Flames look for improvement in rematch with UNC Asheville

It’s not hard to identify the low point of Liberty’s basketball season.

On Jan. 7, UNC Asheville blitzed the Flames in North Carolina, using a 3-point barrage to turn a once tight game into a 98-75 blowout at Kimmel Arena. Afterward, Asheville guard J.P. Primm met with friends and family and doted on his young daughter. Other players discussed dinner plans. Coach Eddie Biedenbach met with a former player and joked with the player’s young son about his potential as a college basketball player.

Meanwhile, Liberty’s players remained sequestered in their cramped locker room, listening to coach Dale Layer and senior point guard Jesse Sanders talk about taking ownership in their respective roles on the team in the face of a disastrous start to the conference season.

“Obviously that loss was embarrassing, and a challenge to man up, and I think some guys responded in the right way,” Sanders said. “But I think it’s been a commitment to hard work throughout the year, and I think we’re seeing some of the results from that. Definitely not enough to stop or hang your hat on now. We’ve got to keep doing more, keep grinding and keep building.

“But we’re finally getting some breaks. We’re getting rewarded for a year of hard work.”

That loss seemed to be the turning point of Liberty’s season, at least defensively. Since then, the Flames are 4-3 with two of those losses coming to Winthrop by a combined five points. Asheville, which visits the Vines Center tonight, shot 62.1 percent in the blowout win over Liberty in January. Liberty hasn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 47.6 percent since then.

“I wish I could attribute that to a talk,” Layer said. “I think our guys have good character, and they respond, no matter what it is. I’m proud of our guys. They have a lot of adversity this year, and it’s nice to see them playing well.”

Just playing well won’t be enough tonight against the Bulldogs, the preseason Big South favorites who have lived up to expectations. Five Asheville players average double figures in scoring, led by guards Matt Dickey and Primm and wing Chris Stephenson. At 6-foot-4, forward Jeremy Atkinson has defended well against players bigger than him and managed to be a double-double threat.

And the Bulldogs have built the bulk of their 12-1 Big South record on the road, where they’re a perfect 7-0. Thursday night, Asheville handed VMI its first home loss of the season. Liberty’s strategy will likely be to try to slow down the pace of the game. In four of Asheville’s seven losses this season, the opponent has held the Bulldogs to fewer than 70 points.

“The biggest thing is going to be transition defense,” Sanders said. “They get out and run, and not only run to get at the rim, but they have shooters that can stop and shoot in transition. Stephenson is going to be attacking the rim. Primm and Dickey can beat you in a multitude of ways.

“I think it’s going to be taking good shots on offense so we don’t feed their transition, and with the ones we take, make or miss, getting back and getting set on defense.”