MEN’S BASKETBALL 2020-21 GAME NOTES Steven Gonzalez, Associate Director for Communications · Cell: (602) 803-0521 · E-mail: [email protected] LIBERTY ST. FRANCIS (PA.) FLAMES V RED FLASH 2020 -21 SCHEDULE & RESULTS 2-2 OVERALL S 1-2 OVERALL OVERALL RECORD: 2-2 0-0 ASUN 0-0 NEC ASUN: 0-0 | Non-Conference: 2-2 THURSDAY, DEC. 3 | 7 P.M. ET | LIBRTY ARENA | LYNCHBURG, VA. Home: 0-0 | Away: 0-0 | Neutral: 2-2 COACHING MATCHUP THE STARTING 5 - LIBERTY'S TOP STORYLINES NOVEMBER • Liberty has defeated seven Power Five opponents 25 vs. Purdue^ L, 64-77 LIBERTY ST. FRANCIS under McKay and six in the last four seasons. 26 vs.Mississippi State^ W, 84-73 Ritchie Rob Head Coach • Liberty has two wins over top 100 opponents in the 28 vs. South Carolina $ W, 78-62 McKay Krimmel KenPom rankings, surpassing last year's total (1). 29 vs. TCU$ L, 52-56 • Liberty has made 47 three-pointers this season, 156-89 Record at School 120-135 DECEMBER (8) (Years) (9) which ranks No. 1 in Division I. 3 ST. FRANCIS (PA.) 7 P.M. 321-247 120-135 • Liberty is making 11.8 three-pointers per game, Overall Record which ranks No. 15 in the country. 5 BLUEFIELD COLLEGE NOON (19) (Years) (9) • Liberty is shooting 37.6 percent from three, which 9 at Missouri 8 P.M. SERIES HISTORY VS. ST. FRANCIS ranks No. 64 in the nation. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 7 P.M. 0-1 • Liberty is 4-1 in its last five games against SEC 17 REGENT 7 P.M. schools. Overall ...............................................................0-1 19 UVA Wise 1 P.M. • For the first time in his career, Darius McGhee was Streak ..................................................................L1 22 ALCORN STATE 1 P.M. At Liberty ..........................................................N/A named the ASUN Player of the Week. JANUARY At St. Francis .....................................................0-1 • McGhee leads the nation with 15 made three-point- Neutral ..............................................................N/A ers this season. Elijah Cuffee ranks No. 27 with nine 1 at Lipscomb* 3 P.M. ..........................N/A Ritchie McKay vs. St. Francis three-pointers made this season. 2 at Lipscomb* 5 P.M. Liberty's Last Win ........................................ N/A Last Meeting: • McGhee has scored 69 points this season, which 8 FGCU* 7 P.M. ranks No. 13 in the country. Jan. 3, 1997 ...........................Liberty lost 68-80 (A) 9 FGCU* 7 P.M. • Chris Parker has 20 assists this season, which is tied for No. 4 in the country. 15 at Stetson* 7 P.M. 16 at Stetson* 5 P.M. • Liberty ranks No. 6 in the country with 60 assists this season as a team. 22 KENNESAW STATE* 7 P.M. • Liberty has won back-to-back conference regular 23 KENNESAW STATE* 7 P.M. HOW TO FOLLOW THE FLAMES season titles and tournament titles, the only team in 29 at Jacksonville* 7 P.M. the country to do so. 30 at Jacksonville* 6 P.M. Video ...........................................................ESPN+ • Liberty's 23 game winning streak at home is the FEBRUARY Audio ............................................. LFSN Radio (107.5 FM) fourth longest in the country. 5 NORTH FLORIDA* 7 P.M. Twitter .......................................... @LibertyMBB_ 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 9.8 PPG 17.3 PPG 10.3 PPG 6.3 PPG 9.8 PPG 5.0 APG 5.3 RPG 2.8 RPG 3.0 RPG 2.0 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 ..................... 156-89 (7th Year) 33 Shiloh Robinson So. F 6-7 200 Kearney, Ne./Kearney High School Career Record ......................321-247 (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 ....................................... 723-732 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. span. Fast forward to 2020, McKay has led Liberty to 117 wins