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Saturday, February 14
El Paso, Texas
2:00 PM ET/12:00 PM MT
Liberty University
22-3,14-0CUSA
73
at
64
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UTEP
10-16,6-9CUSA
1
2
F
Liberty
28
45
73
UTEP
26
38
64
Brett Decker Jr. scored 17 points in Liberty's 16th consecutive win, Saturday at UTEP.
Flames Improve to 14-0 in CUSA With 73-64 Road Win Against Miners
2/14/2026 5:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EL PASO, Texas – Liberty closed the game on a 7-0 run to pull out a 73-64 road win over the UTEP Miners and improve to a perfect 14-0 in Conference USA play, Saturday afternoon at the Don Haskins Center.
The Flames run their overall winning streak to 16 games, the third longest in the nation, and improve to 22-3 on the year. Liberty is a perfect 8-0 in CUSA road games after the triumph. UTEP drops to 10-16 overall and 6-9 in CUSA following the setback. The Miners, who had won back-to-back games coming into the day, fall to 8-6 at home and 4-4 in league games at the Don Haskins Center.
JJ Harper led the way on the offensive end for Liberty with 18 points while adding six rebounds, an assist, two blocks and a steal. Brett Decker Jr. (17 points), Zach Cleveland (13 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Colin Porter (10 points, three steals) joined Harper in double figures.
Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: JJ Harper 18 points, 8-11 FG, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks; Brett Decker Jr. 17 points, 6-14 FG; Zach Cleveland 13 points, 5-8 FG, 6 rebounds, 5 assists; Colin Porter 10 points, 3 steals; Zander Carter 8 points, 2-4 3FG; Kaden Metheny 4 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds
UTEP Individuals: Elijah Jones 15 points, 6-12 FG, 8 rebounds; KJ Thomas 14 points, 6-7 FG; Kaseem Watson 10 points, 7 rebounds; Caleb Blackwell 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Key Team Stats: Liberty finished the day shooting exactly 50 percent (27-of-54) from the field, its 16th game at 50 percent or better. Liberty was 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the field over the final 20 minutes. The Flames are 16-0 when making 50 percent or better this season. Liberty finished at 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from the three-point line and 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the foul line. UTEP ended up at 48 percent (24-of-50) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from three and 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the free throw line. After turning the ball over six times in the first half, the Flames only had one turnover in the second half. UTEP committed 12 turnovers in the game, leading to 13 Liberty points. The Miners had 10 points off turnovers. Liberty led in points in the paint (32-28), fast break points (11-4) and bench points (11-7). The Miners outrebounded the Flames, 31-28. Liberty led by as many as 12 and trailed by 10 (25-15) in the first half. The Flames' 10-point deficit matched their largest during their 16-game winning streak (also Dayton, Dec. 20).
Turning Point
The Flames trailed by 10 in the first half, 25-15, before closing the stanza on a 13-1 run to take a 28-26 lead into the break.
In the second half, Liberty used a 12-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 53-41, with 9:05 to go on a Kaden Metheny layup. UTEP closed the gap and got within three, 60-57 at the 3:40 mark following a Kaseem Watson layup. The Miners cut the deficit to two, 66-64 at the 1:42 mark on a Watson layup, but Liberty answered with a 7-0 run to win by nine. Colin Porter hit a crucial fadeaway jumper late in the shot clock at the 1:09 mark to bump the lead to 68-64. After a defensive stop on the other end on a blocked shot by JJ Harper, Brett Decker Jr. knocked down two free throws. Following another stop, Porter buried two shots from the charity stripe for a 72-64 lead with 19 seconds left. Liberty's Zander Carter connected on one last foul shot for the final point of the game.
Key Stats & Notes
The Flames will return home to face the FIU Panthers (12-13, 5-9 CUSA), Thursday night. Tip time from Liberty Arena is 6 p.m. The game can be seen on CBS Sports Network.
Liberty claimed the first meeting on the road at FIU by a 97-94 score in overtime, Dec. 28 in the CUSA opener.
CUSA Championship Ticket Information
Ticket packages for the 2026 CUSA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are now on sale. Both the Flames and Lady Flames will look to defend their conference tournament titles at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., March 10-14.
Fans can purchase an all-session booklet through the Liberty Ticket Office for $175, a savings of $25. This includes tickets to all nine men's games and all nine women's games throughout the tournament. To purchase tickets and find more information, please visit http://www.libertyflames.com/CUSABasketball.
Students will be able to purchase tickets for the tournaments on a session-to-session basis. These may be purchased at Propst Arena with a valid student ID (of a CUSA school) for half the price of the current day's session.
The Flames run their overall winning streak to 16 games, the third longest in the nation, and improve to 22-3 on the year. Liberty is a perfect 8-0 in CUSA road games after the triumph. UTEP drops to 10-16 overall and 6-9 in CUSA following the setback. The Miners, who had won back-to-back games coming into the day, fall to 8-6 at home and 4-4 in league games at the Don Haskins Center.
