7 pm in a game streamed on ESPN+. The Eagles are currently 18-10 overall and 8-6 in the ASUN. FGCU had won five straight prior to their loss at North Florida, 70-64, on Saturday. Liberty defeated Gulf Coast in the team’s previous meeting on Jan. 15 in Fort Meyers, Florida, 78-75, behind Darius McGhee’s career-high 48 points.
Here are our three main takeaways from today’s game:
FLAMES CLOSE STRONG TO SEAL THE WIN
It has been well documented the past few games of Liberty’s struggles closing out games in the second half. The Flames had double digit leads at Jacksonville and North Florida last week before they slipped away and ultimately lost the game. The same happened on Saturday night against Stetson before the Flames were able to come back and pick up the win. That wouldn’t be the case on Monday night in Conway, Arkansas.
Liberty outscored UCA, 39-15, over the final 16 minutes of the game, and closed the game on a 21-6 run over the final nine minutes of game action. During that time, the Bears made just 2 of 10 field goals as Liberty tightened up on the defensive end of the floor.
WARFIELD PLAYS SEASON HIGH IN MINUTES
His offensive numbers will not ever catch your attention at this point in his career, but sophomore guard Isiah Warfield continues to see his role with the Flames expand. After playing his second most minutes of the season on Saturday night against Stetson, Warfield played the most minutes of his career in Liberty’s win Monday night.
Warfield played 25 minutes, and he was on the floor when it mattered most in the deciding minutes late. He finished with 6 points, making all three of his field goal attempts, to go along with two rebounds and one steal. It’s his defense and hustle plays that get him playing time.
“I think the longer you play in this system, the better you get defensively,” said McKay. “Isiah has got a selflessness about him and his pursuit that warrants an opportunity to play more. I think he’s trustworthy out there. Really happy with him getting the minutes and having an impact on the game.”
LIBERTY CLINCHES 6TH STRAIGHT 20 WIN SEASON
With the win at Central Arkansas, the Flames secured its sixth consecutive 20-win season. It’s an incredible feat that Coach McKay has pulled off. In the 44 seasons of Liberty basketball prior to these past six years, Liberty had five 20-win campaigns. Coach McKay has been head coach for seven of the 11 20-win seasons in school history.
“It starts with those guys that were here when Coach McKay just got here,” said forward Kyle Rode on the 20-win seasons. “It’s a testament to the culture they built. We just try to build upon that. We’re not in it for the outcomes, necessarily, or the numbers or the 20-win season, that’s not something we strive for. But, at the same time, we want to win basketball games. We want to be process-oriented and the outcomes will come with that. It’s a great achievement nonetheless, super blessed.”
