LYNCHBURG, Va. – After dispatching No. 6 seed North Alabama at home on Tuesday, Eastern Kentucky University will travel to Lynchburg, Virginia to face No. 2 seed Liberty in the ASUN Conference Tournament semifinals on Thursday.
 
The game will begin at 7 p.m. ET and air live on ESPN+.  The live radio broadcast of the game is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, or worldwide on EKUSports.com.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-  Liberty leads the all-time series 4-3.  The two teams met for the first time on Dec. 17, 1988.  In the first meeting this season, EKU won 62-59 in Richmond on Jan. 8.  The Flames won in Lynchburg, 83-73, on Feb. 11. 
 
-  EKU took a two-point lead early in the second half, but couldn't hold off Liberty in the last meeting.  Devontae Blanton led EKU with 26 points to go along with a team-best seven assists and six rebounds.  Darius McGhee finished the night with 28 points.  The Flames out-rebounded the Colonels 38-28.
 
THE COLONELS
-  EKU (20-12, 12-6 ASUN) beat North Alabama, 73-48, in the quarterfinals.  EKU held the Lions to 28 points through the first 33 and a half minutes, building a 37-point lead, 65-28.
 
-  The Colonels are first in the nation with 13.94 offensive rebounds per game.  EKU out-rebounded North Alabama by 31, 57-26.  The Colonels grabbed 20 rebounds off the offensive glass, out-scoring UNA 20-1 in second chance points.  The Lions had just four offensive boards.
 
-  With their 20th win of the season on Tuesday, the Colonels gave head coach A.W. Hamilton his second 20-win season in the last three years.
 
-  Isaiah Cozart is sixth in the NCAA in total blocks (81).
 
-  The Colonels blocked 11 shots twice this season, including against North Alabama on Tuesday.  EKU is 20th in the country in blocks per game (4.94).
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-  Liberty is 25-7 this season and earned the No. 2 seed in the ASUN Tournament by finishing with a 15-3 league mark.   
 
-  The Flames have won four straight since falling at Kennesaw State, 88-81.  Liberty beat No. 8 Bellarmine, 76-56, on Tuesday in the ASUN Tournament quarterfinals.
 
-  McGhee finished with 29 points against Bellarmine, going 10-for-16 from the field.  He hit on 9-of-14 from 3-point range, and contributed six assists and three steals.  McGhee, the 2022-23 ASUN Player of the Year, is now the all-time leading scorer in ASUN history.
 
-  Liberty shot 56 percent from the field against Bellarmine and out-rebounded the visitors 31-22.
 
-  McGhee, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, is third in the country with 22.5 points per game.  He is second in the nation in 3-pointers (148) and 3-pointers per game (4.62).  McGhee has shot 41 percent from 3-point range.  In two games against EKU this season he has averaged 17.5 points on 38 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent (5-for-20) from 3-point range.  Kyle Rode, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, is second on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg) and second in assists (3.8 apg).