Liberty, Jacksonville State to Battle for CUSA Title & NCAA Bid
After thrilling semifinal wins, Liberty and Jacksonville State clash for the CUSA title. Who will punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament?
We officially have our Conference USA finals matchup set between the two-seeded Jacksonville State Gamecocks and the one-seeded Liberty Flames. Yesterday, both semifinals games were incredible as each ended in a two point win. Let’s recap yesterday’s battles and preview the Conference USA final and predict which team will punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
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Kennesaw State vs Liberty
In the first half of the game, it seemed like it was going to be all Kennesaw State. Adrian Wooley was proving why he is one of the best freshmen in the entire country as the Owls expanded their lead up to 14 points behind his early twelve points. However, Liberty managed to claw their way back to just a nine-point deficit by halftime as the Owls went cold, just scoring two points over the final four minutes of the half.
As the second half started, Liberty continued to claw their way back into the game, but each time they’d go on a run, Kennesaw State seemed to have the answer. Simeon Cottle hit a huge three pointer to bring the Owls’ lead back up to twelve points at the 17:44 mark. Kaden Metheny, however, decided to put the Liberty Flames on his back and put in one of the best shooting performances I’ve seen in a while. At the 5:41 mark, Metheny proceeded to drain three, three-point shots in a row, giving the Flamers a 73-71 lead with just 3:30 to go.
Kennesaw State missed a couple of key shots around the rim that proved to be a difference maker. The Owls failed to score between 2:10 and 0:25, as the Flames clinched the game with free throws as Taelon Peter nabbed a steal off Adrian Wooley with just 33 seconds left, converting it into a breakaway dunk that got the Liberty crowd fired up.
The Flames are headed to the Conference USA finals for the first time since joining the conference.
Middle Tennessee vs Jacksonville State
The Middle Tennessee and Jacksonville State game started out slow. At the first media timeout, the Blue Raiders held a 6-4 lead. However, Jestin Porter started turning it on. Coming out of the timeout, Porter drained a couple of three-point shots to extend their lead to 17-8 at the 12:32 mark.
Jacksonville State didn’t let the game get out of hand. The Gamecocks started clawing their way back without Jaron Pierre Jr. taking over the game. A quick 5-0 run coming out of the second media timeout got them right back into the game and slashed the MTSU lead to just two points at the 7:30 mark. However, Kamari Lands continued to come up huge off the bench for the Blue Raiders. Lands drained a couple of three point shots to give them a 30-26 lead at the four minute timeout.
Jaron Pierre Jr. started to emerge and show us why he’s one of the top scorers in the country. Teamed up with Quel’Ron house who led the Gamecocks with nine points at halftime, the two forced a tie after a foul with just 0.7 seconds left on the clock.
Starting in the second half, it seemed like the Gamecocks were going to run away with the game. They started on a quick 5-0 run with baskets from House and Koree Cotton, which then extended to an 8-0 run. Middle Tennessee didn’t score their first points of the second half until Essam Mostafa hit a free throw at 15:01.
Jaron Pierre Jr. started to heat up as he ended up finishing with 19 points. Let me tell you, this is the first time that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him play live and watching him from the media row courtside was incredible. He’s next level talent. Behind Pierre Jr. the Gamecocks opened up their lead to 53-42, however Kamari Lands had other plans for MTSU. Lands fired up a couple of additional threes to pull within five points at the four minute mark.
The final minutes were defined by free throw shooting as neither team could hit them when they counted. Mostafa got to the line at 1:52 to hit a couple and cut the lead to two, however, at 51 seconds, Mason Nicholson missed two free throws that would’ve given the Gamecocks a two points lead. Jlynn Counter was fouled on the opposite end, giving him a chance to give MTSU their first lead of the second half, but he proceeded to miss both attempts as well.
With 22 seconds left, MTSU fouled Quel’Ron House who hit both free throws, giving them a 70-68 lead. With 22 seconds on the clock, Jacksonville State stepped up with a lockdown defensive possession, forcing the Blue Raiders to dribble out without a shot attempt to end the game, handing Middle Tennessee their fourth consecutive semifinals loss.
Championship Preview: Liberty vs Jacksonville State
The Conference USA Tournament has been nothing but incredible, and now we get to see the one and two seeds face off head-to-head in the championship game.
The two split the season series, both picking up home wins. Liberty won at home 59-55, while the Gamecocks picked up a 72-61 victory at home. In Liberty’s win, the Flames defense shined as they held Jacksonville State to just 36.8% shooting overall and 6-23 from three point, while limiting them to just nine attempts from the free throw line.
In Jacksonville State’s win, the Gamecocks flipped the script, holding Liberty to just seven free throw attempts and 29.4% shooting from outside on 34 three point attempts. While Jacksonville State shot just 3-11 from outside, they put up 54.3% of their shots from inside the arc.
Both games proved to stick to their overall metrics. Liberty has one of the top three point percentage defenses in the entire country and can even contain Jaron Pierre Jr. as in both games, the Gamecocks managed to shot just 9-34 from outside. However, the Flames are most susceptible to opponents scoring in the paint. In the Flames win over Kennesaw State, the Owls physicality and height really caused them issues before Kaden Metheny took the game over from his shooting performance.
For Jacksonville State, they are going to have to tighten up the perimeter defense. Even in their loss to Liberty, they held the Flames to just 7-24 shooting, but as we’ve seen through the Flames first two games, they are hot from outside. Middle Tennessee is just 281st in three point percentage, but dropped 11-24 in the semifinal game yesterday. The Gamecocks won’t survive if Liberty shoots like they did against Kennesaw State.
Regardless, we are going to be in store for some incredible basketball tonight. If Jacksonville State can get Jaron Pierre going early and step up their outside defense, it’s going to bode well. If Liberty can cut off the Gamecocks inside and force them to take three point shots, the Flames will be in line to win the battle.
For anyone traveling to the game, do be careful as Alabama is inline for some severe weather this evening. We plan to be in attendance for now, but anyone involved should keep their eyes open for updates.