[LU Armchair coach]

Alright, armchair coach hat on, remote in one hand, coffee gone cold. Here’s the read:

LU -1.5 is disrespectfully short, and I’ll happily lay it. Middle Tennessee trots out Lightning — a mythological, white-winged horse with a divine backstory — but Greek mythology never had to guard a Flames backcourt for 40 minutes. Wings or not, you come flying into the gym and you’re gonna smell a little burnt hair by halftime. This one’s simple: LU dictates tempo, drags Lightning out of the clouds, and makes him play grown-man basketball on the ground not some fictional myth dialogue. Flames attack early, punch first, and keep the pressure on. Middle Tennessee hangs around just enough to make the spread interesting, but never enough to make it uncomfortable. That 1.5 gets covered with room to breathe. Late game? Free throws, smart possessions, and a couple of daggers that turn Pegasus into pot roast. Final horn hits, Lightning heads back to Mount Olympus with singed wings and a bruised ego.

Final: Flames 79, Middle Tennessee 73.
Spread covered. Flames fire wins 12 Straight and 10-0 Conference play.
Liberty gets more votes in coaches poll the one that matters.

[Sly Fox]

This is the game on our remaining schedule that concerns me the most. Traveling in this weather to face the squad that appears to be next best team in the league can prove challenging.

[Dalegarz1]

It was a clinic last night! Team basketball at its best.

[Sly Fox]

When we shoot like that in the first half, we can run with anyone, anywhere. Some nights are tougher.

This run is starting to feel silly. I keep waiting for us to have a stinker that never comes.

[LU Armchair coach]

When the shots fall, anyone can look dangerous. The difference is this team doesn’t disappear when they don’t. They defend and actually play together—novel concept.

And this “run feels silly” stuff? It only feels that way if you keep waiting on a stinker that isn’t coming. At some point it’s not luck—it’s culture.

[Ill flame]

When we shoot like that in the first half, we can run with anyone, anywhere. Some nights are tougher.

This run is starting to feel silly. I keep waiting for us to have a stinker that never comes.

I feel the same way. We have a tendency to start strong and build a good lead early just to give most of it away around halfway through the game. But it doesn’t matter, this team refuses to lose and it’s fun to watch.

[Tothehoopyall1]

We are playing very well. About the only two issues that I see is we sometimes over pass the ball and lose out on good shots (we remain a great passing team, I’m just saying). I predicted early on that Xander Yates would be the odd man out this year. HCRM is trying to give him some minutes here and there, but Yates looked totally lost at MTS. He was never a speedster but looks two steps slower this year. I predict he will not play in many upcoming games.

[Humble_Opinion]

We are playing very well. About the only two issues that I see is we sometimes over pass the ball and lose out on good shots (we remain a great passing team, I’m just saying). I predicted early on that Xander Yates would be the odd man out this year. HCRM is trying to give him some minutes here and there, but Yates looked totally lost at MTS. He was never a speedster but looks two steps slower this year. I predict he will not play in many upcoming games.

Last year, he helped fill in some of the void when Ihnen went down. He was able to come in and knock down some shots and stretch the floor. He's not very athletic, but he did play with an edge at times on defense, which helped. This year though he hasn't had the same showing. The play that stood out to me vs. MTSU was when he pump faked a three and got the defender in the air and then instead of driving to the basket (wide-open) he passed it to a guard then kind of funneled towards the paint and the guard (Metheny maybe?) immediately passed it back to him bc he was open and he caught it right under the basket and just looked confused like he didn't know what to do with it. By the time he finally went to jump the defender had finally recovered and easily blocked his shot. Not sure if he had been sleeping on the bench or what, but it was a very odd sequence. At this point, I'd rather see Jones Jr. or Grimes grab whatever minutes Yates has been getting.