JJ Harper led the way on the offensive end for Liberty with 18 points while adding six rebounds, an assist, two blocks and a steal. Brett Decker Jr. (17 points), Zach Cleveland (13 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Colin Porter (10 points, three steals) joined Harper in double figures.
Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: JJ Harper 18 points, 8-11 FG, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks; Brett Decker Jr. 17 points, 6-14 FG; Zach Cleveland 13 points, 5-8 FG, 6 rebounds, 5 assists; Colin Porter 10 points, 3 steals; Zander Carter 8 points, 2-4 3FG; Kaden Metheny 4 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds
UTEP Individuals: Elijah Jones 15 points, 6-12 FG, 8 rebounds; KJ Thomas 14 points, 6-7 FG; Kaseem Watson 10 points, 7 rebounds; Caleb Blackwell 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Key Team Stats: Liberty finished the day shooting exactly 50 percent (27-of-54) from the field, its 16th game at 50 percent or better. Liberty was 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the field over the final 20 minutes. The Flames are 16-0 when making 50 percent or better this season. Liberty finished at 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from the three-point line and 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the foul line. UTEP ended up at 48 percent (24-of-50) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from three and 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the free throw line. After turning the ball over six times in the first half, the Flames only had one turnover in the second half. UTEP committed 12 turnovers in the game, leading to 13 Liberty points. The Miners had 10 points off turnovers. Liberty led in points in the paint (32-28), fast break points (11-4) and bench points (11-7). The Miners outrebounded the Flames, 31-28. Liberty led by as many as 12 and trailed by 10 (25-15) in the first half. The Flames' 10-point deficit matched their largest during their 16-game winning streak (also Dayton, Dec. 20).
Turning Point
The Flames trailed by 10 in the first half, 25-15, before closing the stanza on a 13-1 run to take a 28-26 lead into the break.
In the second half, Liberty used a 12-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 53-41, with 9:05 to go on a Kaden Metheny layup. UTEP closed the gap and got within three, 60-57 at the 3:40 mark following a Kaseem Watson layup. The Miners cut the deficit to two, 66-64 at the 1:42 mark on a Watson layup, but Liberty answered with a 7-0 run to win by nine. Colin Porter hit a crucial fadeaway jumper late in the shot clock at the 1:09 mark to bump the lead to 68-64. After a defensive stop on the other end on a blocked shot by JJ Harper, Brett Decker Jr. knocked down two free throws. Following another stop, Porter buried two shots from the charity stripe for a 72-64 lead with 19 seconds left. Liberty's Zander Carter connected on one last foul shot for the final point of the game.
Key Stats & Notes
- The Flames have now won 19 straight games (including postseason) in league play, the longest conference winning streak in the nation, and is 25-1 in its last 26 games against conference foes dating back to last year.
- Liberty's 16-game winning streak is now the longest in program history by two games. The 2019-20 team opened the year with 14 straight wins.
- JJ Harper averaged 18.5 points per game in two wins this weekend to pace the Flames.
- This is the second straight year Liberty has swept the New Mexico State and UTEP road trip.
- The Flames improve to 5-3 all-time against the Miners, having now claimed each of the last four meetings.
- Liberty is 9-1 overall on the road this year and 8-0 in away games in league play.
- The Flames are the first team to go 14-0 or better to start CUSA competition since the 2012-13 Memphis team (16-0).
- Zander Carter scored eight points in 12:46 of action off the bench, his most in a CUSA game, and knocked down two crucial second half triples. Zander Yates knocked down a big three as well and finished the day with three points and two boards in 7:29 of action.
- Liberty's last loss came on Dec. 10, 66 days ago.
The Flames will return home to face the FIU Panthers (12-13, 5-9 CUSA), Thursday night. Tip time from Liberty Arena is 6 p.m. The game can be seen on CBS Sports Network.
Liberty claimed the first meeting on the road at FIU by a 97-94 score in overtime, Dec. 28 in the CUSA opener.
CUSA Championship Ticket Information
Ticket packages for the 2026 CUSA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are now on sale. Both the Flames and Lady Flames will look to defend their conference tournament titles at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., March 10-14.
Fans can purchase an all-session booklet through the Liberty Ticket Office for $175, a savings of $25. This includes tickets to all nine men's games and all nine women's games throughout the tournament. To purchase tickets and find more information, please visit http://www.libertyflames.com/CUSABasketball.
Students will be able to purchase tickets for the tournaments on a session-to-session basis. These may be purchased at Propst Arena with a valid student ID (of a CUSA school) for half the price of the current day's session.
Team Stats
Lib
UTEP
FG%
.500
.480
3FG%
.333
.421
FT%
.556
.727
RB
28
31
TO
7
12
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
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