All eyes will be on the Liberty Flames Sunday as they attempt to finish an improbable to the Big South Tournament Championship Game with a victory.
Liberty finished the regular season as the North Division’s fifth seed with a 6-10 conference record and a 14-20 overall record, but with upset wins over High Point as a 4.5-point underdog and Gardner-Webb as a 7-point underdog Liberty is one win away from an NCAA Tournament berth.
Liberty will need another upset going against the South Division’s top seed, Charleston Southern, who finished the regular season with a 19-11 SU record. Charleston Southern is 3-1 SU in its last four games against Liberty.
Charleston Southern battles the Flames, currently sitting with a 14-20 mark (4-3 ATS). The OVER/UNDER records, always important for totals bettors, are 0-3 for the Buccaneers and 3-1 for the Flames.
View Liberty vs Charleston Southern Odds and Stats.
Power Rankings / Prediction:
This game puts the Buccaneers, most recently No. 68 in the Odds Shark power rankings, up against the Flames, who rate No. 190 in the latest survey. Meanwhile, math and computer-based handicapping simulations run on this game predict a potential 77-68 victory for the Buccaneers.
How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Charleston Southern's No. 38 nationally ranked offense (73.8 points per game) against a Flames defense that sits as the No. 254 at 69.7 PPG. The Buccaneers have been averaging 42.4% from the field, less than the Flames have managed so far this season (42.7% on average).
Comparing how these foes stack up statistically, Liberty owns the country's No. 204-rated mark, allowing 70.8 points per game on the highway. Charleston Southern, on the other hand, rates No. 15 in scoring at home.
Liberty won its last outing, a 65-62 result against Gardner-Webb on March 9. They covered in that game as a 7-point underdog. The Flames grabbed a 65-62 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday, behind a 19-point effort from John Caleb Sanders at HTC Center.
In their last action, Charleston Southern was a 71-65 Sportsbook at home against VMI. They failed to cover the 7.5-point spread as favorites. The Buccaneers used a 33-point performance from Arlon Harper to help Charleston Southern smack VMI 71-65 on Saturday at HTC Center.
