MBB Game Day: No. 4 Seed Kennesaw State
3/13/2025 11:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Day Coverage
- No. 1 seed Liberty vs. No. 4 seed Kennesaw State (CUSA Semifinal - Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.)
- Tipoff: Friday at 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST
- TV: CBS Sports Network
- Radio: LFSN Radio
- Live Stats
- Championship Central
- Championship Ticket Information
- Top-seeded and CUSA regular season champion Liberty (26-6, 13-5 CUSA) will meet No. 4 seed Kennesaw State (19-13, 10-8 CUSA) in Friday's CUSA Championship semifinal round. The Flames downed No. 8 seed UTEP 81-60 in Wednesday's quarterfinals, and the Owls outlasted No. 5 seed New Mexico State 80-77 in Thursday's quartefinal matchup.
- The Flames made 12 straight second half shots in their win over UTEP and shot 58.2 percent for the game, including a 69.2 percent mark over the last 20 minutes. Liberty assisted on 25 of its 32 made field goals.
- Liberty and Kennesaw State split the regular season series, with both teams winning away from home. The Flames are 10-3 all-time against the Owls.
- Liberty is 10-7 all-time in conference tournament semifinal games. The Flames are looking to secure a spot in a conference title game for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.
- This is Liberty's second appearance in the CUSA Championship. The Flames are 1-1 all-time at the tournament.
- Liberty is 36-27 all-time in Division I conference tournament games.
- Flames forward Zach Cleveland was named a finalist for the 2024-25 Lou Henson Award on Thursday.
- 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 10-0 as the No. 1 seed all-time (2004, 2020, 2021 – all tournament titles, 1 Big South and 2 ASUN).
- The Flames rank in the top 20 nationally and lead Conference USA in: three-point field goal percentage defense (No. 2, 27.8), effective field goal percentage (No. 3, 58.4) fewest fouls per game (No. 4, 13.2), scoring defense (No. 9, 62.3), assist/turnover ratio (No. 7, 1.66), scoring margin (No. 10, 14.1), field goal percentage (No. 14, 49.1) winning percentage (No. 15, 81.3), threes per game (No. 16, 10.4) and assists per game (No. 19, 16.9).
- Liberty is 64th in the nation in the current NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings and No. 62 in the KenPom rankings. Kennesaw State is No. 142 in the NET and No. 132 in KenPom.
- The Flames 21-point win, 81-60, over UTEP on Wednesday is their biggest margin of victory in a conference tournament game since 2004, when Liberty bested High Point 89-44 in the Big South Championship title game.
- The Flames have scored 80 or more points in four straight games. The last time Liberty scored 80 or more in at least four straight against all Division I opponents was when the Flames tallied five games of 80 or more from Feb. 17-28, 1997.
- Liberty's average margin of victory in its 24 wins is 18.4 points. The Flames' six losses this year have been by a combined 27 points.
- The Flames are 12-2 over their last 14 games after starting 2-3 in Conference USA regular season 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 CUSA 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 (87) and threes per game (2.81). Metheny ranks No. 3 in CUSA in both categories.
- Liberty is 24-0 this year when holding its opponent under 70 points, tied for the second best mark in Division I. Only Houston (27-0) has a better record when holding foes under 70 points. Duke is also 24-0 when holding teams under 70.
- 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 14-3 in road (9-2 record) and neutral site games (5-1) during the 2024-25 season.
- Liberty's postseason honors: 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.
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