Saturday, December 6
Lynchburg, Va.
2:00 PM ET
Liberty University
6-2,0-0CUSA
92
vs
50
Coppin State
2-10,0-0MEAC
1
2
F
Coppin St.
14
36
50
Liberty
55
37
92
Liberty Earns Convincing 92-50 Win Over Coppin State to Stay Unbeaten at Home
12/6/2025 5:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty earned a convincing 92-50 win over Coppin State on Saturday afternoon at Liberty Arena, running its home record to 5-0.
The Flames improve to 6-2 overall after the 42-point victory. The Liberty defense turned in its best defensive performance of the season, holding the Eagles to 28.6 percent (16-of-56) shooting in the game and just 14.3 percent (4-of-28) in the opening half.
Liberty's victory snaps a two-game losing skid. In five home games, all wins, the Flames are averaging 93.2 points per game while surrendering 59.2 points per contest. Coppin State drops to 2-10 on the year and has lost three straight.
On the offensive end, Brett Decker Jr. (20 points) notched his fifth 20-point game to lead the attack. Zach Cleveland notched a career-high 13 assists, while Kaden Metheny matched a career high with seven assists. Josh Smith and JJ Harper both notched their best offensive efforts in Flames jerseys, posting 16 points and seven rebounds each.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Brett Decker Jr. 20 points, 6-10 3FG; Josh Smith 16 points, 8-10 FG, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks; JJ Harper 16 points, 3-4 3FG, 7 rebounds; Kaden Metheny 13 points, Zach Cleveland 8 points, 4-6 FG, 13 assists (career high), 7 rebounds, 4 blocks (tied career high)
Coppin State Individuals: Nelson Lamizana 13 points, 5-10 FG, 2 steals; Taj Thweatt 11 points, 3-5 3FG; Jamari Piercey 9 points, 8 rebounds
Key Team Stats: The Flames shot 58.1 percent (36-of-62) for the game and 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from three-point territory. Liberty has shot 54.2 percent or better in all five home games. Liberty limited Coppin State to 28.6 percent (16-of-56) from the floor and an identical 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from deep. Liberty assisted on 28 of its 36 makes and led the assist battle, 28-12. The Flames also controlled the glass by a 38-31 margin and had more points in the paint (38-18), points off turnovers (18-7) and second chance points (10-5). Coppin State had more fast break points (10-7) and bench points (40-19). Liberty never trailed, leading for 38:49 of the 40 minutes.
Turning Point
Liberty wasted no time building a big lead in the first half, going on a 31-2 run. The Flames took a 36-3 lead at the 6:54 mark of the opening stanza following a Brett Decker Jr. three-pointer. Liberty held Coppin State scoreless for nearly 10 minutes (15:02 mark to 5:56 mark) in building the sizeable lead. The Eagles made only four total field goals in the first half on 28 attempts (14.3 percent), while the Flames connected on 21-of-31 (67.7 percent) from the floor and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from long range. Decker Jr. led the scoring in the first half with 14 points, and Kaden Metheny had nine points in the opening 20 minutes. Josh Smith and JJ Harper tallied eight points apiece, while Zach Cleveland notched four points, eight assists and four boards in the first half. Liberty led by as many as 54 at the 7:05 mark of the second half.
Key Stats & Notes
Liberty's next game will be a road matchup with ACC foe NC State (6-3), Wednesday night. The contest will start at 7 p.m. at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. The matchup can be seen on the ACC Network as well.
The Flames improve to 6-2 overall after the 42-point victory. The Liberty defense turned in its best defensive performance of the season, holding the Eagles to 28.6 percent (16-of-56) shooting in the game and just 14.3 percent (4-of-28) in the opening half.
Liberty's victory snaps a two-game losing skid. In five home games, all wins, the Flames are averaging 93.2 points per game while surrendering 59.2 points per contest. Coppin State drops to 2-10 on the year and has lost three straight.
