Bryson Gordon
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Liberty men's basketball team finds itself one win away from hoisting a trophy in the early season.
Up two points over Kansas State in the closing seconds of Sunday night's semifinal of the 2024 Paradise Jam, an open look from Wildcats guard Dug McDaniel bounced off the iron, and the scrum for the rebound sent the ball back to him.
He air-balled a more-contested look as time expired, and the Flames held on for a 67-65 victory over Kansas State to move on to the championship game of the Paradise Jam tournament on Monday night.
The win over Kansas State marks the first win over a Big 12 team in program history, and the ninth win over Power Five programs in the last eight-plus seasons.
Liberty played in front of the Wildcats for much of the second half, but found itself trailing by two with 2:30 remaining in the contest. Just 15 seconds after Kansas State took its first lead since late in the first half, Colin Porter walked into a 3-pointer from the right wing that gave the Flames a 65-63 lead.
Porter finished with a game-high 17 points on 2-of-4 shooting from deep.
The teams traded stops, and Liberty forward Owen Aquino was fouled jostling for a rebound with 52 seconds left. He knocked both, and went 4-for-4 from the line in the final four minutes, to help give Liberty a 4-point lead.
"Crowd was on him a little bit and he knocked 'em down," coach Ritchie McKay said. "But that's Owen Aquino. Not much rattles him, he's pretty stoic out there."
Foul trouble held Aquino to just 14 minutes on the night, but he scored eight points and pitched in four rebounds. The Flames also won despite a quiet night from Zach Cleveland, who was 0-for-8 from the field and finished with just two points.
It was Minnesota transfer Isaiah Ihnen, no stranger to the speed of power conference basketball, who was often the best offense against the length of the Wildcats front court, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds.
"They might be a big post team but we feel like we can play with anyone," Ihnen said.
Liberty teetered on allowing Kansas State to take a lead into the halftime break, trailing 29-24 at the 4-minute mark. After a pair of threes by Kaden Metheny and Zander Yates, and a layup by Porter in the closing second of the half, the Flames found themselves up three at the break after an 8-0 run.
They stretched their lead as large as eight in the second half by focusing on playing their way.
"[McKay] talked about us being composed and just having poise throughout the game, and he's the one who leads by example," Porter said.
The Flames' head coach said early season environments at Seattle, and in Charleston during the Field of 68 Tip-off Event, helped prepare them for Sunday's contest against Kansas State.
"You could see our guys had a great sense of composure," McKay said, "they had togetherness. They did the little things that helped us come out with the victory."
Liberty shot 45% from the field for the game, and knocked down five of its 10 3-point attempts in the second half. That performance came after they set a new single-game program record in the Division I era on Friday night against Louisiana, shooting 67.3% from the field.
On Monday night, the Flames will play for the 2024 Paradise Jam tournament trophy against McNeese, which dropped Longwood 84-69 in Sunday's other semifinal. Tip-off is at 8 p.m.
Bryson Gordon, (434) 385-5529
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