[sweetnahmah1]

sorry sj i was just expecting a lot from our guys

[Cider Jim]

Smith misses a 3-point attempt.

[Cider Jim]

Jenkins hits another 3 to make it a 6 point game with 17 seconds left.

[sweetnahmah1]

thomas makes one FT and bj makes a 3, we're down 70-64 with 17 seconds left

[Cider Jim]

I really like how McKay has switched out our defenses, playing some 1-3-1, some 2-3, and some man to man.

Announcers say they are impressed with McKay and Liberty.

[SuperJon]

We lose by eight, but we never quit and battled back all game. If we can ever get Tyler Baker back, we can make a run at this thing.

[Cider Jim]

Anderson misses the last shot, a 3 point attempt, and the Flames lose by only 8.

[Stevev]

I think that LU played a pretty descent game against a very good CAA team on the road. We just had too many lapses and it cost us the game. Impressed with Anthony and Alex. I like how we kept fighting at the end even with being down by 17 to cut it to 6. This team shows a lot of character.

[Cider Jim]

LU Scoring:

Jenkins 18
Smith 24
McLean 16
Campbell 2
Porter 3

McKay's post-game comments:

"not disappointed in effort...just disppointed in execusion...I want to win...we did not defend in the second half...we wen't getting back in transition...we did not have the same sense of purpose in the second half...Anthony is playing a lot better....Happy New Year to all the Flames fans...God bless you and be safe."

[SuperJon]

Ritchie's post game comments:

We've done a good job of improving on our concepts. We've bought into them and have improved on them but haven't applied them for a full 40 minutes yet. It's those little runs that have cost us games against VT, Campbell, and tonight. Gotta have someone step up and make sure we get a stop during those runs. We don't have that consistency yet.

GMU has a very good program. Coach isn't disappointed in our effort, but is in our execution. We're not playing these games to supplement our budgets or get a name on a schedule. He wants to win these games.

We didn't defend in the second half. When we weren't making goals, we weren't getting back in transition and playing with that same sense of urgency on the defensive end.

Anthony's playing a lot better. For him to be a complete offensive player is going to be a big help to us in the future. He's putting the ball on the floor more and not just settling for three's.

We gotta get back over the .500 mark. That confidence when you're winning just continues to grow and we've gotta get to that point.

Coach made a point to tell all of us to have a happy new year and stay safe at the end of the interview.

[SuperJon]

Enjoyed the game with you guys. Thankfully, I've only gotta do it on here three more times this year though.

[jcmanson]

I was real impressed with McKay tonight. If he wasn't coaching out there tonight, we would have easily lost by 20. He really outcoached Larinaga and that's saying alot. At one point in the first half, the announcers said that's good coaching by Liberty, you wouldn't have heard that last year.

The guys never quit, Campbell came in for 2 possessions and played really well, he had a nice 12 ft jumper.

The announcers gave us great air time, mentioned how McKay & co. have a great recruiting class for next year and even mentioned Curry & McMasters. I can't wait to see Ritchie with all "his guys."

This team is fun to watch, and we can make a run for the 'ship. McKay is such a good in-game coach. That's the one thing that's outstanding from this game.

[SuperJon]

The thing that bugs me the most is that we relied on three people to score all but six of our points. Kyle only had one point off of the bench, Soup had two, and Rell had three. Teejay didn't score at all.

[kel varson]

A watched a little of the first half on tv and teejay was passing up open looks including layups. That should stop.

[jcmanson]

TeeJay shouldn't shoot, look at his stats, I think he was like 0-5 tonight. That's why he's at LU rather than UVA, he can't shoot. If he could, he'd still be in Charlottesville. He is what he is, 0 pts, 6 assists, 5 to's. That's his game.

We do need Kyle to score, without him we are all BJ, Anthony, and Alex scoring. That's where we miss Tyler so much. Sure would be nice to see him out there.

[SuperJon]

TeeJay shouldn't shoot, look at his stats, I think he was like 0-5 tonight. That's why he's at LU rather than UVA, he can't shoot. If he could, he'd still be in Charlottesville. He is what he is, 0 pts, 6 assists, 5 to's. That's his game.

