# 2018–19 Liberty Flames basketball team

The 2018–19 Liberty Flames men's basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lynchburg, Virginia for the 29th consecutive season at Vines Center, with a capacity of 8,085. The team was led by Ritchie McKay, in his sixth season, but fourth season since his return to the program. They were first-year members of the ASUN Conference. They finished the season 29–7, 14–2 in ASUN play to share the regular season championship with Lipscomb. They defeated Jacksonville, North Florida and Lipscomb to be champions of the ASUN tournament. They received the ASUN's automatic-bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Mississippi State in the first round before losing in the second round to Virginia Tech.

## Previous season

They were members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 22–14, 9–9 in Big South play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. They defeated Campbell and UNC Asheville to advance to the championship game of the Big South tournament where they lost to Radford. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated North Carolina A&T in the first round in a game referred to as the Jim Phelan Classic. They received a second round bye and defeated Central Michigan in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to UIC.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Brody Hicks | 14 | Guard | 6'4" | 200 | Freshman | Roanoke, Virginia | Transferred |
| Ryan Hiepler | 44 | Guard | 6'0" | 180 | Junior | Westlake Village, California | Transferred to Dominican University |
| Ryan Kemrite | 5 | Guard | 6'4" | 200 | Senior | Conroe, Texas | Graduated |
| Ezra Talbert | 24 | Forward | 6'8" | 190 | Junior | Olathe, Kansas | Graduated |

## 2018-19 Newcomers

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Tytist Dean G | Saint Paul, Minnesota | North High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Keenan Gumbs F | Cibolo, Texas | Schreiner University | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Darius McGhee G | Roxboro, North Carolina | Blue Ridge School | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Blake Preston F | Charlotte, North Carolina | Charlotte Christian School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Josh Price G | Charlotte, North Carolina | Carmel Christian School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Roster

