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Saturday, January 27
Jacksonville, Ala.
5:00 PM ET/4:00 PM CT
Liberty University
13-8,2-4CUSA
62
at
73
Jacksonville State
11-10,3-3CUSA
1
2
F
Liberty
31
31
62
Jacksonville St.
33
40
73
Hot Shooting Lifts Jax State to 73-62 Triumph Over Liberty
1/27/2024 8:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Jacksonville State shot 62.2 percent from the field on the way to a 73-62 triumph over visiting Liberty, Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
With the win, the Gamecocks snap a three-game losing skid in league play and improve to 11-10 overall and 3-3 in CUSA games. Meanwhile, Liberty falls to 13-8 and 2-4 in the league. Jax State sweeps the regular season series with the Flames. The Gamecocks also topped the Flames 61-51, Jan. 10 at Liberty Arena.
Liberty falls to 1-4 on the road this season. Jax State bolsters its home record to 6-4 and takes a 3-2 lead in the all-time series with the Flames.
Three Flames scored in double figures, led by 17 points from Kyle Rode and 15 from Colin Porter. Brody Peebles tallied 14 points off the bench. The Gamecocks' KyKy Tandy finished with a game-high 25 points, and Marcellus Brigham Jr. scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Kyle Rode 17 points, 3 rebounds; Colin Porter 15 points, 5 assists; Brody Peebles 14 points, 5-10 FG, 4-4 FT; Zach Cleveland 8 points, 4-7 FG, 4 rebounds
Jacksonville State Individuals: KyKy Tandy 25 points, 8-13 FG, 6-8 FT, 6 rebounds; Marcellus Brigham Jr. 19 points, 8-9 FG, 5 rebounds; Quincy Clark 11 points, 10 rebounds; Matt Mayers 8 points, 8 rebounds
Key Team Stats: Jax State shot 62.2 percent (28-of-45) on the evening, marking the highest field goal percentage for an opposing team of the Flames this season. Liberty hit 41.3 percent (21-of-53) of its shots and connected on only 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from long distance. The Flames committed only five turnovers in the game, matching a season low. Both squads struggled from the foul line, with Liberty 52.9 percent (9-of-17) and Jax State hitting 63.2 percent (12-of-19). The rebounding edge belonged to the Gamecocks, 34-22. Both teams had 12 assists. Jax State held the advantage in points in the paint, 32-26.
Thoughts From Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"Congratulations to Jax State. I thought they executed their game plan really well and did a great job of being really physical and got their desired outcome."
Turning Point
Jax State used a 7-0 run, capped off by a Marcellus Brigham Jr. jumper in the paint, to take a 60-49 lead with 7:02 left. Trailing 62-53, Liberty answered with a 7-0 spurt of its own to get within a basket, 62-60, at the 4:03 mark. The Flames' Colin Porter made a driving layup with 4:28 on the clock to trim the deficit to 62-58. With the Gamecocks trying to advance the ball across half court to call a timeout, Zach Cleveland came up with a steal and delivered a strike to Brody Peebles for a layup to cut the home lead to 62-60.
The Flames were held without a field goal over the final 4:11, scoring only two points on a pair of free throws. Meanwhile, Jax State countered with an 8-0 run to seal the victory. KyKy Tandy ignited the effort, scoring five of the eight points, including a three-point play with 58 seconds left for a 70-60 Gamecocks advantage.
Key Stats & Notes
The Flames' next game will be on Thursday evening at New Mexico State (9-12, 3-3 CUSA). Tipoff between the Flames and Aggies is scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Mountain) at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Liberty and New Mexico State.
With the win, the Gamecocks snap a three-game losing skid in league play and improve to 11-10 overall and 3-3 in CUSA games. Meanwhile, Liberty falls to 13-8 and 2-4 in the league. Jax State sweeps the regular season series with the Flames. The Gamecocks also topped the Flames 61-51, Jan. 10 at Liberty Arena.
Liberty falls to 1-4 on the road this season. Jax State bolsters its home record to 6-4 and takes a 3-2 lead in the all-time series with the Flames.
