LYNCHBURG, Va. – All Liberty coach Ritchie McKay
wanted for Christmas – other than a win – was for one of his players to give
him credit in a postgame press conference. McKay posed as a media member in
search of those kudos.
“Could you attribute (averaging 25 points per game in your
last two games) to watching your coach’s films, his old games?,” McKay asked.
Guard Taelon Peter quickly responded.
“I don’t think they had cameras back when you were playing,”
Peter retorted.
McKay stormed out – playfully – but that was about the only
thing Peter didn’t do right Saturday afternoon. Peter and guard Kaden Metheny
combined for 45 points and hit 15 of their 25 tries from the field, pacing a
high-powered Flames effort that turned a once-close contest into a 79-56
blowout of UT Arlington in front of an announced crowd of 2,649 at Liberty
Arena Saturday afternoon.
“I’m just proud of the group,” Metheny said after the game. “With
Christmas break looming, it takes a special team to be that locked in and that
focused. We wanted to come out, bring our own energy, and feel like we set the
tone early with our defense.”
That defense faced just one real challenge in the first
half. UT Arlington (6-7) stared down an early 18-7 deficit and bounced back,
tearing off an 11-1 run capped by a Diante Smith triple that drew the Mavericks back
within one at 19-18. Liberty (12-1) quashed that charge almost immediately,
however. The Flames tore off a 15-0 burst, powered by a Zach Cleveland bucket
and Metheny triple that both came off turnovers, extending the Liberty lead to
16.
“I was really pleased with our effort,” McKay said. “They’re
explosive offensively and they have a really good team. I thought our defense
at the beginning kind of gave them a little bit of doubt, because they’ve been
clicking offensively. You know you have a chance when your team is sound
defensively, and we were sound defensively against a really explosive offensive
team.”
Liberty expanded the 17-point lead it held at the half past
20, then allowed the Mavs to draw no closer than 15. Villanova transfer
Lance Ware helped provide a spark for UT Arlington in the post, hitting the
free throws that would slice it to 15. Liberty again countered, pushing it out
to 21 before an odd stoppage.
Ware was assessed a foul on a play at mid-court, and after a
lengthy review, the foul was upgraded to a flagrant-1. During the review, UT
Arlington coach K.T. Turner began screaming and pointing at the Liberty bench.
McKay walked toward Turner to continue the conversation, with both benches
needing to be separated. Both benches were assessed technical fouls following
the fracas.
“I just thought one of their players hit Zach in the face
and I was asking the referee to review it,” McKay said. “I think (Turner)
thought I was staring down his player, which – you guys have been around me enough
that (you know that) I’m not trying to incite anything. I think that got him
frustrated, and there was some chirping at the bench.
“It was just competitive stuff. It was really nothing.”
The dustup provided the final remaining drama. Liberty led by as many as 31 as the second half progressed, closing out the pre-CUSA slate with an exclamation point. Despite the strong start – as it had last season – Metheny was not ready to draw parallels between the two.
“We’ve got a new team. Last year was last year,” Metheny
said. “It’s nice to have that experience going into conference play. We’re a
confident group, but we know what happened last year. The returners know that.
We’ve got a little sour taste in our mouth still from last year.
“Conference USA is a competitive league. We know that every
game went down to the wire. It felt like we should have won every game.”
McKay and his staff saw the opportunity to add pieces to the
club after last season, especially in the post. While size and talent were
considerations for McKay, the fit into the Liberty culture played an even
bigger role. For a coach who believes in cohesiveness, McKay likes what he’s
seen from the 2024-25 Flames.
“We’re fun to watch from the coaching vantage point,” McKay
said. “You really can’t predict what they’re going to do. They just try to take
what the defensive gives them, and that’s why you see such a variation in the
leading scorers or guys having decent nights. Last year, the whole narrative was
about the little guys and not being athletic enough. Our two guards are tough
as nails. Then you add (forward) Jayvon (Maughmer) and (forward) Owen (Aquino).
There’s a little more confidence to what we’re doing.”
McKay showed Peter some love, as well.
“(Peter) has such a selfless nature,” McKay said. “He’s
capable of big nights and he never complains. He doesn’t ask to start, and he
doesn’t ask about his minutes. He knows he’s got to improve. He’s so self-aware.
He’s a special dude.”
“For that to be the culture when we came in, it was easy for
us to buy into that and for all of us to be unselfish,” Peter said. “To be able
the score the ball the way we do, it’s not a hard decision to pass the ball.”
Liberty passed the ball, to be sure. The Flames assisted on
24 of 27 made baskets. Metheny had eight of those baskets, leading all scorers
with 25. Peter added 20 on seven additional buckets, while Cleveland knocked
down six to add to his 18-point total. Cleveland also pulled back 10 misses to
record a double-double. Liberty shot nearly 53 percent on the day (27-for-51),
including 15 made threes and a 46.9 percent effort from distance.
Ware logged a double-double of his own for the Mavericks.
The 6-foot-10 post player booked 30 minutes of play, tallying 15 points and 11
caroms. Forward Raysean Seamster contributed 10 while hauling in four boards.
The Mavs shot just 31.4 percent (22-of-70) from the field, with just two of
their 20 tries from deep (10 percent) finding the net.
UT Arlington has one game remaining before beginning WAC
play. The Mavericks will visit Texas State on Sunday, Dec. 29. Game time in Strahan
Arena is set for 5:00 (Eastern), with streaming over ESPN+.
Liberty welcomes Western Kentucky to Lynchburg to open the
CUSA slate on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. Tip time is set for 7:00, with television
coverage over CBS Sports Network.
LIBERTY 79, UT ARLINGTON 56
UT ARLINGTON (6-7)
Seamster 5-8 0-0 10, Ware 6-15 3-3 15, Wells 2-9 0-0 4,
Burford 1-8 1-1 3, Robinson 0-2 6-8 6, Ellingsworth 1-6 0-0 2, Smith 3-10 0-0 7,
Talbot 2-7 0-0 4, Hupstead 1-3 0-0 2, Douglas 0-1 0-0 0, Cook 1-1 0-0 3. Totals
22-70 10-12 56.
LIBERTY (12-1)
Aquino 2-3 0-0 4, Cleveland 6-12 5-8 18, Maughmer 2-5 1-2 6,
Porter 1-3 0-0 3, Metheny 8-14 2-2 25, Peter 7-11 2-2 20, Blair 1-1 0-0 3, McKay
0-0 0-0 0, Yu 0-0 0-0 0, Decker 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-51 10-14 79.
Halftime: Liberty 39-22. 3-Point
goals: Liberty 15-32 (Cleveland 1-2, Maughmer 1-4, Porter 1-3, Metheny
7-13, Peter 4-8, Blair 1-1, Decker 0-1), UT Arlington 2-20 (Seamster 0-1, Wells
0-5, Burford 0-2, Ellingsworth 0-2, Smith 1-4, Talbot 0-3, Hupstead 0-1,
Douglas 0-1, Cook 1-1). Fouled out: NA. Rebounds: UT
Arlington 39 (Ware 11), Liberty 34 (Cleveland 10). Total fouls: Liberty
15, UT Arlington 13. Technicals: Turner (UTA), McKay (LU).
Points off turnovers: Liberty 20, UT Arlington 8. Points
in the paint: UT Arlington 36, Liberty 24. Second-chance
points: UT Arlington 13, Liberty 5. Fast-break
points: Liberty 9, UT Arlington 3. Bench
points: Liberty 23, UT Arlington 16.
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