Liberty hosts New Mexico State following Cleveland’s 23-point performance

New Mexico State Aggies (9-6, 2-3 CUSA) at Liberty Flames (13-3, 5-0 CUSA)

Lynchburg, Virginia; Thursday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Liberty takes on New Mexico State after Zach Cleveland scored 23 points in Liberty’s 82-74 win over the Sam Houston Bearkats.

The Flames are 8-0 on their home court. Liberty is the top team in the CUSA with 17.9 assists per game led by Cleveland averaging 7.5.

The Aggies are 2-3 in conference play. New Mexico State averages 76.3 points while outscoring opponents by 8.2 points per game.

Liberty averages 80.8 points, 12.7 more per game than the 68.1 New Mexico State allows. New Mexico State averages 8.5 more points per game (76.3) than Liberty allows to opponents (67.8).

The Flames and Aggies square off Thursday for the first time in CUSA play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Cleveland is averaging 11.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.5 blocks for the Flames. Brett Decker Jr. is averaging 16.7 points over the last 10 games.

Anthony Wrzeszcz averages 1.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Aggies, scoring 7.7 points while shooting 34.2% from beyond the arc. Jemel Jones is averaging 15.4 points and 1.7 steals over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Flames: 8-2, averaging 77.0 points, 27.5 rebounds, 17.8 assists, 7.0 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 50.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.3 points per game.

Aggies: 4-6, averaging 77.3 points, 34.9 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.7 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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