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Thursday, February 6
Lynchburg, Va.
8:00 PM ET
Liberty University
18-5,6-4CUSA
77
vs
53
Louisiana Tech
16-7,5-5CUSA
1
2
F
Louisiana Tech
23
30
53
Liberty
39
38
77
#32 Jayvon Maughmer
Liberty Earns Decisive 77-53 Victory Over LA Tech
2/6/2025 11:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty Flames earned a decisive wire-to-wire 77-53 victory over the visiting Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, Thursday night inside Liberty Arena.
The Flames led for 39:22 of the 40 minutes and never trailed in the game on the way to their largest margin of victory in CUSA play this season. Liberty improves to 18-5 overall and 6-4 in CUSA games. The Flames move into a tie for second place in the league standings. Liberty bolsters its 2024-25 home mark to 9-2 and improves to 3-2 in league home contests.
Louisiana Tech slips to 16-7 overall and 5-5 in CUSA. The Bulldogs see a three-game winning streak snapped and fall to 2-6 overall on the road and 0-5 away from home in the league. Liberty splits the regular season series with LA Tech for a second straight year.
Taelon Peter led a balanced Liberty attack with 16 points off the bench. Colin Porter (15 points), Zach Cleveland (14 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Jayvon Maughmer (11 points) also reached double figures. The Flames' defense stymied the Bulldogs, forcing 16 turnovers and holding the guests nearly 23 points below their season scoring average (75.9 ppg) coming in.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Taelon Peter 16 points, 6-9 FG, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals; Colin Porter 15 points, 6-9 FG, 4 assists; Zach Cleveland 14 points, 5-10 FG, 7 rebounds, 5 assists; Jayvon Maughmer 11 points, 3-4 3FG, 3 steals
Louisiana Tech Individuals: AJ Green 18 points, 7-9 FG, 4-5 3FG; Sean Elkinton 11 points, 4-4 FT; Daniel Batcho 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from three-point territory, the second time this season the Flames have shot 50 percent or better from both the floor and from long distance. The Liberty defense limited LA Tech to 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the field and 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from long distance while forcing 16 turnovers. Liberty was dominant in points off turnovers, scoring 24 points to LA Tech's two. The Flames' 16 forced turnovers are tied for the most they have forced in conference play (also forced 16 TO at FIU on Jan. 25). The Flames only committed four turnovers on the night, tied for their second-lowest mark of the season. Liberty also held advantages in assists (19-10) points in the paint (32-22) and fast break points (10-2). The Bulldogs had edges in rebounding (32-29), second chance points (9-5) and bench points (9-5).
Turning Point
Liberty built an early 27-11 lead, capped off by a Colin Porter three at the 8:42 mark of the opening frame. The Flames led 39-23 at the half.
LA Tech started off the second half strong, trimming the deficit to 12 (53-41) with 11:26 remaining on an AJ Green triple. Liberty responded with a 10-0 run of its own over the next three-plus minutes to push the lead up to 22 (63-41). Taelon Peter keyed the Flames' surge, scoring seven of those ten points. The other basket came from Colin Porter, a three-pointer. Peter's converted on 2-of-3 free throws at the 7:52 mark to extend the margin to 22. The Bulldogs never got closer than within 19 the rest of the way.
Key Stats & Notes
Up Next
The Flames will play their second home game in three days on Saturday when they host Sam Houston (8-15, 1-9 CUSA). Game time is 4 p.m. at Liberty Arena.
Liberty bested Sam Houston 76-68 in the first meeting on Jan. 9. The Flames hold a 3-2 edge in the all-time series, including a 2-1 mark since joining Conference USA.
The Flames led for 39:22 of the 40 minutes and never trailed in the game on the way to their largest margin of victory in CUSA play this season. Liberty improves to 18-5 overall and 6-4 in CUSA games. The Flames move into a tie for second place in the league standings. Liberty bolsters its 2024-25 home mark to 9-2 and improves to 3-2 in league home contests.
Louisiana Tech slips to 16-7 overall and 5-5 in CUSA. The Bulldogs see a three-game winning streak snapped and fall to 2-6 overall on the road and 0-5 away from home in the league. Liberty splits the regular season series with LA Tech for a second straight year.
Taelon Peter led a balanced Liberty attack with 16 points off the bench. Colin Porter (15 points), Zach Cleveland (14 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Jayvon Maughmer (11 points) also reached double figures. The Flames' defense stymied the Bulldogs, forcing 16 turnovers and holding the guests nearly 23 points below their season scoring average (75.9 ppg) coming in.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Taelon Peter 16 points, 6-9 FG, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals; Colin Porter 15 points, 6-9 FG, 4 assists; Zach Cleveland 14 points, 5-10 FG, 7 rebounds, 5 assists; Jayvon Maughmer 11 points, 3-4 3FG, 3 steals
Louisiana Tech Individuals: AJ Green 18 points, 7-9 FG, 4-5 3FG; Sean Elkinton 11 points, 4-4 FT; Daniel Batcho 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from three-point territory, the second time this season the Flames have shot 50 percent or better from both the floor and from long distance. The Liberty defense limited LA Tech to 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the field and 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from long distance while forcing 16 turnovers. Liberty was dominant in points off turnovers, scoring 24 points to LA Tech's two. The Flames' 16 forced turnovers are tied for the most they have forced in conference play (also forced 16 TO at FIU on Jan. 25). The Flames only committed four turnovers on the night, tied for their second-lowest mark of the season. Liberty also held advantages in assists (19-10) points in the paint (32-22) and fast break points (10-2). The Bulldogs had edges in rebounding (32-29), second chance points (9-5) and bench points (9-5).
Turning Point
Liberty built an early 27-11 lead, capped off by a Colin Porter three at the 8:42 mark of the opening frame. The Flames led 39-23 at the half.
LA Tech started off the second half strong, trimming the deficit to 12 (53-41) with 11:26 remaining on an AJ Green triple. Liberty responded with a 10-0 run of its own over the next three-plus minutes to push the lead up to 22 (63-41). Taelon Peter keyed the Flames' surge, scoring seven of those ten points. The other basket came from Colin Porter, a three-pointer. Peter's converted on 2-of-3 free throws at the 7:52 mark to extend the margin to 22. The Bulldogs never got closer than within 19 the rest of the way.
Key Stats & Notes
- The Flames' 24-point margin of victory is its biggest in a CUSA game since defeating New Mexico State 83-58 on Feb. 29, 2024 at Liberty Arena.
- Liberty held LA Tech leading scorer Daniel Batcho to eight points and five rebounds. Batcho entered the night averaging 18.8 ppg and 7.1 rpg. The Flames also limited the effective of the Bulldogs' top play maker, Sean Newman Jr., who came into the night ranking second in the country at 9.0 assists per game. Newman Jr. only managed four points and six assists.
- Taelon Perter led the home side with 16 points in 22:46 off the bench. Through 10 CUSA games, the redshirt senior guard is leading the team in scoring at 16.3 ppg. Peter is shooting 56.1 percent from the field, 43.5 percent from long distance and 81.3 percent from the free throw line in league play.
- Colin Porter was a team-best +25 in 27:43 of action. The junior point guard (15 points) has now scored in double figures in five straight games, continuing the longest streak of double-digit scoring in his career. Porter was 2-of-3 from three-point land and is 19 of his last 34 from three (55.9 percent) over his last nine contests.
- Jayvon Maughmer had 11 points on the night and was 3-of-4 from three-point land. Maughmer had 13 points and six boards in the first meeting with LA Tech, Jan. 11.
- Liberty (18-5) matches its win total from last year. The Flames have won 18 or more games in nine straight seasons.
- Zander Yates provided a spark off the bench, hitting a pair of first half threes and finishing with six points. Yates was a +9 in only 6:55 of action.
- The Flames held the Bulldogs to 23 points in the first half, their second lowest first half output of the year.
- Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay claimed his 200th win all-time in conference play. McKay also improved to 130-60 in all league regular season games during his tenure with the Flames.
Up Next
The Flames will play their second home game in three days on Saturday when they host Sam Houston (8-15, 1-9 CUSA). Game time is 4 p.m. at Liberty Arena.
Liberty bested Sam Houston 76-68 in the first meeting on Jan. 9. The Flames hold a 3-2 edge in the all-time series, including a 2-1 mark since joining Conference USA.
Team Stats
LATech
Lib
FG%
.392
.500
3FG%
.231
.522
FT%
.778
.583
RB
32
29
TO
16
4
STL
2
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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