MEN’S BASKETBALL 2020-21 GAME NOTES Steven Gonzalez, Associate Director for Communications · Cell: (602) 803-0521 · E-mail: [email protected] LIBERTY SOUTH CAROLINA STATE FLAMES V BULLDOGS 2020 -21 SCHEDULE & RESULTS 5-3 OVERALL S 0-7 OVERALL OVERALL RECORD: 5-3 0-0 ASUN 0-0 MEAC ASUN: 0-0 | Non-Conference: 5-3 TUESDAY, DEC. 15 | 7 P.M. ET | LIBERTY ARENA | LYNCHBURG, VA. Home: 3-0 | Away: 0-1 | Neutral: 2-2 COACHING MATCHUP THE STARTING 5 - LIBERTY'S TOP STORYLINES NOVEMBER • Liberty has a 26-game winning streak at home, which 25 vs. Purdue^ L, 64-77 LIBERTY SCSU is tied for the third longest streak in the country. 26 vs.Mississippi State^ W, 84-73 Ritchie Murray Head Coach • Liberty is ranked No. 8 in the CollegeInsider.com 28 vs. South Carolina $ W, 78-62 McKay Garvin Mid-Major Top 25 poll. 29 vs. TCU$ L, 52-56 • Liberty has two wins over top 100 opponents in the 159-90 Record at School 85-175 DECEMBER (8) (Years) (8) KenPom rankings, surpassing last year's total (1). 3 ST. FRANCIS (PA.) W, 78-62 324-248 85-175 • Liberty has made 90 three-pointers this season, Overall Record which ranks No. 1 in Division I. 5 BLUEFIELD COLLEGE W, 86-64 (19) (Years) (8) • Liberty is making 11.2 three-pointers per game, 9 at Missouri L, 60-69 SERIES HISTORY VS. SOUTH CAROLINA ST. which ranks No. 10 in the country. 12 COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL W, 73-26 2-0 • Darius McGhee Ranks No. 3 in the nation with 25 15 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 7 P.M. made three-pointers this season. Overall .............................................................. 2-0 22 ALCORN STATE 1 P.M. Streak ................................................................W2 • Liberty has three players who rank in the Top 35 in JANUARY At Liberty .......................................................... 2-0 most three-pointers made this season. McGhee No. 2 At SCSU.............................................................N/A (25), Cuffee No. 19 (18) & McDowell No. 34 (16). 1 at Lipscomb* 3 P.M. Neutral ..............................................................N/A • McGhee has scored 117 points this season, which 2 at Lipscomb* 5 P.M. ................................... 2-0 Ritchie McKay vs. SCSU ranks No. 21 in the country. 8 Liberty's Last Win ...............Nov. 12, 2019 (65-39) FGCU* 7 P.M. Last Two Meetings: • Chris Parker has 40 assists this season, which ranks 9 FGCU* 7 P.M. No. 8 in the country. Nov. 12, 2019 ........................Liberty won 65-39 (H) 15 at Stetson* 7 P.M. Ddec. 11, 2018 ...................... Liberty won 79-55 (H) • Liberty ranks No. 20 as a team in assist turnover ratio (1.62). 16 at Stetson* 5 P.M. 22 • Liberty ranks No. 3 in the country with 130 assists KENNESAW STATE* 7 P.M. this season as a team. 23 KENNESAW STATE* 7 P.M. • Liberty ranks No. 44 in scoring defense allowing 61.1 29 at Jacksonville* 7 P.M. HOW TO FOLLOW THE FLAMES points per game. 30 at Jacksonville* 6 P.M. • Liberty has won back-to-back conference regular FEBRUARY Video ...........................................................ESPN+ season titles and tournament titles, the only team in 5 NORTH FLORIDA* 7 P.M. Audio ............................................. LFSN Radio (107.5 FM) the country to do so. 6 NORTH FLORIDA* 7 P.M. Twitter .......................................... @LibertyMBB_ 12 at North Alabama* 7 P.M. POTENTIAL STARTERS 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 $ - Hall of Fame Classic 1 2 10 22 33 Chris Parker Darius McGhee Elijah Cuffee Kyle Rode Shiloh Robinson 6-1 | Senior | G 5-9 | Junior | G 6-4 | Senior | G 6-6 | Sophomore | F 6-7 | Sophomore | F 9.0 PPG 14.6 PPG 9.8 PPG 6.4 PPG 3.6 PPG 5.0 APG 4.9 RPG 3.0 RPG 3.3 RPG 2.9 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 .....................159-90 (8th Year) 33 Shiloh Robinson So. F 6-7 200 Kearney, Ne./Kearney High School Career Record .....................324-248 (19th 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 .......................................726-733 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 that Bellarmine 0 0 .000 as the Flames rank among the top defenses in the country.