MBB Game Day: Middle Tennessee
3/5/2025 1:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Day Coverage
- Liberty at Middle Tennessee (Murphy Center | Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
- Tipoff: Thursday at 7:30 p.m. EST/6:30 p.m. CST
- TV: CBS Sports Network
- Radio: LFSN Radio
- Live Stats
- Liberty (23-6, 11-5 CUSA) will square off with Middle Tennessee (20-9, 11-5 CUSA) on Thursday evening. The two teams sit in a tie for second place in the CUSA standings. See page 4 of the notes for a full breakdown of scenarios with regards to next week's CUSA championship.
- The Flames have won six of their last seven are looking to bounce back from an 85-80 setback to Kennesaw State on Sunday. The Blue Raiders are riding a three-game winning streak and most recently edged UTEP 76-75 on the road.
- Liberty is 7-2 overall on the road, including a 5-2 mark in league play. The Flames swept their last road set of games, topping NM State and UTEP back in mid-February. MTSU is 10-3 overall at home and 5-2 on its home court in conference play.
- The Flames rank in the top 25 nationally and lead CUSA in: three-point field goal percentage defense (No. 1, 27.7), fewest fouls per game (No. 4, 12.7), scoring defense (No. 8, 61.7), effective field goal percentage (No. 7, 57.6), scoring margin (No. 10, 13.7), assist/turnover ratio (No. 13, 1.61), winning percentage (No. 20, 79.3) and threes per game (No. 21, 10.2).
- Liberty is 72nd in the nation in the current NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings and No. 72 in the KenPom rankings. Middle Tennessee is No. 104 in the NET and No. 116 in KenPom.
- On Tuesday, it was announced that Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay has signed a contract extension through the 2030-31 season.
- This will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs, as the Flames look for the regular season sweep of the Blue Raiders. Liberty prevailed 73-63 over MTSU back on Jan. 4 at Liberty Arena. Liberty led by as many as 19 points and was ahead by double digits for much of the night. The Flames secured the victory behind a balanced attack, scored by a game-high 19 points from guard Kaden Metheny. Colin Porter contributed 16 points, five assists and three steals, while Zach Cleveland filled the stat sheet with 11 points, eight boards and six assists. Jayvon Maughmer also reached double figures with 10 points, and Owen Aquino contributed nine points and 13 rebounds.The Liberty defense also had a strong showing, holding MTSU to 37.9 percent shooting (25-of-66). The Flames held MTSU leading scorer Jestin Porter scoreless on the night on 0-of-9 shooting.
- Liberty is looking for its first win at the Murphy Center. The Flames fell 69-61 to MTSU last year at the facility. Liberty and MTSU split the regular season series last season.
- The Flames are one of 33 teams in the nation with 23 or more wins on the season.
- Liberty's average margin of victory in its 23 wins is 18.4 points. The Flames' six losses this year have been by a combined 27 points.
- The Flames are 9-2 over their last 11 games. Taelon Peter (14.4 ppg) and Kaden Metheny (12.2 ppg) have paced a balanced Liberty offense during that span. Six Flames average 7.7 ppg or more in those 11 games. Liberty is scoring 69.5 ppg in that span while allowing only 61.9 ppg and forcing opponents to shoot just 24.6 percent from beyond the arc.
- Liberty (11-5 CUSA) has won 10 or more league games in eight of the last 10 seasons. The Flames have also won 20 or more games in eight of the last nine years.
- Colin Porter ranks 19th in the country and first in Conference USA in assist/turnover ratio (2.88). The junior guard is ninth in program history for career assists (378).
- Kaden Metheny leads the team in three-pointers made (80) and threes per game (2.86). Metheny ranks No. 3 in CUSA in threes per contest and No. 4 in the league in triples per game. Metheny is averaging 14.8 ppg over his last six games and has knocked down 18 threes in that span.
- The Flames are 21-1 this season when outshooting their opponents and 11-0 when shooting 50 percent or better.
- The Flames have only trailed at the half two times this year. Liberty came back to win both of those games (at NM State and at UTEP).
- Liberty has held eight opponents under 60 points on the year.
- McKay was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major head coach in college basketball. McKay is one of 25 Division I head coaches on the listing. McKay was also named a finalist for the Ben Jobe award. The award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division I college basketball. McKay is one of 25 finalists for the award. The recipient of both awards is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com. Both awards will be announced in San Antonio, Texas, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship Final Four.
- This will be Liberty's fourth all-time game on March 6. The Flames are 1-2 all-time on this date. Liberty last played on this date 17 years ago in 2008, a 75-57 setback to top-seeded UNC Asheville in the Big South Championship semifinals. The Flames finished that season with a 16-16 mark in what was head coach Ritchie McKay's first season at the helm in his first stint in Lynchburg.
- 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. Middle Tennessee is among others receiving votes.
- Liberty (11-5 CUSA) will be no worse than the No. 3 seed at next week's CUSA Men's Basketball Championship, held at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala. Here are the possible scenarios at play:
Liberty will the No. 1 seed if:
-The Flames go 2-0 this week against MTSU and WKU
-Liberty defeats MTSU and loses to WKU and Jax State loses to Kennesaw State
-The Flames lose to MTSU and defeat WKU and Jax State loses to Kennesaw State and MTSU loses to FIU
Liberty will be the No. 2 seed if:
-Liberty tops MTSU and loses to WKU and Jax State tops Kennesaw State
-Liberty falls to MTSU and tops WKU and Jax State loses to Kennesaw State and MTSU tops FIU
-The Flames lose to MTSU and top WKU and Jax State tops Kennesaw State and MTSU loses to FIU
Liberty will be the No. 3 seed if:
-The Flames go 0-2 on the week
-Liberty loses to MTSU and bests WKU and Jax State tops Kennesaw State and MTSU defeats FIU
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