MBB Game Day: Jacksonville State
1/9/2024 12:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Day Coverage
- Liberty vs. Jacksonville State (Liberty Arena)
- Tipoff: Wednesday at 7:02 p.m. EST
- TV: ESPN+
- Radio: LFSN Radio
- Live Stats
- This will be the fourth all-time meeting between Liberty and Jacksonville State but first as Conference USA members. Both teams joined the league prior to this year. This is the Flames' first-ever CUSA home game.
- Both the Flames and Gamecocks were in the ASUN last year and met two times. Liberty won both meetings, prevailing 75-41 at home and 79-55 on the road.
- Wednesday night's matchup will be a matchup of the top two defenses in CUSA. Liberty is first in the league and 10th nationally in scoring defense (61.9), and Jax State is second in CUSA and 14th in the country (62.4) in the category.
- Liberty has been picked to finish first in the CUSA Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. The Flames (71 points) share the top spot with Middle Tennessee (71 points), but Liberty received five first-place votes compared to only one for the Blue Raiders. Jax State was picked to finish ninth in the league in the poll.
- Over his last four games, sophomore Zach Cleveland is averaging 17.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 5.8 apg while shooting 69.8 percent (30-of-43) from the field.
- Liberty is also among the top 15 teams in the country in assist/turnover ratio (No. 6, 1.89), three-pointers per game (No. 9, 10.8) and fewest turnovers per game (No. 11, 9.3).
- Liberty and Jacksonville State last met on Feb. 18, 2023, with the Flames picking up a 79-55 ASUN road victory. Darius McGhee paced Liberty with 27 points in that game. The Liberty defense limited the Gamecocks to 28.6 percent (16-of-56) shooting.
- The Flames and Gamecocks last met at Liberty Arena on Jan. 5, 2023, with the Flames picking up a 75-41 victory at Liberty Arena. The Liberty defense held Jax State to 13 points in the first half, the fewest the Flames have allowed to a DI opponent at Liberty Arena.
- Liberty leads the all-time series 2-1. Jax State's lone win in the series was a 77-67 victory at Liberty Arena on Jan. 29, 2022, snapping the Flames' 45-game home winning streak at the time.
- This will be Liberty's 19th all-time game on Jan. 10 but first since 2015. The Flames hold a 6-12 all-time record on this date. Liberty last played on this date nine years ago, a 69-54 home Big South loss to Coastal Carolina. Andrew Smith and Theo Johnson each scored nine points for the Flames. Liberty shot 32.8 percent (20-of-61) for the game.
- Liberty is No. 79 in the NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings. The Flames are also No. 75 in the KenPom out of 362 Division I teams. Jacksonville State is No. 169 in the NET and No. 161 in the KenPom.
- Liberty and Jax State were both in the ASUN at the same time during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. The Flames were in the ASUN for five years before moving to CUSA. The Gamecocks were in the OVC before spending two seasons in the ASUN and then moving to CUSA.
- Flames guard Colin Porter is first in CUSA in assist/turnover ratio (3.11), ranking 29th nationally in the category.
- Liberty has held five opponents under 60 points this season. The Flames are 5-0 in those games.
- The Flames won all three of their games at the Myrtle Beach Invitational (Nov. 16-19) at Coastal Carolina's HTC Center in Conway, S.C. on the way to the title.
Players Mentioned
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