January 29, 2019. Unless you have a remarkable memory with dates, a quick refresh of where Liberty men’s basketball was that day. The Flames were in their first season in the ASUN with an 18-4 overall record and 7-0 mark in conference play.
Liberty was ranked at or near the top 50 in the country by all the computer models, and the Flames were preparing to take on the reigning ASUN champs, Lipscomb. The Bisons entered that game with a 16-4 overall record and 7-0 in conference play and a similar top 50 national ranking. That game had a lot of national hype.
The Flames had that game circled as an opportunity to make a statement. It was before Liberty had won a conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. It was before Caleb Homesley entered the conversation among the greatest Liberty basketball players of all time. It was before the first round win over Mississippi State. It was before the 30-win 2019-20 season. This was Liberty’s time to make a statement as being a mid-major power.
It didn’t quite work out that way for the Flames that night in the Vines Center. Lipscomb, the more veteran team at that time, took control of the game early, pushed their lead past 20 points and to as many as 29 before coasting to the 79-59 win.
That game served as a wake up call for the Flames. Liberty would win 30 of its next 33 games, including two straight on the road at Lipscomb that season, the second of which secured the program’s first ever ASUN Conference Tournament Championship, and then a win over Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“We really got back to who we were and trying to play at our strengths and being about stuff that mattered as opposed to the noise, if you will,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said when asked about that Lipscomb home loss about a year afterwards. “I think that game served as a catalyst for maturity. I think it was good for us, and I think our guys have responded terrifically well.”
Three years to the date of that humbling loss in the Vines Center to Lipscomb, the Flames have not lost at home since then as Liberty prepares for another clash of the unbeatens in conference play on Saturday night against Jacksonville State.
Since that loss to Lipscomb in 2019, Liberty has been one of the most successful programs in the country and have developed quite the home court advantage. The Flames have not lost a home game since then and has produced one of the best winning streaks in the country with 45 consecutive wins. The win streak currently ranks as the second longest in the country, trailing only Gonzaga who has won 63 straight.
“I called (Gonzaga head coach) Mark Few because (I saw) Gonzaga has (the longest win streak),” McKay said when asked about the win streak prior to Liberty’s win over North Alabama. “I called him and I just said, ‘What you’ve done is unprecedented because I know how hard it is.’ I think our longest at Virginia was 20 or 21. At New Mexico, we averaged 15,000+ (fans), I want to say it was 23, 24, but 44, man.”
During the streak, Liberty has defeated 24 different teams by an averaged margin of victory of 23.1 points per game. It has included five ASUN Tournament wins which includes the final game played at the Vines Center in the 2020 ASUN Championship game.
The win streak has spanned two different arenas with 23 wins coming at the Vines Center and 22 at Liberty Arena. The Flames’ margin of victory at Liberty Arena has increased to 30.1. The largest margin of victory during the streak came in this year’s season opener against Regent, a game that Liberty won by 61. Only 10 games have been decided by less than 10 points, the closest two coming against Stetson, Liberty wins by three and four points.
“I try not to think about it because, obviously, you lose one, the streak is broken, but I will say the streak is a great compliment, not only to our players and the assistant coaches who have worked incredibly hard, our managers, but the fans that have come to support us,” said McKay. “It will come to an end one day, I just hope it’s not the next game.”