On the offensive end, Brett Decker Jr. (20 points) notched his fifth 20-point game to lead the attack. Zach Cleveland notched a career-high 13 assists, while Kaden Metheny matched a career high with seven assists. Josh Smith and JJ Harper both notched their best offensive efforts in Flames jerseys, posting 16 points and seven rebounds each.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Brett Decker Jr. 20 points, 6-10 3FG; Josh Smith 16 points, 8-10 FG, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks; JJ Harper 16 points, 3-4 3FG, 7 rebounds; Kaden Metheny 13 points, Zach Cleveland 8 points, 4-6 FG, 13 assists (career high), 7 rebounds, 4 blocks (tied career high)
Coppin State Individuals: Nelson Lamizana 13 points, 5-10 FG, 2 steals; Taj Thweatt 11 points, 3-5 3FG; Jamari Piercey 9 points, 8 rebounds
Key Team Stats: The Flames shot 58.1 percent (36-of-62) for the game and 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from three-point territory. Liberty has shot 54.2 percent or better in all five home games. Liberty limited Coppin State to 28.6 percent (16-of-56) from the floor and an identical 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from deep. Liberty assisted on 28 of its 36 makes and led the assist battle, 28-12. The Flames also controlled the glass by a 38-31 margin and had more points in the paint (38-18), points off turnovers (18-7) and second chance points (10-5). Coppin State had more fast break points (10-7) and bench points (40-19). Liberty never trailed, leading for 38:49 of the 40 minutes.
Turning Point
Liberty wasted no time building a big lead in the first half, going on a 31-2 run. The Flames took a 36-3 lead at the 6:54 mark of the opening stanza following a Brett Decker Jr. three-pointer. Liberty held Coppin State scoreless for nearly 10 minutes (15:02 mark to 5:56 mark) in building the sizeable lead. The Eagles made only four total field goals in the first half on 28 attempts (14.3 percent), while the Flames connected on 21-of-31 (67.7 percent) from the floor and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from long range. Decker Jr. led the scoring in the first half with 14 points, and Kaden Metheny had nine points in the opening 20 minutes. Josh Smith and JJ Harper tallied eight points apiece, while Zach Cleveland notched four points, eight assists and four boards in the first half. Liberty led by as many as 54 at the 7:05 mark of the second half.
Key Stats & Notes
- In Liberty's five home wins, the Flames are shooting 57.7 percent from the field and 47.7 percent from three-point land with 74 makes from long distance.
- The Flames matched a season high with 16 three-pointers. Brett Decker Jr.'s six triples today give him 37 on the year. The sophomore guard is shooting 58.7 percent from long distance in eight games.
- Zach Cleveland's 13 assists were a new career high and most by a Flame in a single game since Jesse Sanders had 13 assists in an 84-78 win over High Point on Jan. 21, 2012. In that contest, Sanders notched a triple-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. Cleveland entered the game third nationally in assists per game and is now averaging 8.4 assists per contest.
- Cleveland tied a career high with his fourth career four-block game. Prior to this afternoon, the last time he has four blocks was in a win at Charleston on Nov. 17, 2024.
- Liberty's 28 assists were a season high and the most since having 29 against St. Andrews on Dec. 17, 2024.
- Liberty entered today's matchup surrendering 72.4 points per game to Division I foes before holding Coppin State to just 50 points. The Eagles made only four field goals in the opening half. Coppin State's 50 points are the fewest the Flames have allowed to a Division I team this season.
- Kaden Metheny scored 13 points this afternoon and matched a career high with seven assists. The guard has 996 points in his time at Liberty, needing four more to became the 32nd player in program history to score 1,000 points in a Flames jersey. He has 1,623 points in his six-year collegiate career.
- In Liberty's five home games, it has led for 38:49 (today), 37:43 (Nov. 17 vs. Carolina University), 38:52 (Nov. 9 vs. Florida Atlantic), 37:49 (Nov. 7 vs. Charleston) and 39:02 (Nov. 3 vs. Kentucky Christian).
- Josh Smith's points (16) and rebounding (7) totals were both new highs in a Liberty uniform. JJ Harper scored a season-high 16 points and matched a season best with seven boards.
- This was the Flames' first game in 10 days and first home game since Nov. 17.
- Liberty improves to 3-0 all-time versus Coppin State. This was the first meeting between the two squads since they squared off on Dec. 3, 1983 (52-49 Liberty win).
Liberty's next game will be a road matchup with ACC foe NC State (6-3), Wednesday night. The contest will start at 7 p.m. at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. The matchup can be seen on the ACC Network as well.
Team Stats
Coppin
Lib
FG%
.286
.581
3FG%
.286
.533
FT%
.667
.571
RB
31
38
TO
15
11
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
6
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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