Metheny, Peter lead Liberty to its first CUSA tourney title with 79-67 win over Jacksonville State

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Kaden Metheny scored 21 points and Taelon Peter added 20, and top-seeded Liberty pulled away early in the second half to beat No. 2 seed Jacksonville State 79-67 on Saturday night for its first Conference USA Tournament title.

Liberty, in its second season as a member of CUSA, clinched its sixth NCAA Tournament berth in program history and its first since the Flames won the ASUN Conference Tournament in 2021.

Jacksonville State trailed 39-35 one minute into the second half before the Flames pulled away on a 26-10 run for its largest lead, 65-45, with 7:24 remaining. Metheny scored eight points and Peter scored seven during the stretch. Peter's dunk capped the Flames scoring with about a minute left.

Metheny shot 7 of 15 from the floor and 5 of 10 from long range. Peter was 7-of-7 shooting from the field that included three 3-pointers and was 3 of 4 from the foul line. Colin Porter added 13 points and Zach Cleveland had 10 for Liberty (28-6), which also made its second appearance in the CUSA title game.

Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 19 points to lead Jacksonville State (22-12). Marcellus Brigham Jr. scored all 12 of his points in the second half and Quel’Ron House chipped in with 11 points.

Metheny made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the first half to help Liberty build a 37-33 advantage. Pierre shot 6 of 12 and scored 16 first-half points to pace Jacksonville State.

__

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketba