MBB Game Day: No. 8 Seed UTEP
3/11/2025 11:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Day Coverage
- No. 1 seed Liberty vs. No. 8 seed UTEP (CUSA Quarterfinal - Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.)
- Tipoff: Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. CST
- TV: ESPN+
- Radio: LFSN Radio
- Live Stats
- Championship Central
- Championship Ticket Information
- Top-seeded and CUSA regular season champion Liberty (25-6, 13-5 CUSA) will meet No. 8 seed UTEP (18-14, 7-11) in Wednesday's CUSA Championship quarterfinal round. The Miners got past No. 9 seed Sam Houston 79-65 in Tuesday's first round matchup. The Flames last played on Saturday at WKU, a 90-61 triumph to help secure the regular season title and No. 1 seed.
- The Flames are 2-3 all-time against UTEP. The two squads split the regular season series this year.
- The Flames rank in the top 25 nationally and lead CUSA in: three-point field goal percentage defense (No. 1, 27.6), effective field goal percentage (No. 4, 58.0) fewest fouls per game (No. 5, 13.3), scoring defense (No. 9, 62.3), assist/turnover ratio (No. 9, 1.64), scoring margin (No. 10, 13.9), winning percentage (No. 14, 80.6), field goal percentage (No. 16, 48.8) and and threes per game (No. 18, 10.4).
- This is the second straight year Liberty and UTEP will meet in the CUSA Championship quarterfinals. The No. 5-seeded Miners edged the No. 4-seeded Flames 66-57 last year.
- This is the Flames' first time as the No. 1 seed at the CUSA Championship. Liberty is the No. 1 seed at a conference tournament for the fourth time ever. The Flames are 9-0 as the No. 1 seed all-time (2004, 2020, 2021 – all tournament titles, 1 Big South and 2 ASUN)
- Liberty is 18-14 all-time in conference tournament quarterfinal games, 10-7 in the semifinals and 6-4 in title games.
- This is Liberty's second appearance in the CUSA Championship. The Flames are 0-1 all-time at the tournament. Liberty is 35-27 all-time in Division I conference tournament games.This is the Flames' first time as the No. 1 seed at the CUSA Championship.
- CUSA Sixth Player of the Year and All-CUSA third team: Taelon Peter
- All-CUSA second team: Kaden Metheny
- All-CUSA third team: Zach Cleveland
- All-CUSA Honorable Mention: Colin Porter
The Flames' three All-CUSA selections (between first, second and third team) are most in the league. Cleveland and Metheny both earn their second career All-CUSA honors. Cleveland was a second team selection last year, and Metheny was a third team honoree. Peter and Porter earn their first All-CUSA honors. Peter is Liberty's lone major award winner this year with his CUSA Sixth Player of the Year recognition. - The Liberty men's and women's basketball teams are both the No. 1 seeds in their respective CUSA Championships this week. This is the first time both Liberty squads have earned No. 1 seeds in the same year since 2004 (Big South). The last time both teams won conference tournament titles the same season was in 2013 (Big South).
- Liberty has won six regular season (or division) titles in the last seven years. The title is Liberty's ninth total in the last seven years. The Flames have five regular season titles, a division title and three tournament championships to their credit in those seven years.
- Liberty is ranked No. 7 in the College Insider Men's Mid-Major Top 25®. The highest the Flames reached this season was No. 3 in back-to-back weeks earlier in the year.
- Liberty is 66th in the nation in the current NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings and No. 62 in the KenPom rankings. UTEP is No. 161 in the NET and No. 150 in KenPom.
- Wednesday's game will be a battle of contrasting styles. The Flames only commit 10.2 turnovers a game, the second-best mark in CUSA and 35th-best mark in the nation. UTEP forces 16.2 turnovers per game, a mark which is fifth best in the country.
- Liberty's average margin of victory in its 24 wins is 18.3 points. The Flames' six losses this year have been by a combined 27 points.
- The Flames are 11-2 over their last 13 games since starting 2-3 in CUSA play.
- Liberty (13-5 CUSA) has won 10 or more league games in eight of the last 10 seasons.
- Colin Porter ranks 17th in the country and first in Conference USA in assist/turnover ratio (2.89). The junior guard is eighth in program history for career assists (387).
- Kaden Metheny leads the team in three-pointers made (83) and threes per game (2.77). Metheny ranks No. 3 in CUSA in threes per contest and No. 4 in the league in triples per game.
- Liberty is 23-0 this year when holding its opponent under 70 points, the third-best mark in Division I. Only Houston (26-0) and Duke (24-0) have better records when holding foes under 70 points.
- The Flames are 23-1 this season when outshooting their opponents and 13-0 when shooting 50 percent or better.
- The Flames are a combined 13-3 in road (9-2 record) and neutral site games (4-1) during the 2024-25 season.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballLiberty Basketball: The Best of the "Big 3"
Friday, April 03
Taelon Peter: From Liberty to the NBA
Tuesday, March 31
Coach McKay Talks About The Nevada Game
Monday, March 23
Coach McKay, Brett Decker Jr. & Josh Smith Talk About The Win Over George Mason
Wednesday, March 18