* Roster is subject to change as/if players transfer or leave the program for other reasons.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 4, 2018* 3:00 pm | | No. 15 Virginia Tech Hurricane Relief Exhibition | L 70–86 | | 15 – Cuffee | 6 – James | 4 – Cabbil | Vines Center (4,210) Lynchburg, VA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 8, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Maine Fort Kent | W 89–40 | 1–0 | 17 – Cabbil | 11 – James | 3 – 3 tied | Vines Center (3,002) Lynchburg, VA |
| Nov 13, 2018* 8:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Trevecca Nazarene Commodore Classic | W 93–40 | 2–0 | 15 – James | 12 – Homesley | 6 – Homesley | Vines Center (2,336) Lynchburg, VA |
| Nov 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kent State | W 77–70 | 3–0 | 16 – Homesley | 9 – James | 4 – Tied | MAC Center (2,214) Kent, OH |
| Nov 19, 2018* 8:00 pm, SECN | | at Vanderbilt Commodore Classic | L 70–79 | 3–1 | 16 – Cabbil | 9 – James | 3 – Tied | Memorial Gymnasium (8,493) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 23, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Alcorn State Commodore Classic | W 76–54 | 4–1 | 15 – Cuffee | 9 – Tied | 4 – Cabbil | Vines Center (1,929) Lynchburg, VA |
| Nov 25, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Savannah State Commodore Classic | W 82–56 | 5–1 | 15 – McGhee | 8 – Homesley | 6 – Cabbil | Vines Center (1,943) Lynchburg, VA |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Navy | W 76–58 | 6–1 | 18 – McGhee | 7 – Tied | 5 – Pacheco-Ortiz | Alumni Hall (489) Annapolis, MD |
| Dec 1, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Georgia State | W 78–52 | 7–1 | 19 – Tied | 17 – James | 5 – Cuffee | Vines Center (2,966) Lynchburg, VA |
| Dec 3, 2018* 6:30 pm, FS2 | | at Georgetown | L 78–88 | 7–2 | 19 – McGhee | 4 – James | 4 – Gumbs | Capital One Arena (4,011) Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 11, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | South Carolina State | W 79–55 | 8–2 | 18 – Pacheco-Ortiz | 7 – James | 5 – McGhee | Vines Center (1,684) Lynchburg, VA |
| Dec 15, 2018* 2:00 pm | | Kentucky Christian | W 96–55 | 9–2 | 14 – Tied | 10 – Homesley | 6 – McGhee | Vines Center (2,115) Lynchburg, VA |
| Dec 18, 2018* 8:00 pm, SECN+ | | vs. Alabama Rocket City Classic | L 75–84 | 9–3 | 23 – Homesley | 11 – James | 5 – Homesley | Von Braun Center (5,781) Huntsville, AL |
| Dec 21, 2018* 12:00 pm | | vs. Alabama State St. Pete Shootout semifinals | W 73–55 | 10–3 | 14 – Gumbs | 7 – Gumbs | 2 – 5 tied | McArthur Center (158) St. Petersburg, FL |
| Dec 22, 2018* 2:30 pm | | vs. Austin Peay St. Pete Shootout | L 66–75 | 10–4 | 15 – Pacheco-Ortiz | 11 – James | 5 – Cuffee | McArthur Center (202) St. Petersburg, FL |
| Dec 29, 2018* 6:00pm, P12N | | at UCLA | W 73–58 | 11–4 | 21 – Homesley | 7 – James | 4 – Pacheco-Ortiz | Pauley Pavilion (7,456) Los Angeles, CA |
| Atlantic Sun Conference regular season |||||||||
| Jan 5, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | at FGCU | W 81–63 | 12–4 (1–0) | 18 – McGhee | 6 – Tied | 8 – James | Alico Arena (3,517) Fort Myers, FL |
| Jan 9, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | at Stetson | W 71–53 | 13–4 (2–0) | 15 – James | 8 – McGhee | 4 – Homesley | Edmunds Center (376) Deland, FL |
| Jan 12, 2019 2:00pm, ESPN+ | | Jacksonville | W 69–53 | 14–4 (3–0) | 18 – James | 11 – Homesley | 3 – Pacheco-Ortiz | Vines Center (2,963) Lynchburg, VA |
| Jan 16, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | at Kennesaw State | W 62–41 | 15–4 (4–0) | 12 – Tied | 12 – James | 5 – Cabbil | KSU Convocation Center (843) Kennesaw, Ga |
| Jan 19, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | North Florida | W 70–64 | 16–4 (5–0) | 18 – James | 7 – Homesley | 4 – Tied | Vines Center (4,958) Lynchburg, VA |
| Jan 21, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | North Alabama | W 72–47 | 17–4 (6–0) | 20 – Cabbil | 9 – Homesley | 5 – Baxter-Bell | Vines Center (2,716) Lynchburg, VA |
| Jan 27, 2019 2:00pm, ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville | W 69–59 | 18–4 (7–0) | 19 – Homesley | 6 – James | 4 – Tied | Swisher Gymnasium (718) Jacksonville, FL |
| Jan 29, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | Lipscomb | L 59–79 | 18–5 (7–1) | 12 – Homesley | 6 – Baxter-Bell | 2 – Tied | Vines Center (5,053) Lynchburg, VA |
| Feb 2, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | NJIT | W 77–57 | 19–5 (8–1) | 18 – Pacheco-Ortiz | 10 – James | 5 – Cabbil | Vines Center (3,782) Lynchburg, VA |
| Feb 5, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | Stetson | W 57–54 | 20–5 (9–1) | 19 – Cabbil | 6 – Homesley | 5 – Baxter-Bell | Vines Center (2,244) Lynchburg, VA |
| Feb 9, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | FGCU | W 74–67 | 21–5 (10–1) | 13 – Homesley | 14 – James | 4 – Tied | Vines Center (4,400) Lynchburg, VA |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:30pm, ESPN+ | | at Lipscomb | W 74–66 | 22–5 (11–1) | 17 – James | 10 – Homesley | 3 – Tied | Allen Arena (3,437) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 16, 2019 4:00pm, ESPN+ | | at North Alabama | W 80–70 | 23–5 (12–1) | 30 – Cabbil Jr. | 14 – James | 4 – Cabbil Jr. | Flowers Hall (967) Florence, AL |
| Feb 23, 2019 5:00pm, ESPN+ | | at North Florida | L 70–75 | 23–6 (12–2) | 18 – Homesley | 14 – James | 4 – Pacheco-Ortiz | UNF Arena (2,169) Jacksonville, Fl |
| Feb 26, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | Kennesaw State | W 76–59 | 24–6 (13–2) | 16 – Cuffee | 9 – Homesley | 6 – Cabbil Jr. | Vines Center (3,376) Lynchburg, VA |
| Mar 1, 2019 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | at NJIT | W 57–51 | 25–6 (14–2) | 19 – James | 11 – James | 2 – James | Wellness and Events Center (945) Newark, NJ |
| Atlantic Sun Conference tournament |||||||||
| March 4, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | (7) Jacksonville Quarterfinals | W 72–58 | 26–6 | 16 – Pacheco-Ortiz | 7 – Homesley | 5 – Homesley | Vines Center (1,738) Lynchburg, VA |
| March 7, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | (3) North Florida Semifinals | W 71–63 | 27–6 | 24 – James | 9 – James | 3 – Homesley | Vines Center (2,319) Lynchburg, VA |
| March 10, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN | (2) | at (1) Lipscomb Championship | W 74–68 | 28–6 | 17 – James | 8 – James | 8 – Homesley | Allen Arena (5,687) Nashville, TN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 22, 2019* 7:27 pm, truTV | (12 E) | vs. (5 E) Mississippi State First Round | W 80–76 | 29–6 | 30 – Homesley | 6 – James | 5 – Cabbil Jr. | SAP Center (12,824) San Jose, CA |
| March 24, 2019* 7:10 pm, TBS | (12 E) | vs. (4 E) No. 16 Virginia Tech Second Round | L 58–67 | 29–7 | 15 – McGhee | 9 – Homesley | 3 – Tied | SAP Center (14,802) San Jose, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||