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It marks the first time that the Flames have clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a member of CUSA.
Source: Conference USA
Photo: Courtesy
INDIANAPOLIS – Making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021, Liberty earned a No. 12 seed in the “Big Dance” and will face Big Ten foe Oregon on Friday in the first round.
It marks the first time that the Flames have clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a member of CUSA. Liberty (28-6) and Oregon (24-9) will square off at 9:10 p.m. CT Friday inside Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. The game will be shown nationally on truTV.
Liberty captured its first CUSA Basketball Championship title with a 79-67 win over No. 2 Jax State on Saturday night in the final contest of the 2025 CUSA Basketball Championships.
Kaden Metheny, a Second-Team All-CUSA selection, was named the tournament MVP after he capped off his week with 20.3 points in Liberty’s three wins, including 16 three-pointers, which is three shy of the conference tournament record.
The Flames rank in the top-15 nationally in effective field goal percentage (2nd, 58.9), three-point percentage defense (3rd, 28.3), field goal percentage (6th, 49.4)), assist/turnover ratio (6th, 1.68), three-point percentage (6th, 39.0) and scoring defense (11th, 62.9).
Oregon finished as the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten and fell to regular season champion Michigan State in the Big Ten quarterfinal round. The Ducks are led by 7-0 center Nate Bittle, who averages 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
