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Thursday, November 16
Conway, S.C.
7:00 PM ET
Liberty University
3-0,0-0CUSA
88
vs
74
Furman
2-1,0-0SoCon
1
2
F
Furman
33
41
74
Liberty
38
50
88
Liberty Surges Past Furman For 88-74 Win in MBI Quarterfinals
11/16/2023 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CONWAY, S.C. – Liberty surged past Furman with a big run spanning the end of the first half and beginning of the second half, leading to an 88-74 Flames win over the Paladins in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Myrtle Beach Invitational on Thursday night at the HTC Center.
The Flames improve to 3-0 on the year and move onto the semifinals, where they will face Wichita State (4-0) on Friday night at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. The Shockers topped host Coastal Carolina 86-77 in the quarterfinals. Furman (2-1) drops its first game of the season.
Liberty shot 64.3 percent (18-of-28) from the field in the second half and 54.4 percent (31-of-57) in the game. Reigning Conference USA Player of the Week Kyle Rode paced the Flames with 19 points. Brody Peebles (16 points), Kaden Metheny (15 points) and Zach Cleveland (11 points) also scored in double figures.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Kyle Rode 19 points, 6-7 FT, 5 rebounds; Brody Peebles 16 points, 7-10 FG, 5 rebounds; Kaden Metheny 15 points, 5-8 FG; Zach Cleveland 11 points, 6 rebounds; Colin Porter 7 points, 8 assists
Furman Individuals: Marcus Foster 30 points, 9-15 FG, 9-11 FT; JP Pegues 20 points, 8-9 FT, 6 rebounds
Key Team Stats: The Flames' bench outscored the Paladins' reserves 32-8, led by 16 from Peebles. Liberty totaled 18 assists, led by eight from Colin Porter. Porter's eight assists were one off of tying a career high. Furman held a 35-33 edge in rebounding. Seven Flames grabbed three of more rebounds, led by six from Zach Cleveland. The Liberty defense held a potent Furman offense to 41.5 percent (22-of-53) shooting and 25 percent (6-of-24) shooting from long distance. The two teams attempted a combined 59 free throws. Furman made 72.7 percent (24-of-33) of its attempts, while Liberty sunk 65.4 percent (17-of-26). Liberty committed eight turnovers while forcing 12 Furman miscues. The Flames held an 11-4 edge in points off turnovers and 40-30 advantage in points in the paint.
Thoughts From Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"I'm very grateful for this win. I have an unbelievable amount of respect for (Furman Head) Coach (Bob) Richey, their staff and what they've done as a program. They are really good. It felt like we had a really good win tonight. I think we have a chance to keep improving because of the quality of the opponent. I think we were really tested."
Turning Point
Trailing 33-27 with 3:08 remaining in the first half, Liberty closed the opening half on a 11-0 run to claim a 38-33 lead at the break. Brody Peebles scored seven of those 11 points, punctuated by a corner three with three seconds left to push the lead to five heading to the locker room.
The Flames scored nine of the first 11 points over the first 2:19 of the second half to close out a 20-2 run and build a 47-35 lead. Kyle Rode scored four points in that early spurt, with his layup giving Liberty the 12-point lead with 17:41 remaining. Furman trimmed the Liberty lead to nine, 55-46, with 14:07 on the clock before a 12-4 Flames bumped the lead up to 17. Kaden Metheny scored five points in that span, and his three-pointer at the 11:04 mark bumped lead to 67-50.
Key Stats & Notes
Liberty and Wichita State will square off tomorrow night at 9 p.m. in the semifinals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Flames and Shockers.
The other semifinal will feature Vermont (3-0) and Saint Louis (4-0). Vermont topped Charleston 73-64, and Saint Louis bested Wyoming 79-69.
The Flames improve to 3-0 on the year and move onto the semifinals, where they will face Wichita State (4-0) on Friday night at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. The Shockers topped host Coastal Carolina 86-77 in the quarterfinals. Furman (2-1) drops its first game of the season.
