A10 Basketball blog

Liberty basketball is suddenly on the national map. The Flames can thank Seth Curry for that.  The younger brother of Davidson standout Stephen Curry, Seth has made an immediate impact at Liberty. He’s the only freshman in the nation to rank in the top 50 in scoring average and has become an instant media favorite. The pressure hasn’t fazed the 6-foot-3 guard. He was instrumental in leading the Flames to back-to-back overtime wins, hitting the game-tying shot to send a game with William & Mary to double overtime and hitting the game-tying and game-winning shots in a win over George Mason.  Flames coach Ritchie McKay hasn’t shied away with piling the expectations on Curry, repeatedly saying Curry could be one of the best players to ever wear a Liberty uniform and even better than his brother, Steph.

Just like many teams are now doing with Seth’s bro, Saint Louis University piled long-armed defenders all over the younger Curry and, just like many teams are now doing with Stephen, shut him down. SLU barely even let Seth shoot. Curry took a total of 8 shots from the field, making 4 of those for 8 points to go with 4 rebounds in 27 minutes.

(6-4) Saint Louis University guard Kevin Lisch broke into the program’s top 10 in career scoring, and Saint Louis remained unbeaten in the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic with a 73-70 victory over (7-4) Liberty Friday night at Chaifetz Arena. Lisch scored a team-high 20 points. Lisch surpassed two Billikens on the career scoring chart and is currently in ninth place with 1,378 career points.  He came into the night tied with Marque Perry (1,358), and he also surpassed Joe Wiley (1,368).  Next on the chart is Billiken legend Ed Macauley, who is eighth in SLU history with 1,402 career points. Anthony Bonner is the Billikens’ all-time leader in scoring with 1,972 points.

Barry Eberhardt logged in his first career double-double performance with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for the Billikens, who have won 4 straight contests. Tommie Liddell joined Barry with a double-double of his own, marking the first time since March of ’07 that two SLU players produced double-doubles.

Anthony Smith led Liberty with 21 points with Johnny Stephene right behind him with 15. The Flames play Northern Colorado on Monday.

> Find a nice selection of SLU Billikens hats & merchandise online through College Sports Fans!

SLU appeared to have the game sealed when they took a 66-49 lead with a Liddell 3-pointer at about the 4 minute mark. Then, a run that would typically have Curry at the helm, the Flames scored 21 of the next 26 points. Liberty had two chances to tie it but Stephene’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left missed and Liddell blocked Smith’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Rick Majerus mixed and matched the entire offseason and has a completely different team this year with a completely different feel to them. They are led by the only two players that were on the starting lineup last year. 4-year starting seniors, Kevin Lisch and Tommie Liddell, are the only players averaging double-figures on the team. Lisch is leading the team with 14/game, Liddell is averaging 13 points/game but a surprising team-leading 8 rebounds per.

For all of you SLU fans out there, be patient because the future is soon. Not this year, but soon. Believe it or not, there is a lot of good to having 3 freshman starters. Just think, we are going to have three 4-year starters on the floor all at the same time in the 2011-2012 season… Rick Majerus the backbone behind it all. Big, bad freshman PF Brian Conklin is already a HUGE contributor, averaging 8 & 5. Other than Conklin, we have freshman PG Kwamain Mitchell, SF Willie Reed, and C Brett Thompson. Mitchell is already lighting up the court with 8 points and 4 assists. No matter what this season brings, don’t worry SLU fans… the future looks amazing.

Moving on in the tournament, the Billikens will roll the dice in Las Vegas against the (6-4) DePaul Blue Demons in the semi-finals. The two teams will meet for the first time since they both left the C-USA four years ago. Just so happens, the SLU-DePaul game was a fairly heated Midwest rivalry when they met twice every year. The Blue Demons met up with the Liberty Flames last week and won 64-63. The Billikens have been great at their new home so far but are still trying to find their groove on the road.

KEY UPCOMING CONFERENCE GAME FOR SLU:
@ Xavier, Jan. 8 — The Billikens have turned over their roster since last season and will immediately see how their newcomers stack up against the Atlantic 10’s best by visiting the Musketeers in the conference opener. Saint Louis is 3-2 against Xavier since joining the conference but has lost the last two meetings, including 70-68 last season.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions!

Justin Hulsey
StLDieHard24@gmail.com
DFN Sports SLU Correspondent