[olldflame]

Starts at 6:00 EST.
We are going with a big front line with Ihnen and Aquino starting along with Cleveland. Porter and Metheny at the guards.

[West Coaster]

Night and day difference on the defensive end with Aquino and Ihnen inside. Takes a lot of pressure off the perimeter defenders.

[thesportscritic]

The game has started already.

[West Coaster]

The Cleveland/Aquino two man game is going to be lethal with shooters spacing the floor around them.

[Kricket]

Aquino looks legit on both sides of the court. The size difference is exciting this year.

[cruzan_flame13]

If anyone wants to see the second half, here's a link to go see it:

Totalathletetipoff.com

It's free but you'll have to give an email and name. You don't literally have to give your actual name

[olldflame]

We lead 42-32 at the half. Monster start to his Liberty career by Owen Aquino.
12 points on 6 for 7 shooting
8 rebounds
3 blocks

Decker played 3 minutes, so no redshirt for him.
First players off the bench were Maughmer, Peter and Yates.

[Kricket]

All the additions looking pretty good. Obviously Aquino is standing out the most although he doesn’t seem to get up and down the floor swiftly but dude is blocking shots.

Maughmer looks very good so far too. It will be hard to keep him out of the starting lineup.

Peter has hit a couple shots and looked good doing it.

Ihnen hasn’t really stood out quite yet.

[olldflame]

Final score
Flames 83
Valpo 63

Aquino with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks
Cleveland also stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists (with only one TO.)
Solid games from Maughmer (14), Metheny ( 16), and Peter (9).
Kai Yu got in late and hit 3 of 4 from the line.
Decker also got on the board with a late 3.
DNPCD for Bryson Spell.

[olldflame]

My main negative observation is that we put them on the line 21 times (and they made 17).

A ton of positives, but for me Cleveland having only 1 TO with 8 assists stands out.

[Cider Jim]

I was shocked to learn that this game was televised locally on a Danville/Roanoke station, WZBJ. It was fun watching our team on a local channel.

Does anyone know if LU signed a contract with WZBJ to show our games locally?

[olldflame]

Curtis Blair III, who as far as I know is currently the highest rated HS prospect we have ever signed, did not get into this game until the final minute and did not scratch the stat sheet. This is, of course, after redshirting last year. He is clearly behind true FR Brett Decker and walk-on Gabe McKay on the depth chart to say nothing of all the veteran scholarship players who are guards or swing forwards. Based on his HS numbers and the video highlights I have seen of him, I doubt the problem is offensive skills. I can only surmise he has really struggled with picking up the pack line, which is not unique. With Zander Carter (who may end up with an even better recruiting rating) coming in next year, as strange as it seems he may want to consider the portal after this season. Peter and Maugher will be gone, which could help his prospects.

[olldflame]

Fun fact.
Our 2 most productive players in this game went a combined 0-0 from 3.

We still went 10-24 over all (42%)

[stokesjokes]

Curtis Blair III, who as far as I know is currently the highest rated HS prospect we have ever signed, did not get into this game until the final minute and did not scratch the stat sheet. This is, of course, after redshirting last year. He is clearly behind true FR Brett Decker and walk-on Gabe McKay on the depth chart to say nothing of all the veteran scholarship players who are guards or swing forwards. Based on his HS numbers and the video highlights I have seen of him, I doubt the problem is offensive skills. I can only surmise he has really struggled with picking up the pack line, which is not unique. With Zander Carter (who may end up with an even better recruiting rating) coming in next year, as strange as it seems he may want to consider the portal after this season. Peter and Maugher will be gone, which could help his prospects.

Not necessarily a direct comparison, but our highest rated recruit before him was Warfield. Looked good on HS tape too but just couldn't put it together or get his confidence on offense despite being a plus defender.

I didn't get to see the game but just saw a highlight- does Aquino give Ace McLean vibes?

[ECC29]

Where do you watch the highlights?

[paradox]

They’re on X

[stokesjokes]

That's where I saw the one I was talking about:

https://x.com/LibertyMBB/status/1853560351742173382

[Humble_Opinion]

I love the mainstays on this team (CP, Metheny and Cleveland). All of them have huge skillsets and are proven. Metheny has the ability to shoot the ball from McGhee range when it's needed, as he showed again during the course of this game. That being said - it has to be in the back of the McKay's mind that we could go from having one of the shortest and least athletic 5 man starting line-ups in CUSA to one of the tallest and most athletic.

PG - Decker (6'3")
SG - Taelon Peter (6'4")
SG - Jayvon Maughmer (6'6")
F - Owen Aquino (6'8")
F - Isaiah Ihnen (6'9")

Each of the above flashed in the Valpo game, with Decker perhaps being the biggest question mark outstanding still since he's only a true freshman. I wonder though if at some point, we see a line-up like this particularly when we play La Tech.

[paradox]

Gotta be honest, this reads like a veiled swipe at the incumbent starting 3

[paradox]

Decent game last night at SU. Tuned in for final minutes. Porter & Metheny look like the quickest guns in the college game. But team itself looks like it needs time to jell.

[olldflame]

Decent game last night at SU. Tuned in for final minutes. Porter & Metheny look like the quickest guns in the college game. But team itself looks like it needs time to jell.

BTW, we won the game 66-64, coming back from a 6 point deficit in the last 2 minutes, with Metheny hitting the game winning 3 with 3 seconds to play and Aquino sealing it with a steal on the subsequent inbounds pass. Seattle is not chopped liver. Picked 3rd in the WAC, won the CBI tournament last year, and they seldom lose at home.

[Cider Jim]

does Aquino give Ace McLean vibes?

Talk about a blast from the past...WOW!!! I'll never forget that game at VMI when he dropped something like 40 points against the Keydets in Lexington!

[Kricket]

All the additions looking pretty good. Obviously Aquino is standing out the most although he doesn’t seem to get up and down the floor swiftly but dude is blocking shots.

Maughmer looks very good so far too. It will be hard to keep him out of the starting lineup.

Peter has hit a couple shots and looked good doing it.

Ihnen hasn’t really stood out quite yet.

Ihnen was out of the starting lineup and Maughmer was in for the Seattle game. Metheny was obviously the star last night with the two threes to complete the comeback but Maughmer might be the best all around player we have on the team this year. This team is head and shoulders more talented than last years team.

[olldflame]

does Aquino give Ace McLean vibes?

Talk about a blast from the past...WOW!!! I'll never forget that game at VMI when he dropped something like 40 points against the Keydets in Lexington!

2 obvious similarities are that both are JUCO transfers and they are about the same size. Their games are very different. Ace was a tremendous finisher and maybe a bit more athletic. Aquino is way more versatile, and his skill set is on a different level.

[Humble_Opinion]

That SU game felt eerily similar to numerous games last year where we're in it, until the last 5 mins of the game when we went cold. That was a gritty/gutsy win in a very physical game. A lot will be said about Metheny's shots and the praise is well-deserved. However, you have to give it up for CP and his play. He turns the ball over with under 3 mins to go and he hangs around in a full court press and steals the inbound pass for an easy 2pts. Being down 4 vs. 6 at that moment was big mentally for the team. Then you look at the final shot. CP with the ball in his hands used his quickness to get into the lane and then sent a beautiful no-look pass to Metheny. The kid seems to have a 6th sense on the court at various points in the game.