Middle Tennessee men’s basketball (11-9, 5-4 CUSA) dropped a pivotal conference matchup against the Liberty University Flames (18-3, 9-0 CUSA) inside the Murphy Center, 81-65.
The Flames were as hot as their name insinuates from the field, shooting 32-of-52 as a team. Redshirt senior guard Kaden Metheny was a major factor, blowing through the Blue Raiders’ defense for 29 points while going 6-of-9 from behind the arc.
“Metheny was unbelievable tonight,” McDevitt said. “He made some tough shots. Some shots that you guarded pretty well. And 99 of 100 players, I’m sure their coach is saying what a terrible shot, but for them he makes them.”
McDevitt praised Liberty postgame, pointing to the experience that the Flames’ starting five has together.
“They’ve got a unicorn of a team,” McDevitt said. “… Their best players have been there the whole time.”
Liberty boasts three players who have played over 85 games in the program including Matheny along with fellow seniors Zach Cleveland and Colin Porter.
On the flip side, five of the 10 players that appeared in MTSU’s first home loss in conference play are in their first year with the program. Only two of them have been with Middle Tennessee for more than two years.
“We told our team that they aren’t going to close that gap,” McDevitt said of Liberty’s experience together. “You’re not going to catch them, you’re just going to close it. A lot of that is on our end. We’ve got to have great communication, and that’s not just the guys that are talking but also the guys that are listening.”
While the Blue Raiders were up early with a 4-2 advantage, the Flames deployed a 28-10 run over a 10:26 span to hold a 30-14 lead.
Middle Tennessee struggled to find nylon in the early stages of the first half, as it carried a 29.2% from the floor at the under-eight minute media timeout. Inversely, Liberty was shooting 70% from the field, including a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point land by Matheny.
The Blue Raiders went into the break trailing the Flames 43-29, and came out of the half with a renewed focus defensively.
“We started defending their ball screen with a hedge as opposed to a switch once they had showed they were confusing a couple of our guys,” McDevitt said. “It was like… are we going to guard it one way when these three or four guys are in there and guard it a completely different way when these three or four are in.”
MTSU was able to cut the Liberty lead down to eight, with the score settled at 60-52 with 10:29 to play. Graduate guard Sean Smith and redshirt sophomore Torey Alston played a major factor in working the Blue Raiders back into the ball game.
Smith ended up with 19 total points on the night, while Alston notched a 20-point 12-rebound performance. Smith drained four three-pointers, leading the way for a group that shot 9-of-27 from three.
“Really just taking whatever the defense gave me,” Smith said. “They were hedging, so I was trying to get downhill. I was getting catch-and-shoot shots, and taking what the defense gave me, knocking them down.”
Middle Tennessee’s second half surge didn’t last long, as Liberty launched a 10-0 run to push its lead back to 70-52. The senior forward Cleveland contributed five of his 14 points to the effort to put the Blue Raiders away.
MTSU will be back in action on Jan. 31, as both men’s and women’s basketball will welcome Western Kentucky University to the Murphy Center for the 100 Miles of Hate. The Blue Raiders will tip off against the Hilltoppers (11-10, 4-6 CUSA) at 3 p.m. CDT.
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