MBB NIT Game Day: No. 3 Seed George Mason

Game Day Coverage

Liberty at No. 3 seed George Mason (NIT First Round - EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Va.)
Tipoff: Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN 2
Radio: LFSN Radio
Live Stats
NIT Information/Bracket
NIT Ticket Information

Liberty Storylines

CUSA outright regular season champion Liberty (25-7, 17-3 CUSA) will be making its second appearance in the NIT and first since 2023. The Flames will face George Mason (23-9, 11-7 A-10) on the road, Tuesday night. The two teams have not met since 2010-11.
The Flames are 1-1 all-time in the NIT. In 2023, Liberty topped 62-57 at home in the first round and fell 75-71 at Wisconsin in the second round.
Liberty has won 202 games over the last eight seasons, sixth most in the nation in that span.
The 32-team NIT field features 25 teams with 20 or more victories and 18 different conferences. Liberty is 3-1 against the NIT field this year. The Flames are 2-0 against Sam Houston, 1-0 versus Dayton and 0-1 against Bradley.
This will be the tenth all-time meeting Liberty fell 84-54 to George Mason at the Vines Center on Dec. 11, 2010 in the most recent meeting. Liberty is 3-6 all-time versus George Mason. Liberty is looking for its third all-time win against an A-10 foe and second this year. On Dec. 20, the Flames won 64-61 at Dayton. The win snapped the Flyers' 33-game home non-conference winning streak at the time. Liberty is 2-13 all-time against A-10 squads.
Liberty is the first team to repeat as CUSA regular season champion since Middle Tennessee did so during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. The Flames have claimed 11 total titles (seven regular season and/or division, four tournament titles) over the last eight seasons, tied for most in the country.
Liberty is No. 2 in the nation in effective field goal percentage (.612), No. 3 in assist/turnover ratio (1.95), No. 4 in field goal percentage (51.4), No. 4 in three-point percentage (39.8), No. 4 in fewest turnovers per game (8.8) and No. 8 in fewest fouls per game (14.1) (leads CUSA in all of hte above).
CUSA Player of the Year Zach Cleveland ranks ninth nationally in assists per game (6.8) and 14th in defensive rebounds per game (6.74).Flames leading scorer Brett Decker Jr. (16.8 ppg) is No. 2 in the country in three-point percentage (48.1), No. 8 in threes per game (3.47) and No. 11 in total threes (111-third most in season in school history).
Liberty Men's Basketball Head Coach Ritchie McKay is a finalist for three major coaching awards: 2025-26 Jim Phelan Award (national coach of the year), 2025-26 Hugh Durham Award (top mid-major head coach) and 2025-26 Ben Jobe Award (top minority head coach). McKay is one of only 20 finalists for the Jim Phelan Award and one of only 25 finalists for both the Hugh Durham Award and Ben Jobe Award. In 2019, McKay was named Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year.
Cleveland and Decker Jr. have both been named finalists for the 2025-26 Lou Henson Award, given annually to the top player in mid-major college basketball. are two of only 30 total finalists for the award. They are also the only two Conference USA players on the listing. JJ Harper has been named a finalist for the 2025-26 Lefty Driesell Award. The award is presented annually to the top defensive player in Division I college basketball. Harper is one of only 25 finalists on the listing featuring the top defenders in the nation. Cleveland has also been tabbed a finalist for the 2025-26 Nolan Richardson Award. The award is presented annually to a Division I player who is the heart and soul of his team and a leader on and off the court. Cleveland is one of only 25 finalists on the listing.
The Flames are currently No. 106 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 125 in KenPom. The Patriots are No. 92 in the NET and No. 96 in KenPom.
The Flames are one of 34 teams in the nation with 25 or more wins.
Cleveland had the conference's only triple-double and is tied for first in the league in double-doubles (9).
Liberty is 7-1 this year (6-0 CUSA) in games decided by three points or less.
Prior to this year (15-0), Liberty's best start ever in league play was 7-0, set during the 2018-19 season.
Liberty was 79-of-94 from the foul line (84 percent) in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime in its 21 CUSA games (including conference tournament).
The Flames received three CUSA Player of the Week awards this year, two from Zach Cleveland and one from Kaden Metheny.
Liberty won 17 games in a row, the longest streak in school history (Dec. 16-Feb. 19). The Flames went 73 days between losses (Dec. 10-Feb. 21).
-This is the second time Liberty has earned a berth into the NIT. The first bid came three years ago in 2023.
The Flames have been selected to the NCAA Tournament seven times (1994, 2004, 2013, 2019, 2020 and 2021).
Liberty appeared in the College Insider Tournament (CIT) in 2009, 2017 and 2018.
Here is what Liberty has done in postseason tournaments (NCAA Tournament, NIT and CIT) since 2017:
2025 NCAA: No. 5 seed Oregon 81, No. 12 seed Liberty 52 (Round of 64)
2023 NIT: No. 2 seed Wisconsin 75, No. 3 seed Liberty 71 (Second Round)
2023 NIT: No. 3 seed Liberty 62, Villanova 57 (First Round)
2021 NCAA: No. 4 seed Oklahoma State 69, No. 13 seed Liberty 60 (Round of 64)
2020 NCAA: Liberty qualified, but the tournament was cancelled due to the CoVID-19 pandemic.
2019 NCAA: No. 4 seed Virginia Tech 67, No. 12 seed Liberty 58
2019 NCAA: No. 12 seed Liberty 80, No. 5 seed Mississippi State
2018 CIT: UIC 67, Liberty 51 (Semifinals)
2018 CIT: Liberty 84, Central Michigan 71 (Quarterfinals)
2018 CIT: Liberty 65, North Carolina A&T 52 (First Round)
2017 CIT: UMBC 80, Liberty 68 (Quarterfinals)
2017 CIT: Liberty 66, Samford 58 (Second Round)
2017 CIT: Liberty 73, Norfolk State 64 (First Round)

Schedule

MBB NIT Game Day: No. 3 Seed George Mason

Players Mentioned

Zach Cleveland

Brett Decker Jr.

JJ Harper

Kaden Metheny

MBB NIT Game Day: No. 3 Seed George Mason

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Players Mentioned

Zach Cleveland

Brett Decker Jr.

JJ Harper

Kaden Metheny

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