MEN’S BASKETBALL 2020-21 GAME NOTES Steven Gonzalez, Associate Director for Communications · Cell: (602) 803-0521 · E-mail: [email protected] LIBERTY MISSISSIPPI STATE FLAMES V BULLDOGS 2020 -21 SCHEDULE & RESULTS 0-1 OVERALL S 0-1 OVERALL OVERALL RECORD: 0-1 0-0 ASUN 0-0 SEC ASUN: 0-0 | Non-Conference: 0-1 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26 | 6 P.M. ET | TITAN FIELD HOUSE | MELBOURNE, FLA. Home: 0-0 | Away: 0-0 | Neutral: 0-1 COACHING MATCHUP THE STARTING 5 - LIBERTY'S TOP STORYLINES NOVEMBER • Micaiah Abii's 19 points is the most in a Liberty 25 vs. Purdue^ L, 64-77 LIBERTY MISS. ST. freshman debut since Seth Curry (23 points) in 2008. 26 vs. Clemson/Mississippi State^ 6 P.M. Ritchie Ben Head Coach • Coach McKay is 3-2 all-time against Ben Howland, as 28 vs. South Carolina $ 4 P.M. McKay Howland the two met while McKay was at Portland State and Howland was the head coach at Northern Arizona. 29 vs. TCU/Tulsa $ TBD 154-88 Record at School 98-68 DECEMBER (8) (Years) (5) • Liberty last met Mississippi State in the 2019 NCAA Tournament (Liberty won 80-76). 3 ST. FRANCIS (PA.) 7 P.M. 319-246 499-274 Overall Record • Liberty has played in three straight conference 5 BLUEFIELD COLLEGE 2 P.M. (19) (Years) (24) championship games (Big South in 2018) and back- 9 at Missouri 8 P.M. to-back ASUN Conference Championship SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSISSIPPI ST. appearances. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 7 P.M. 1-1 • Ritchie McKay is the reigning NABC District 3 Coach 17 REGENT 7 P.M. Overall ................................................................1-1 of the Year and the ASUN Co-Coach of the Year. 19 UVA Wise 1 P.M. Streak ................................................................W1 • Liberty is coming off back-to-back conference 22 ALCORN STATE 1 P.M. At Liberty ..........................................................N/A tournament titles for the first time in program JANUARY At Mississippi State .........................................N/A history. Neutral ................................................................1-1 1 at Lipscomb* 3 P.M. ................ 2-0 • Liberty has 59 wins in the past two seasons, which Ritchie McKay vs. Mississippi State 2 at Lipscomb* 5 P.M. Liberty's Last Win ...........March 22, 2019 (80-76) ranks No. 2 in the country. Last Five Meetings: • Liberty has won back-to-back conference regular 8 FGCU* 7 P.M. March 22, 2019 .................... Liberty won 80-76 (N) season titles and tournament titles, the only team in 9 FGCU* 7 P.M. Dec. 19, 2005 .........................Liberty lost 67-78 (N) the country to do so. 15 at Stetson* 7 P.M. • Since McKay returned to Liberty in 2015, Liberty has 16 at Stetson* 5 P.M. posted 115 wins, which ranks No. 2 in the state of Virginia. 22 KENNESAW STATE* 7 P.M. • Elijah Cuffee has been named ASUN Preseason 23 KENNESAW STATE* 7 P.M. HOW TO FOLLOW THE FLAMES Defensive Player of the Year. 29 at Jacksonville* 7 P.M. • Darius McGhee and Elijah Cuffee were named to the 30 at Jacksonville* 6 P.M. Video ....................................CBS Sports Network ASUN Preseason All-Conference. FEBRUARY Audio ............................................. LFSN Radio (107.5 FM) • Liberty has defeated five Power Five opponents 5 NORTH FLORIDA* 7 P.M. Twitter .......................................... @LibertyMBB_ under McKay and four in the last three seasons. 6 NORTH FLORIDA* 7 P.M. POTENTIAL STARTERS 12 at North Alabama* 7 P.M. 13 at North Alabama* 7 P.M. 26 BELLARMINE* 7 P.M. 27 BELLARMINE* 7 P.M. Home Games in BOLD CAPS All times are listed in Eastern Time * - ASUN Conference Game ^ - Space Coast Challenge 1 2 10 22 24 $ - Hall of Fame Classic Chris Parker Darius McGhee Elijah Cuffee Kyle Rode Micaiah Abii 6-1 | Senior | G 5-9 | Junior | G 6-4 | Senior | G 6-6 | Sophomore | F 6-7 | Freshman | Forward 15.3 PPG 9.5 PPG 7.0 PPG 4.2 PPG 2.4 PPG 3.4 APG 4.0 RPG 2.6 RPG 2.3 RPG 1.9 RPG ‹ 1 › QUICK FACTS / ROSTERS / MEDIA INFO GENERAL INFORMATION 2020-21 LIBERTY NUMERICAL ROSTER Name of School .......................Liberty University No. Name Year Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School (Previous School) City/Zip ...............................Lynchburg, Va. 24515 0 Drake Dobbs Fr. G 6-1 175 Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS Founded ........................................................1971 1 Chris Parker Sr. G 6-1 170 Plano, Texas/Henderson State Enrollment ............................................... 15,000 2 Darius McGhee Jr. G 5-9 150 Roxboro, N.C./Blue Ridge School Nickname .................................................Flames School Colors ..........................Red, White & Blue 3 Isiah Warfield Fr. G 6-5 180 Monaca, Pa./Central Valley HS Home Arena ....................................Vines Center 4 Tytist Dean R-So. G 6-0 175 St. Paul, Minn./North St. Paul HS Capacity .......................................................9,511 5 Marten Maide R-Fr. G 6-5 200 Charlotte, N.C./Carmel Christian School Affiliation .....................................NCAA Division I 10 Elijah Cuffee Sr. G 6-4 200 Poca, W. Va./Liberty Christian Academy Conference ................................................ ASUN 11 Jonathan Jackson Fr. G 6-4 180 Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley HS Founder ..................................... Dr. Jerry Falwell 15 Colton Reed R-Jr. G 6-3 175 Wake Forest, N.C./Roanoke College President.......................................... Jerry Prevo 20 Keegan McDowell R-Jr. G 6-6 190 Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller HS Director of Athletics ......................... Ian McCaw 21 Luke McKay Sr. G 6-2 180 Lynchburg, Va./Liberty Christian Academy Athletics Dept. Phone .................(434) 582-2100 22 Kyle Rode So. F 6-7 220 Lexington, Ky./Lexington Christian Academy MEN'S BASKETBALL INFORMATION 24 Micaiah Abii Fr. F 6-7 220 Frisco, Texas/Liberty HS 25 Josh Price R-So. G 6-3 180 Charlotte, N.C./Carmel Christian School Head Coach ...................................Ritchie McKay Alma Mater ............................ Seattle Pacific, ‘87 32 Blake Preston R-So. F 6-9 225 Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian School Record at School ..................... 154-88 (7th Year) 33 Shiloh Robinson So. F 6-7 200 Kearney, Ne./Kearney High School Career Record .....................319-246 (18th Year) Assistant Coaches................................................ ................. Brad Soucie (Christian Heritage, ‘90) Coaching and Support Staff .......... Derek Johnston (Alabama-Huntsville, ‘10) Head Coach: Ritchie McKay, Sixth Year (Seattle Pacific, '87) .....................Joe Pierre III (Oklahoma State, ‘15) Associate Head Coach: Brad Soucie, Sixth Year (Christian Heritage, '90) Director of Player Development .......................... .......................... Kevin Anderson (Richmond, '11) Assistant Coach: Derek Johnston, Third Year (Alabama-Huntsville, '10) Video and Analytics Coordinator ......................... Assistant Coach: Joe Pierre III, Third Year (Oklahoma State, '15) ....................................Sam Thomas (Liberty, '18) Kevin Anderson, Third Year (Richmond, '11) Director of Basketball Operations ....................... Director of Player Development: ........................... Chelsea Mangino (Virginia, ‘14) Director of Operations: Chelsea Mangino, Fifth Year (Virginia, '14) Certified Athletic Trainer Video and Analytics Coordinator: Sam Thomas, Second Year (Liberty, '18) ...............................Aaron Schreiner (Taylor, ‘02) Graduate Assistant: Zach Farquhar, Second Year (Liberty, '19) HISTORY Strength and Conditioning Coach: Henry Barrera, Fifth Year (Multnomah, '02) First Season of Basketball ........................1972-73 Certified Athletic Trainer: Aaron Schriener, 15th Year (Taylor, '02) All-Time Record ........................................ 721-731 NCAA Tournament Appearances .......................5 Last NCAA Appearance............................... 2020 Opponent ........................................Virginia Tech PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Result ...............................L/58-67 (Round of 32) Final 2019-20 Record ...................................30-4 #5 Marten Maide ...............................................................................Made Conference Record/Finish ....................13-3/T1st #24 Micaiah Abii ................................................... Muh-KAI-UHH Ah-BEE Starters Returning/Lost ................................ 3/2 #33 Shiloh Robinson ......................................................................Shy-low Letterwinners Returning/Lost.......................9/5 Newcomers ........................................................5 ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS Assoc. Director (MBB) ..............Steven Gonzalez Office Phone ................................(434) 582-2294 Email Address [email protected] Website ................................ LibertyFlames.com Facebook ...................... Liberty Flames Athletics .........................................................LUBasketball Instagram .................................@LibertyFlames .......................................................@LibertyMBB Twitter .......................................@LibertyFlames ..................................................... @LibertyMBB_ ‹ 2 › FLAMESLIBERTY TEAMPLAYERTEAM NOTES NOTES BIOS 2020-21 ASUN STANDINGS DEFENSE IN THE 'BURG REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS Conference Standings Ritchie McKay has brought the “Pack Line Defense” In the previous five seasons (2011-15) before Coach McKay W L Pct. model from Virginia and has implemented it in Lynchburg returned to Liberty, the Flames had lost 97 games during