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MBB Game Day: New Mexico State
1/13/2026 3:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Day Coverage
- Liberty vs. New Mexico State (Liberty Arena)
- Tipoff: Thursday at 6:05 p.m. ET
- TV: CBS Sports NetworkÂ
- Radio:Â LFSN Radio
- Live Stats
- CUSA-leading Liberty (13-3, 5-0 CUSA) will welcome New Mexico State (9-6, 2-3 CUSA) for a home game on Thursday night on national television (CBSSN).Â
- The Flames the only remaining unbeaten team after a pair of CUSA road wins at LA Tech (72-56 final) and Sam Houston (82-74 final) last week. The Aggies have dropped three of their last four and lost 59-55 to MTSU at home in their most recent game. NM State (0-3 overall, 0-2 CUSA) is in search of its first road win.
- The Flames are 8-0 at home this year and have won 110 of their last 121 games at home (90.9 percent). Liberty has won its last seven games overall.
- Liberty has 190 wins since the start of the 2018-19 season, sixth most in the nation in that span. In that same span, the Flames have the fourth-best winning percentage (.757, 190-61) of any team in the country, behind only Gonzaga (.865), Houston (.862) and Duke (.795).
- Brett Decker Jr. is No. 2 nationally in three-point percentage (50.0) and No. 6 in threes per game (3.63). Zach Cleveland ranks No. 3 in the country in assists per game (7.6).Â
- Liberty is No. 2 in the nation in effective field goal percentage (.617), No. 3 in assist/turnover ratio (1.98), No. 6 in fewest turnovers per game (9.1), No. 7 in field goal percentage (52.2), No. 8 in three-point percentage (39.9) and No. 19 in threes per game (10.8). The Flames CUSA in all of those categories.
- The Flames won both meetings with NM State last year.
- This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two squads. The Flames are 3-1 all-time against the Aggies, with those four meetings all coming in CUSA regular season action. Liberty is 2-0 all-time against NM State at home and 1-1 on the road. In last year's meeting at Liberty Arena (Jan. 18, 2025), Liberty emerged with a 68-60 triumph. Colin Porter led four Flames in double figures with 14 points, while Cleveland, Taelon Peter and Owen Aquino each finished with 11 points. NM State entered the night leading the league with a 4-0 record before suffering its first CUSA setback.
- The Flames were picked to win Conference USA in the preseason poll. The Aggies were picked to finish third.Â
- Liberty is 8-0 at home this year, including a 2-0 CUSA mark. The Flames average exactly 90 points per game at home and allow only 61.9 ppg. The Flames are shooting 55.9 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from deep in their home building.
- The Flames are 5-0 in CUSA play for the first time. In Liberty's first five games in the last two seasons prior to this year, the Flames were a combined 4-6 (2-3 2024-25, 2-3 2023-24).
- Liberty is the first team to start 5-0 or better in CUSA play since the 2022-23 Florida Atlantic team (11-0). The Flames are the only team to start 5-0 since they joined the league prior to the start of the 2023-24 season.
- Cleveland (995 points) is only five points away from 1,000 for his career. Cleveland is looking to join Colin Porter (last Thursday at LA Tech) and Kaden Metheny (Dec. 16 at Midway) as one of three active 1,000-point scorers for the Flames.
- Cleveland ranks No. 5 in the country and first in CUSA in defensive rebounds per game (7.73). He is also first in the league and 49th nationally in rebounds per game (8.6) and leads the conference in double-doubles (6).
- Last Thursday night at LA Tech, Colin Porter became the 33rd player in program history to score 1,000 career points in a Liberty uniform with his 11-point effort.
- Through Jan. 12 games, CUSA teams are 7-23 in league road games. Liberty (3-0) has three of those seven road wins.
- Liberty is 25-of-29 from the foul line in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime in its first five CUSA games.
- Liberty is 13-0 when outshooting its opponent.
- Decker Jr. is the only Flame to score in double figures in all 16 games this season. He has been Liberty's leading scorer (or tied) seven times and has six 20-plus point games. He is averaging a team-best 17.4 ppg in five CUSA games.
- Liberty finished 66th in the nation in the NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings and No. 64 in the KenPom rankings last year. The Flames are currently No. 93 in the NET and No. 95 in KenPom. NM State is No. 138 in the NET and No. 142 in KenPom.
- Liberty is ranked No. 4 in the College Insider Men's Mid-Major Top 25®, up four spots from last week. Middle Tennessee (No. 25) is the only other team in CUSA in the Top 25.
- The Flames are third in the conference and 51st nationally in scoring defense (67.8) through Jan. 12 games.
- Liberty has won seven games in a row and has not lost since Dec. 10. The last time the Flames won 10 or more games in a row was a 12-game winning streak between Jan. 16-March 7, 2021.
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