No. 3 Seed Liberty Defeats Villanova 62-57 in First Round of NIT

No. 3 seed Liberty defeated Villanova 62-57 in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), Tuesday evening at Liberty Arena. The Flames earn their first-ever NIT win and will move on to the second round.

Liberty improves to 27-8 on the season and 19-1 at Liberty Arena. The Flames' victory is their second-ever BIG EAST win and first since 2000. Liberty will move on to face No. 2 seed Wisconsin (18-14) in the second round on Sunday at a to-be-determined time. The Badgers topped Bradley 81-62 tonight.

Villanova's season comes to an end with a 17-17 record. The Flames held the Wildcats to 57 points, which matched a season low.

Thoughts From Head Coach Ritchie McKay

"We had a great home court advantage again. Flames Nation continues to support us in a way that is really special. I mean that from my heart. We love representing this university and having a crowd that gets up and cheers for our guys, even in moments of doubt. I have a ton of respect for Villanova and their program. It's a win that we'll value a ton. Villanova has a winning DNA. Having been to three Final Fours in the last seven years, there's a lot of guys who have touched a lot of success. You could tell they were never going to give up. They have a ton of character and a ton of toughness. So does our team. I'm really proud of our group. I thought we did enough to win the game."

Box Score Highlights

Liberty Individuals: Darius McGhee 26 points, 9-20 FG, 4 assists, 4 steals; Colin Porter 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals; Zach Cleveland 6 points, 3-6 FG, 12 rebounds, 5 assists

Villanova Individuals: Brandon Slater 18 points, 8-13 FG, 9 rebounds, 2 steals; Mark Armstrong 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals; Eric Dixon 12 points, 13 rebounds

Key Team Stats: Liberty won for only the second time this season when shooting under 40 percent. The Flames finished the night at 38.5 percent (20-of-52). Villanova finished at 36.9 percent (24-of-65) and made only 4-of-26 three-point attempts (15.4 percent). The Wildcats held a 36-20 edge in points in the paint. Liberty outrebounded Villanova by one, 39-38, led by the freshman duo of Zach Cleveland (career-high 12 rebounds) and Colin Porter (career-high seven rebounds). The Flames assisted on 14 of 20 made baskets, led by five assists from Cleveland.

Turning Point

After Villanova trimmed the Liberty lead to 53-50 with 2:53 to go, Darius McGhee knocked down his fifth and final three at the 2:35 mark to stretch the lead back to six. Colin Porter made his next four free throws to give the Flames an eight-point cushion. The Wildcats got within four, 61-57 with 23 seconds left, but the Liberty defense held firm down the stretch to preserve the win.

Key Stats & Notes

• Darius McGhee led all scorers with 26 points and had four steals. McGhee has 23 20-point games this season and 58 20-point games for his career. The redshirt senior, the program's all-time leading scorer and ASUN all-time leading scorer, is up to 2,654 career points. McGhee knocked down five threes tonight and has 524 for his career, second most in NCAA history.

• This was Liberty's second-ever victory over a BIG EAST foe and first since Nov. 28, 2000 when the Flames defeated Virginia Tech 61-56. The Hokies were an associate member of the BIG EAST from 1991 through 2000.

• This is the Flames' first postseason tournament victory since defeating No. 5 seed Mississippi State 80-76 in the 2019 NCAA Tournament Round of 64 as a No. 12 seed.

• Villanova's Eric Dixon set a Liberty Arena record with 13 rebounds. The Flames' Cleveland set the facility record for a Flame with his 12 boards. Cleveland added six points and a game-high five assists as well in a season-high 27:49 of action.

• Freshman Colin Porter finished second on the team in scoring with 14 points and collected a season-high seven rebounds. Porter has scored in double figures in six of his last nine games, averaging exactly 12 points per game during that span.

• Blake Preston moved into the top 50 in program history for career points. Preston finished with four points and has 711 for his career, good for No. 50 all-time in school history.

• Liberty improves to 23-4 this season when leading at the half. The Flames held a 32-25 lead at intermission.

Up Next

No. 3 seed Liberty will face No. 2 seed Wisconsin on Sunday in Madison, Wis. The game time and network details will be determined after Wednesday's set of NIT games. The Flames and Badgers will be squaring off for the first time.

Main Photo at Top of Story: No. 25 Zach Cleveland

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