Thursday, February 29
Lynchburg, Va.
9:00 PM ET
Liberty University
83
vs
58
New Mexico State
Flames Pull Away From Aggies in 2nd Half For 83-58 Win
2/29/2024 11:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty Flames pulled away from the New Mexico State Aggies in the second half for an 83-58 home Conference USA win, Thursday night at Liberty Arena.
Liberty bumps its overall record up to 17-11 and snaps a two-game losing streak in the process. The Flames improve to 6-7 in CUSA games, 11-2 at home and 5-1 in CUSA home contests.
New Mexico State falls to 11-18 overall and 5-9 in league play. The Aggies have lost six straight overall and drop to 0-7 in CUSA road games and 1-10 overall on the road this season.
Liberty splits the regular season series with New Mexico State, with both teams winning on their respective home floors. The Aggies edged the Flames 79-73 exactly four weeks ago (Feb. 1) in Las Cruces, N.M.
Zach Cleveland paced the home side with a game-high 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting along with eight rebounds and a game-best seven assists. Kyle Rode matched a career high with seven three-pointers and scored 21 points. The redshirt senior added seven rebounds and five assists. Kaden Metheny (nine points) eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career tonight.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Zach Cleveland 22 points, 11-15 FG, 8 rebounds, 7 assists; Kyle Rode 21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists; Colin Porter 11 points, 3-5 3FG, 3 assists; Brody Peebles 10 points
New Mexico State Individuals: Christian Cook 15 points, 3-5 3FG; Femi Odukale 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks; Jordan Rawls 11 points, 3 assists
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field. The Flames are 11-0 this season when shooting over 50 percent. The Flames knocked down exactly 50 percent (14-of-28) of their three-point attempts. New Mexico State finished the night shooting 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from the floor and 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from the three-point line. The Flames assisted on 22 of their 31 made field goals, the ninth time this season they have notched 20 or more assists. The Flames were strong on the boards with a 40-25 rebounding advantage. Liberty grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and had 16 second chance points while limiting New Mexico State to eight second chance points. The Flames led for 38:59 of the 40 minutes, while the Aggies led for only 17 seconds.
Thoughts From Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"We played to try to keep honoring the process of getting better. I thought our guys were really intentional in practice this week. It's great to play in front of our home fans."
Turning Point
Liberty led 38-32 at the break and extended the lead to 57-41 at the 11:17 mark following a pair of Shiloh Robinson free throws.
A 7-2 Aggies run trimmed the Flames' lead to 59-48 with 8:17 to go, but New Mexico State could not get it to a single-digit deficit the rest of the way. The Flames held the Aggies to 10 points over the final 8:17 while totaling 24 points down the stretch. Leading 71-56 with 3:25 remaining, Liberty closed the game on a 12-2 run to secure the 25-point victory. Kyle Rode buried three three-pointers in the closing eight-plus minutes to help put the game away.
Key Stats & Notes
The Flames will play their second-to-last home regular season game on Saturday evening against UTEP. Tip time is 7 p.m. at Liberty Arena and can be seen on ESPN+.
Liberty topped UTEP 67-65, Feb. 3 at the Don Haskins Center in what was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Liberty bumps its overall record up to 17-11 and snaps a two-game losing streak in the process. The Flames improve to 6-7 in CUSA games, 11-2 at home and 5-1 in CUSA home contests.
New Mexico State falls to 11-18 overall and 5-9 in league play. The Aggies have lost six straight overall and drop to 0-7 in CUSA road games and 1-10 overall on the road this season.
Liberty splits the regular season series with New Mexico State, with both teams winning on their respective home floors. The Aggies edged the Flames 79-73 exactly four weeks ago (Feb. 1) in Las Cruces, N.M.