He only had one TO tonight.

He had a few points the other night. If we could just get six points out of him every night we'd be in great shape.

[jcmanson]

I know he doesn't have alot of turnovers every game, but he does get his fair share. I was just pointing out he's not a scorer.

Yes, 6 points would be good from him, and most nights we get that.

[ToTheLeft]

The perfect night: (in my opinion)

TeeJay: 6 Pts, 11 Ast
Smitty: 18 Pts
Ace: 20 Pts, 12 Reb
Rell: 10 Pts, 6 Rebs
BJ: 10 pts, 5 Ast, 7 Reb
Kyle: 9pts
Random Bench: 5 pts.

And then, who knows when TB comes back. I don't know what to expect from him.

[SuperJon]

We've only scored that much twice the entire year.

[TDDance234]

A watched a little of the first half on tv and teejay was passing up open looks including layups. That should stop.

TeeJay really needs to take some of those layups. I counted 4 times he had a good shot at laying it in for an easy bucket and passed it up.

[ToTheLeft]

We've only scored that much twice the entire year.

I know, that's why it would be perfect

[Cider Jim]

Lang's article in today's local fishwrap makes it sound like the Mason coach was more concerned about defending Ohman than even McLean or Smith, and that's why Kyle was shutout last night:

Kyle Ohman, who entered the game shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range and scored 17 Friday against Campbell, scored one point and didn't attempt a shot from long range...."He's a pure shooter, so we wanted to make him a dribbler, make him a decision maker, try to make him uncomfortable," GMU's Smith said, crediting Vaughan, who scored 13 points, with sticking to Ohman for most of the game.

Mason's coach on the quality of our program & our players:

"How they play against opponents, is a little bit different than other teams, in a sense that they really control the tempo of the game with their offense and defense," he said. "They spread you out. They try to isolate people. They have two good penetrators in Bannister and Jenkins. They have a good post-up presence in McLean. And they have a bunch of good 3-point shooters. ? I think they're going to have a very good year in their conference."

http://tinyurl.com/29mevf

[LUconn]

GMU has a very good program. Coach isn't disappointed in our effort, but is in our execution. We're not playing these games to supplement our budgets or get a name on a schedule. He wants to win these games.

I think everybody is making Mason out to be something that they're not. Given, they made the final four 2 years ago. That's amazing. But that team is gone and this is a top teir CAA team, a decent NCAA mid-major team. There should be no moral victories here. This loss is on par with every other one we've had this year. We're treating this game as if it was against a perennial final four contender.

[jcmanson]

Mason is very good this year, IMO they are better than Winthrop and would beat them 7 out of 10 times. Both Mason and VCU are scary teams, and I wouldn't want to face them in the Big Dance if I was a major.

[TIMSCAR20]

Lang's article in today's local fishwrap makes it sound like the Mason coach was more concerned about defending Ohman than even McLean or Smith, and that's why Kyle was shutout last night:

Kyle Ohman, who entered the game shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range and scored 17 Friday against Campbell, scored one point and didn't attempt a shot from long range...."He's a pure shooter, so we wanted to make him a dribbler, make him a decision maker, try to make him uncomfortable," GMU's Smith said, crediting Vaughan, who scored 13 points, with sticking to Ohman for most of the game.

Mason's coach on the quality of our program & our players:

"How they play against opponents, is a little bit different than other teams, in a sense that they really control the tempo of the game with their offense and defense," he said. "They spread you out. They try to isolate people. They have two good penetrators in Bannister and Jenkins. They have a good post-up presence in McLean. And they have a bunch of good 3-point shooters. ? I think they're going to have a very good year in their conference."

http://tinyurl.com/29mevf

Jim, I don't know if Coach Larranaga was any more concerned with Kyle. He was just giving his strategy on how to stop him from hurting them. That should be the scouting report for anyone that plays Liberty though. Make Kyle drive. Don't let him shoot open 3's. He is too good a shooter...Mason is good but they are not final 4 good this year.