Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
March Madness is here. It’s going to be a lot different in 2021 with the entire NCAA Tournament in one location, but having been cancelled in 2020 the players are going to be even more enthused than usual and the bettors will be especially eager. With the regular season wining down, it’s time to start looking ahead at the teams that can expect to be serious National Championship contenders. We’ll be breaking them down one by one, and our series continues with the Liberty Flames.
Liberty Flames basketball
Performance last five NCAA Tournaments: DNP, DNP, DNP, DNP, Second Round
Ranking: Unranked
Coach: Ritchie McKay
Star player: Darius McGhee
Main strengths: Three-point shooting and offensive efficiency
Biggest weakness: Rebounding and scoring depth
Record: 23-5
Liberty Flames NCAA Tournament odds
Liberty Flames outlook
Liberty has had success in the Big Dance before, as they knocked off fifth-seeded Mississippi State as a No. 12 seed back in 2019. The Flames got a No. 13 seed this time around after winning the Atlantic Sun Tournament. The draw was not kind to them, as up first is Oklahoma State and projected NBA Draft No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham. Still, the Flames can be dangerous. They score 108.8 points per 100 possessions (54th in D-1) and boast the fourth-most efficient effective field-goal percentage (57.4 percent). They don’t commit turnovers (19th in D-1) and have the 10th-best three-point shooting percentage in D-1.
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