Liberty shot 64.3 percent (18-of-28) from the field in the second half and 54.4 percent (31-of-57) in the game. Reigning Conference USA Player of the Week Kyle Rode paced the Flames with 19 points. Brody Peebles (16 points), Kaden Metheny (15 points) and Zach Cleveland (11 points) also scored in double figures.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Kyle Rode 19 points, 6-7 FT, 5 rebounds; Brody Peebles 16 points, 7-10 FG, 5 rebounds; Kaden Metheny 15 points, 5-8 FG; Zach Cleveland 11 points, 6 rebounds; Colin Porter 7 points, 8 assists
Furman Individuals: Marcus Foster 30 points, 9-15 FG, 9-11 FT; JP Pegues 20 points, 8-9 FT, 6 rebounds
Key Team Stats: The Flames' bench outscored the Paladins' reserves 32-8, led by 16 from Peebles. Liberty totaled 18 assists, led by eight from Colin Porter. Porter's eight assists were one off of tying a career high. Furman held a 35-33 edge in rebounding. Seven Flames grabbed three of more rebounds, led by six from Zach Cleveland. The Liberty defense held a potent Furman offense to 41.5 percent (22-of-53) shooting and 25 percent (6-of-24) shooting from long distance. The two teams attempted a combined 59 free throws. Furman made 72.7 percent (24-of-33) of its attempts, while Liberty sunk 65.4 percent (17-of-26). Liberty committed eight turnovers while forcing 12 Furman miscues. The Flames held an 11-4 edge in points off turnovers and 40-30 advantage in points in the paint.
Thoughts From Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"I'm very grateful for this win. I have an unbelievable amount of respect for (Furman Head) Coach (Bob) Richey, their staff and what they've done as a program. They are really good. It felt like we had a really good win tonight. I think we have a chance to keep improving because of the quality of the opponent. I think we were really tested."
Turning Point
Trailing 33-27 with 3:08 remaining in the first half, Liberty closed the opening half on a 11-0 run to claim a 38-33 lead at the break. Brody Peebles scored seven of those 11 points, punctuated by a corner three with three seconds left to push the lead to five heading to the locker room.
The Flames scored nine of the first 11 points over the first 2:19 of the second half to close out a 20-2 run and build a 47-35 lead. Kyle Rode scored four points in that early spurt, with his layup giving Liberty the 12-point lead with 17:41 remaining. Furman trimmed the Liberty lead to nine, 55-46, with 14:07 on the clock before a 12-4 Flames bumped the lead up to 17. Kaden Metheny scored five points in that span, and his three-pointer at the 11:04 mark bumped lead to 67-50.
Key Stats & Notes
- In addition to Peebles' 16 points off the bench, the Flames' other reserves stepped up with a combined 16 more points. Zander Yates scored seven points and knocked down 4-of-4 free throws. Shiloh Robinson finished with six points, and Gabriel McKay had three.
- Liberty is 3-0 to start a season for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The 2019-20 team began the year by winning its first 14 games.
- Porter leads the team in assists with 15 through three games (5.0 apg). With 150 career assists, the sophomore guard is two assists shy of moving into the top 50 in program history for career assists.
- Rode is averaging 21.0 ppg over his last two games and is the team's leading scorer at 17.0 ppg through three contests.
- Peebles recorded his third game in double figures this season and the 25th double digit scoring game of his career.
- This is the first time Liberty and Furman have ever met on a neutral floor. This is the Flames' first win over the Paladins since 2014. Liberty improves to 2-5 all-time against Furman.
- Tonight's victory was Liberty's first at the HTC Center since Jan. 6, 2016 when it bested Coastal Carolina 62-61 in a Big South matchup.
Liberty and Wichita State will square off tomorrow night at 9 p.m. in the semifinals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Flames and Shockers.
The other semifinal will feature Vermont (3-0) and Saint Louis (4-0). Vermont topped Charleston 73-64, and Saint Louis bested Wyoming 79-69.
Team Stats
Furman
Lib
FG%
.415
.544
3FG%
.250
.375
FT%
.774
.630
RB
35
33
TO
12
8
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
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