MBB Game Day: Louisiana Tech
3/3/2026 8:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Day Coverage
- Liberty vs. Louisiana Tech (Liberty Arena)
- Tipoff: Thursday at 7:02 p.m. ET
- TV:Â ESPN+
- Radio:Â LFSN Radio
- Live Stats
- Liberty (24-5, 16-2 CUSA), the CUSA outright regular season champion, will face Louisiana Tech (16-13, 9-9 CUSA) in its second-to-last regular season game.
- The Flames secured the outright regular season crown and the No. 1 seed for the CUSA Championship with Saturday's 81-78 road win at Jax State. LA Tech is currently in a three-way tie for fifth place in the league standings after an 84-76 loss to FIU in its most recent game.
- Liberty has also secured the No. 1 seed for the 2026 CUSA Men's Basketball Championship. The Flames' first game at the CUSA Tournament will be at 6:30 p.m. on March 11 at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.
- 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. 1 in the nation in effective field goal percentage (.617), Â No. 3 in field goal percentage (52.1), No. 4 in three-point percentage (40.2), No. 5 in assist/turnover ratio (1.91), No. 5 in fewest turnovers per game (9.0) and No. 6 in fewest fouls per game (14.0) (leads CUSA in all of the above).
- This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two programs. Liberty leads the series 3-2, with the home team winning four of those five. The Flames picked up the first road win by either team in series with a 72-56 triumph at the Bulldogs back on Jan. 8. Liberty led for 38:10 of the 40 minutes and featured five in double figures, led by Brett Decker Jr.'s 15 points and career-high six rebounds.Â
- Last year at Liberty Arena (Feb. 6, 2025), the Flames knocked off the Bulldogs 77-53. While the last two matchups have been decided by a combined 40 points, the first three meetings in the series were decided by a total of 12 points. One of those matchups was a memorable 65-62 Flames win on Feb. 10, 2024 at Liberty Arena. In that game, Kaden Metheny buried the game-winning three with 2.1 seconds left.
- The Flames' Brett Decker Jr. ranks No. 2 nationally in three-point percentage (49.0). Zach Cleveland, a two-time CUSA Player of the Week this year, is No. 11 in the country in assists per game (6.8).Â
- Liberty's 24 victories are sixth most in a season in program history.Â
- Liberty is 7-1 this year (6-0 CUSA) in games decided by three points or less.
- The Flames are one of 26 teams in the nation with 24 or more wins.
- Decker Jr. ranks No. 13 in the country in in three-pointers per game (3.34) and No. 17 in total triples (97). Decker Jr. needs three more threes to become the eighth player (seventh different) in program history to hit 100 or more triples in a single season.
- Cleveland is No. 13 in defensive rebounds per game (6.86). He also shares the conference lead in double-doubles (8).
- Prior to this year (15-0), Liberty's best start ever in league play was 7-0, set during the 2018-19 season.Â
- The Flames are 13-1 at home this season, including a 7-1 CUSA record at Liberty Arena. Liberty had 13 straight home games prior to the Feb. 21 loss to Western Kentucky.
- The Flames are currently No. 94 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 111 in KenPom. The Bulldogs are No. 247 in the NET and No. 244 in KenPom
- Liberty has won 21 of its last 23 contests (including postseason play) against Conference USA opponents and is 27-3 in its last 30 games against conference foes dating back to last year.
- Liberty is 71-of-86 from the foul line (82.6 percent) in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime in its 18 CUSA games.
- Liberty is 23-1 when outshooting its opponent and has shot 50 percent or better 19 times (18-1 in those instances).Â
- Decker Jr. has scored in double figures in 26 games this season. He has been Liberty's leading scorer (or tied) 12 times and has nine 20-plus point games.Â
- Liberty was the first team to start 15-0 or better in CUSA play since the 2012-13 Memphis team (16-0).
- All five starters are averaging 12.2 ppg or more in conference play (Decker Jr. 15.7 ppg/Metheny 13.3 ppg/Cleveland 12.6 ppg/Porter 12.4 ppg/Harper 12.2 ppg).
- Liberty is ranked No. 6 in the College Insider Men's Mid-Major Top 25®, behind No. 1 Miami (Ohio) (29-0),  No. 2 Gonzaga (28-3), No. 3 Saint Mary's (27-4), No. 4 Akron (24-5) and No. 5 Belmont (26-4). The Flames are the only CUSA team in the Top 25 (Sam Houston, Western Kentucky and Kennesaw State receiving votes).
- This will be Liberty's 13th all-time game on March 5. The Flames are 7-5 all-time playing on this date. Liberty last played on this date two years ago (2024), a 69-61 road CUSA loss to Middle Tennessee. The Flames' last triumph on this date came in 2021, a 77-64 win over Stetson in the ASUN Championship semifinal round in Jacksonville, Fla. (hosted by North Florida).
Players Mentioned
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