Zach Cleveland paced the home side with a game-high 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting along with eight rebounds and a game-best seven assists. Kyle Rode matched a career high with seven three-pointers and scored 21 points. The redshirt senior added seven rebounds and five assists. Kaden Metheny (nine points) eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career tonight.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Zach Cleveland 22 points, 11-15 FG, 8 rebounds, 7 assists; Kyle Rode 21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists; Colin Porter 11 points, 3-5 3FG, 3 assists; Brody Peebles 10 points
New Mexico State Individuals: Christian Cook 15 points, 3-5 3FG; Femi Odukale 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks; Jordan Rawls 11 points, 3 assists
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field. The Flames are 11-0 this season when shooting over 50 percent. The Flames knocked down exactly 50 percent (14-of-28) of their three-point attempts. New Mexico State finished the night shooting 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from the floor and 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from the three-point line. The Flames assisted on 22 of their 31 made field goals, the ninth time this season they have notched 20 or more assists. The Flames were strong on the boards with a 40-25 rebounding advantage. Liberty grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and had 16 second chance points while limiting New Mexico State to eight second chance points. The Flames led for 38:59 of the 40 minutes, while the Aggies led for only 17 seconds.
Thoughts From Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"We played to try to keep honoring the process of getting better. I thought our guys were really intentional in practice this week. It's great to play in front of our home fans."
Turning Point
Liberty led 38-32 at the break and extended the lead to 57-41 at the 11:17 mark following a pair of Shiloh Robinson free throws.
A 7-2 Aggies run trimmed the Flames' lead to 59-48 with 8:17 to go, but New Mexico State could not get it to a single-digit deficit the rest of the way. The Flames held the Aggies to 10 points over the final 8:17 while totaling 24 points down the stretch. Leading 71-56 with 3:25 remaining, Liberty closed the game on a 12-2 run to secure the 25-point victory. Kyle Rode buried three three-pointers in the closing eight-plus minutes to help put the game away.
Key Stats & Notes
- Liberty has won its last five home games, a streak that started on Jan. 18.
- With tonight's win, the Flames (6-7 CUSA) move into a tie for fourth place in the CUSA standings with Middle Tennessee. Liberty currently owns the head-to-head edge over the Blue Raiders, but the two teams will meet in Tennessee next Tuesday.
- Kyle Rode's seven three pointers match a career high. The forward also hit seven three-pointers on his way to a career-high 31 points against Wichita State, Nov. 17 in the Myrtle Beach Invitational semifinals.
- Rode (seven rebounds tonight, 606 career) became the 14th player in program history to grab 600 career rebounds. Meanwhile, Joseph Venzant (nine rebounds tonight, 501 career) became the 21st player in school history with 500-plus rebounds for his career.
- Venzant grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. He is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 6.5 per contest.
- With 22 points, Zach Cleveland finished one point shy of matching a career high. Cleveland has five 20-plus point games in his career, all coming this season.
- This was the second all-time meeting between the Flames and Aggies, with both matchups coming in the last 30 days.
- Kaden Metheny entered the night with 992 points in his collegiate career and finished the game with nine points to put him at 1,001 career points. Metheny has scored 374 of those 1,001 career points in his lone season in a Liberty jersey. The redshirt junior went over 1,000 points with a three-point play with 1:57 left in the game.
- Brody Peebles finished the night with 10 points, his eighth straight game in double figures.
- Shiloh Robinson contributed seven points and five boards in 15:59 off the bench. The fifth-year senior was 2-of-2 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the foul line.
- Three of Liberty's five CUSA home wins have come by 16 or more points.
- This is the eighth opponent the Flames have held under 60 points this season. Liberty is a perfect 8-0 in those games.
- Colin Porter finished the night with 11 points. The sophomore point guard surpassed 500 career points, finishing the evening with 510 career points.
The Flames will play their second-to-last home regular season game on Saturday evening against UTEP. Tip time is 7 p.m. at Liberty Arena and can be seen on ESPN+.
Liberty topped UTEP 67-65, Feb. 3 at the Don Haskins Center in what was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.