Men's Hoops Host Charleston Southern Tonight

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Game Preview
Liberty returns to the friendly confines of the Vines Center for a three-game Big South Conference homestand. The Flames open up the home stanza playing host to Charleston Southern on Saturday night. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

Saturday's contest will be televised on the Flames Television Network with Ray Jones providing play-by-play, Tim Scarborough adding color commentary and Samantha Steele patrolling the sidelines. There will also be a radio broadcast that will air on the Flames Sports Network (flagship WRVL 88.3 FM) with Jerry Edwards providing play-by-play. Additionally, an Internet audio broadcast on LibertyFlames.com will be available.
There will also be a live video stream of the broadcast via the Big South EDGE, available on BigSouthSports.com.

Liberty Update
The Flames enter tonight's contest on the heels of a 55-48 setback at the Winthrop on Tuesday night, marking the first time since the 2004-05 season that Liberty started Big South play 0-2.

Liberty dropped its Big South opener, 74-70, at the hands of UNC Asheville on Jan. 12, inside the Justice Center. Liberty led by three with two minutes to go, but couldn't hold on in each team's Big South opener.

Liberty entered Big South play on a two-game winning streak and a record-breaking 84-45 triumph over Kentucky Christian on Jan. 8. Five records were matched or broken that evening, including a Vines Center record 13 assists by TeeJay Bannister. Prior to the Kentucky Christian win, Liberty earned a 74-57 victory over Nyack on Jan. 5. Anthony Smith led Liberty with 21 points, while Alex McLean chipped in 18 points and 13 rebounds, good for his fifth double-double of the season and 17th of his career.

All-Time Series Results
Feb. 10, 2007 W (83-73) Lynchburg
Jan. 22, 2007 W (66-63) Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 11, 2006 L (45-61) Lynchburg
Jan. 30, 2006 L (71-73) Charleston, S.C.
Mar. 1, 2005 L (60-66) Lynchburg
Feb. 12, 2005 W (70-66) Lynchburg
Jan. 17, 2005 W (71-59) Charleston, S.C.
Mar. 2, 2004 W (60-54) Lynchburg
Feb. 9, 2004 W (71-67) * Lynchburg
Jan. 5, 2004 W (71-55) Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 15, 2003 W (54-48) Lynchburg
Jan. 23, 2003 L (57-78) Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 4, 2002 L (53-66) Lynchburg
Jan. 12, 2002 L (64-89) Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 5, 2001 L (81-82) * Charleston, S.C.
Jan. 13, 2001 W (70-57) Lynchburg
Feb. 14, 2000 W (76-60) Lynchburg
Jan. 24, 2000 L (58-60) Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 6, 1999 L (91-94) * Charleston, S.C.
Jan. 18, 1999 L (67-72) Lynchburg
Feb. 16, 1998 W (75-72) Lynchburg
Jan. 24, 1998 L (69-72) Charleston, S.C.
Mar. 1, 1997 L (54-64) Lynchburg
Feb. 17, 1997 W (88-77) Charleston, S.C.
Jan. 25, 1997 W (72-68) Lynchburg
Feb. 17, 1996 W (77-61) Lynchburg
Jan. 20, 1996 W (81-75) Charleston, S.C.
Mar. 4, 1995 L (58-60) Lynchburg
Feb. 18, 1995 L (70-72) Charleston, S.C.
Jan. 21, 1995 W (63-58) Lynchburg
Mar. 4, 1994 W (82-71) Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 19, 1994 W (90-81) Lynchburg
Jan. 22, 1994 W (71-67) Charleston, S.C.
Jan. 30, 1993 W (72-58) Charleston, S.C.
Jan. 11, 1993 W (60-49) Lynchburg
Feb. 15, 1992 W (76-60) Lynchburg
Jan. 6, 1992 L (75-80) Charleston, S.C.
Jan. 23, 1991 L (73-77) Charleston, S.C.
Feb. 21, 1991 L (67-79) Lynchburg
* - Overtime Game

Current Flames With Notable Games Versus Charleston Southern
Anthony Smith (15 points and five rebounds vs. CSU, Feb. 10, 2007)
Alex McLean (14 points and seven rebounds at CSU, Jan. 22, 2007)

McKay versus the Big South Conference
Head coach Ritchie McKay is 1-2 all-time against the Big South Conference. His lone win came last season when McKay's Lobo team at New Mexico defeated Charleston Southern, 76-69.

Liberty in Home Big South Openers
Saturday's game marks the 17th home Big South opener for the Flames. Liberty is 9-7 all-time in Big South openers, including winning five-straight. Last year the Flames beat Radford 80-66.

Liberty In Big South Openers
The Jan. 12 contest at UNC Asheville marked the 17th Big South opener for the Flames. Liberty is now 4-13 all-time record in Big South openers after falling 74-70 to UNC Asheville. The Flames have opened a conference season with UNC Asheville on six occasions, all resulting in Bulldog wins. UNCA is 3-0 inside the Vines Center and 3-0 inside the Justice Center against Liberty when opening Big South play.

Liberty Rotating Uniforms
On Tuesday, Liberty donned its fifth different uniform, and the game marked the fifth-straight game they did not duplicate a set of threads. The Nike school wore red for the first time at UNC Asheville on Jan. 12 and has also worn two different sets of white uniforms at home. The Flames wore their second set of blue uniforms for the first time Tuesday night at Winthrop.

TeeJay Bannister Dropping Dimes
TeeJay Bannister has dished out 40 assists over his past four games as compared to 12 turnovers.

TeeJay Bannister and His Assists on a National Level
TeeJay Bannister currently ranks No. 5 nationally in assists (113), dropping 7.1 dimes per contest. Six of Bannister's contemporaries in the Top 30 have or will face Liberty this season. At No. 6 is East Carolina's Darrell Jenkins (108), No. 10 is High Point's Mike Jefferson (105), No. 14 is Fresno State's Kevin Bell (102), No. 21 is UNC Asheville's K.J. Garland (97), No. 26 is Radford's Amir Johnson (95) and at No. 29 is Niagara's Anthony Nelson (93).

Bannister's friend and former teammate at Virginia Sean Singletary (95) is tied for No. 26 with Johnson.

Alex McLean Reaches 400 Career Rebounds
Alex McLean pulled down 17 rebounds on Jan. 8 to become the 23rd player in program history to reach the 400 career rebound milestone.

Alex McLean One of Three
Senior Alex McLean is one of three players in program history to reach 400 career rebounds (421) while only playing two seasons in the program. McLean joins Jason Dixon (467) and Dan Kennard (471) as the only two-year letterwinners to reach the milestone. All other members of the 400 rebound club played at least three seasons on Liberty Mountain. Dixon and McLean are the only ones to accomplish the feat since Liberty's move to NCAA Division I. Should McLean reach 500 career rebounds, he would become the only two-year letterwinner in program history to do so.