Give me Liberty, or ... um, just give me Liberty

While Oklahoma State certainly has the potential for a deep NCAA Tournament run and is much more than the oneman show that is future top-five NBA draft-pick Cade Cunningham, Liberty is a tricky first-round matchup on Friday for a very young, albeit talented Cowboys team. The Flames do not beat themselves, as they only turn the ball over on 15.6 percent of their possessions (19th-best nationally).

Only No. 1 seeds Gonzaga and Baylor rank better among NCAA Tournament teams in effective fieldgoal percentage (57.4 percent). No team in the tourney is more reliant on the 3 than Liberty, but the Flames also hit 38.8 percent of them (10th in nation).

Under Ritchie McKay, the Flames run a pack-line defense that McKay learned under Tony Bennett as a Virginia assistant. They don’t allow many looks at the rim, which is where Oklahoma State wants to go. Since the Cowboys rate just 295th in 3-point field-goal rate, they are extremely reliant on getting to the tin.

Liberty, largely due to its slow pace (ranking 340th of 347 teams) and not crashing the offensive glass, limits opponents in transition. A young team like Oklahoma State could fall into the trap of falling in love with the 3s that Liberty will allow them to take.

The Flames pulled off the 12-5 upset two years ago vs. Mississippi State and have that potential here as well, with three veteran starters who played on that team two years ago. THE PLAY: Liberty, +7.5. Wes Reynolds writes for VSiN.com. VSiN programming can be heard on iHeartRadio platforms.