MBB Game Day: FIU

Game Day Coverage

Liberty at FIU (Ocean Bank Convocation Center | Miami, Fla.)
Tipoff: Sunday at 2 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN+
Radio: LFSN Radio
Live Stats

Liberty Storylines

Preseason CUSA favorite Liberty (8-3, 0-0 CUSA) will play its first league game at FIU (7-4, 0-0 CUSA). The Flames were picked to win the league, and the Panthers were picked to finish in 10th place.
Liberty and FIU will be squaring off for the eighth time overall and fifth time since the Flames joined the league. Liberty is 4-3 all-time against the Panthers, including a 3-1 mark in CUSA action. Last year, the Flames won both games, doing so by a combined 36 points. In the matchup at Ocean Bank Convocation Center, Liberty picked up an 82-59 victory (Jan. 25, 2025). Flames head coach Ritchie McKay became the winningest coach in program history with the victory. McKay earned his 260th win as head coach at Liberty, moving past Jeff Meyer (259 wins, 1981-97) for first place all-time. Taelon Peter led three Flames in double figures with 21 points off the bench on 8-of-12 shooting. Guards Kaden Metheny (13 points) and Colin Porter (12 points) also reached double figures.
The Flames earned a 64-61 road win at Dayton in their final non-conference game prior to Christmas break. Liberty went 2-0 last year against FIU, including an 82-59 road win.
Sunday's game will be a battle of contrasting styles. The Flames are No. 3 nationally in fewest turnovers per game (8.8), while the Panthers are No. 9 in the country in turnovers forced per game (17.0).
Brett Decker Jr. (team-best 17.8 ppg) and Zach Cleveland (9.4 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 7.9 apg) were both tabbed to the Lou Henson Award Early Season Watch List. Cleveland, Metheny and Porter were each tabbed to the CUSA Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference team.
The Flames have shot over 50 percent seven times and are shooting 53.2 percent on the year, the third-best percentage nationally. Liberty is 8-0 when outshooting its opponent.
Liberty is No. 2 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.06), No. 3 in effective field goal percentage (.633), No. 7 in three-point percentage (41.2) and No. 9 in three-pointers per game (11.5).
Liberty has 185 wins since the start of the 2018-19 season, seventh most in the nation during that span.
Cleveland is No. 3 in the country in assists per game (7.9). Cleveland (16 rebounds at Dayton) became the first Flame since Scottie James (17 rebounds) against Georgia State on Dec. 1, 2019 to grab 16 or more rebounds in a game.
Liberty is 0-2 all-time in CUSA openers, losing those two matchups by a combined three pointers. Those setbacks were to Western Kentucky in both instances (70-68, road, Jan. 6, 2024 and 71-70, home, Jan. 2, 2025).
The Flames are 1-1 all-time in CUSA road openers. Last year, Liberty topped Sam Houston 76-68 in its first league road game. Liberty was 7-2 in CUSA road games last year.
Metheny eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his Liberty career with a 14-point effort on against Midway. The guard reached the milestone with a three at the 15:27 mark of the first half and is the 32nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points as a Flame. Metheny has 1,656 points in his six-year collegiate career.
Metheny is No. 6 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (4.86).
Porter (949 points) and Cleveland (922 points) are both less than 80 points from 1,000 in their respective careers
Cleveland ranks No. 4 in the country and first in CUSA in defensive rebounds per game (8.3). He is also first in the league and 27th nationally in rebounds per game (9.5) leads the conference in double-doubles (4).
Decker Jr. is the only Flame to score in double figures in all 11 games this season. He has been Liberty's leading scorer (or tied) five times and has five 20-plus point games.
Liberty finished 66th in the nation in the NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings and No. 64 in the KenPom rankings last year. The Flames are currently No. 103 in the KenPom and No. 111 in the NET. FIU is No. 181 in the KenPom and No. 173 in the NET.
The Flames are 27th in the nation and third in CUSA in scoring defense (65.3). Louisiana Tech (55.5) leads the league and nation in the category.
Liberty is ranked No. 14 in the College Insider Men's Mid-Major Top 25® (Dec. 22 poll), up three spots from last week. The Flames are the top-ranked team in CUSA, ahead of No. 24 Kennesaw State.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Zach Cleveland

Brett Decker Jr.

Kaden Metheny

Taelon Peter

Colin Porter

MBB Game Day: FIU

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Players Mentioned

Zach Cleveland

Brett Decker Jr.

Kaden Metheny

Taelon Peter

Colin Porter

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