Three Flames scored in double figures, led by 17 points from Kyle Rode and 15 from Colin Porter. Brody Peebles tallied 14 points off the bench. The Gamecocks' KyKy Tandy finished with a game-high 25 points, and Marcellus Brigham Jr. scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Kyle Rode 17 points, 3 rebounds; Colin Porter 15 points, 5 assists; Brody Peebles 14 points, 5-10 FG, 4-4 FT; Zach Cleveland 8 points, 4-7 FG, 4 rebounds
Jacksonville State Individuals: KyKy Tandy 25 points, 8-13 FG, 6-8 FT, 6 rebounds; Marcellus Brigham Jr. 19 points, 8-9 FG, 5 rebounds; Quincy Clark 11 points, 10 rebounds; Matt Mayers 8 points, 8 rebounds
Key Team Stats: Jax State shot 62.2 percent (28-of-45) on the evening, marking the highest field goal percentage for an opposing team of the Flames this season. Liberty hit 41.3 percent (21-of-53) of its shots and connected on only 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from long distance. The Flames committed only five turnovers in the game, matching a season low. Both squads struggled from the foul line, with Liberty 52.9 percent (9-of-17) and Jax State hitting 63.2 percent (12-of-19). The rebounding edge belonged to the Gamecocks, 34-22. Both teams had 12 assists. Jax State held the advantage in points in the paint, 32-26.
Thoughts From Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"Congratulations to Jax State. I thought they executed their game plan really well and did a great job of being really physical and got their desired outcome."
Turning Point
Jax State used a 7-0 run, capped off by a Marcellus Brigham Jr. jumper in the paint, to take a 60-49 lead with 7:02 left. Trailing 62-53, Liberty answered with a 7-0 spurt of its own to get within a basket, 62-60, at the 4:03 mark. The Flames' Colin Porter made a driving layup with 4:28 on the clock to trim the deficit to 62-58. With the Gamecocks trying to advance the ball across half court to call a timeout, Zach Cleveland came up with a steal and delivered a strike to Brody Peebles for a layup to cut the home lead to 62-60.
The Flames were held without a field goal over the final 4:11, scoring only two points on a pair of free throws. Meanwhile, Jax State countered with an 8-0 run to seal the victory. KyKy Tandy ignited the effort, scoring five of the eight points, including a three-point play with 58 seconds left for a 70-60 Gamecocks advantage.
Key Stats & Notes
- All 15 of Colin Porter's points came in the second half for his second highest outscoring output of the season. The sophomore point guard, who entered the day ranked ninth nationally in assist/turnover ratio (3.70), finished the night with a game-high five assists and zero turnovers.
- Porter is averaging 6.2 apg over his last five games while committing only four total turnovers. That equates to a 7.75 assist/turnover ratio (31 assists, four turnovers) during that span.
- Brody Peebles' 14 points are his most in a CUSA game and most since scoring a career-high 25 points against Boyce on Jan. 1.
- Kyle Rode hit four more threes tonight to give him a CUSA-leading 65 triples. Rode is averaging 17.0 ppg over his last six contests.
- Joseph Venzant, the second-leading rebounder in the conference, grabbed seven more rebounds tonight. He moves into sole possession of 25th place in school history for career rebounds (478) and needs 22 more to reach 500. Venzant was the only Flame with a positive +/-, accruing a +6 in 27:28 of action.
- The Gamecocks led by only two, 33-31, at the half despite shooting 63.5 percent (14-of-22) in the first 20 minutes.
- This is the first time since the 2017-18 season that the Flames have lost to the same team twice in the regular season. That year, Liberty lost twice to both Radford and Campbell in Big South action.
The Flames' next game will be on Thursday evening at New Mexico State (9-12, 3-3 CUSA). Tipoff between the Flames and Aggies is scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Mountain) at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Liberty and New Mexico State.
Team Stats
Lib
JSU
FG%
.415
.622
3FG%
.321
.417
FT%
.529
.632
RB
22
34
TO
5
10
STL
3
2
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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