Inside the Numbers: Liberty at Kennesaw State

 

Kennesaw State guard R.J. Johnson paced the Owls in Thursday's victory over Liberty.  (Photo:  Kennesaw State Athletics)

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KENNESAW, Ga. – Following its first conference loss of the season – and first loss period in 70 days – Liberty boarded the bus to do battle with an old rival to try to get back to its winning ways.

Unfortunately for the Flames, R.J. Johnson and Frankquon Sherman had written a different ending to this story.

Johnson and Sherman combined for 43 points and thwarted every Liberty charge Thursday night, with Kennesaw State dealing Liberty a 74-65 loss in VyStar Arena.

Now that you know what happened, let’s go…Inside the Numbers!

224:  Our good friends over at VinesPom Connection (@ASORVinesPom on Twitter – go follow them!) pointed out that, after tonight, Liberty is 224th in the country in team defensive efficiency. No Liberty team since 2015-16 has finished in that neighborhood. Additionally, the Flames had their ninth-worst defensive efficiency since 2002 (the KenPom era).

26:  Johnson’s 26 weren’t a career-best, or even a season-high – that was 32 against Sam Houston State earlier this year – but the Huntsville, Ala., native dominated the game for large stretches. Johnson sank 8-of-13 from the deck – 5-of-6 from three – and absolutely dominated the second half. Johnson scored 20 of those 26 in the second half and missed just once in the stanza.

“He’s done a great job filling in for (suspended) Simeon Cottle, and (Kennesaw State) coach (Antoine) Pettway has empowered him,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “He’s playing like an all-league player.”

“He’s a tough matchup. He was recruited at the high-major level. There’s a lot of those guys in this league. Defensively, we let him get loose because we had a couple miscommunications on his actions. That’s something we will make sure we do a better job of next time, because that obviously hurt us.”

11:12:  The Flames turned in an 11:12 assist-to-turnover ratio Thursday, which seemed to vex McKay a bit despite Liberty’s normal style. Several of those turnovers came late in the shot clock, where the Flames were either still passing as the shot clock ran out or passed into a turnover. Those turnovers resulted in 15 Owl points.

“That’s who we are. We’re really unselfish,” McKay said. “I do think there were some opportunities that we may not have capitalized on. I’d rather err on the side of selflessness.”

“They made it hard for us. They really did. They played off (forward) Zach (Cleveland) and tried to have some rim protection down there.”

This carries us to our next number…

19-23:  Liberty stayed in the game by working its way to the line. The Flames knocked down 82.6 percent of their tries from the stripe, good for the fourth-highest free throw percentage they’ve booked this season. Three of the top four games (at Delaware, at New Mexico State) came on the road.

“We got to the line 23 times,” McKay said. “I get that people are going to run us off the line, make us finish at the rim, and be really physical. If the guards can’t get free up top, that’s the only way to combat it.”

11-18:  The Owls’ performance from the perimeter represented two season-highs against the Flames. Kennesaw State became the third opposing team to hit 11 threes in a game against Liberty this season, while the Owls’ 61.1 percent from beyond the arc was the highest by any Flames opponent this year.

“They were 11-for-18 from three,” McKay said. “At least three of them – maybe four – were on a coverage mistake. That’s on us. We’ve got to do a better job there.”

1:  Liberty snatched just one offensive rebound in the contest. The Flames are not known for this as it is – the Flames usually crash the boards with one rebounder to allow them to get set up in transition defense.

The Flames booked just one offensive board for the third time this season (at Sam Houston State, Western Kentucky), which gives Liberty one offensive rebound in back-to-back games. Liberty did not board a single miss in a 16-point win against Middle Tennessee earlier this season.

6:  Sherman finished just one board shy of his sixth double-double of the 2025-26 campaign. The 6-foot-7 forward scored 12 of his 18 in the second half while playing all 20 minutes of the frame. Sherman also blocked a shot, recorded two steals, and dished two dimes.

And finally, a somewhat playful one…

0:  Number of trips taken to the monitor by the game officials. Kudos to Joe Lindsay, Will Howard, and Shaun Seales. The game even ended in an hour and 52 minutes!

Next up:  Liberty stays on the road and heads to Jacksonville, Ala., to battle Jacksonville State Saturday afternoon. Game time from Pete Mathews Coliseum is set for 6:00 (Eastern), with coverage available over ESPNU. Kennesaw State remains at home to welcome Delaware to VyStar Arena for Senior Day. Game time is set for 5:00 (Eastern). ESPN+ will handle the streaming coverage.

KENNESAW STATE 74, LIBERTY 65

LIBERTY (23-5, 15-2 CUSA)

Porter 2-8 6-7 11, Metheny 2-9 0-0 6, Decker 5-9 0-0 15, Harper 5-7 4-6 14, Cleveland 2-4 6-6 10, Carter 0-1 3-4 3, Yates 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 3-4 0-0 6, Grimes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-42 19-23 65.

KENNESAW STATE (17-11, 9-8)

Simpson 3-8 0-0 6, Sherman 7-12 1-3 18, Johnson 8-13 4-5 25, Lue 3-5 1-2 7, Taylor 2-6 1-2 6, Seals 0-0 0-0 0, Rickard 1-4 0-0 2, Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Harris 3-5 0-0 8. Totals 28-55 7-12 74.

Halftime:  Kennesaw State 32-29. 3-Point goals:  Kennesaw State 11-18 (Simpson 0-2, Sherman 3-3, Johnson 5-6, Taylor 1-2, Rickard 0-1, Harris 2-4), Liberty 8-22 (Porter 1-5, Metheny 2-7, Decker 5-7, Harper 0-2, Carter 0-1). Fouled out:  NA.  Rebounds:  Kennesaw State 32 (Sherman 9), Liberty 21 (Metheny 4). Total fouls:  Kennesaw State 17, Liberty 13. Technicals:  NA.