CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (17-12 overall, 7-9 ASUN) will wrap up their 2023 home season on Wednesday, February 22^nd when they welcome the Liberty Flames (22-7 overall, 13-3 ASUN) to the Queen City. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN Plus.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Royals are coming off a thrilling road victory over the league leaders from Kennesaw State on Saturday afternoon. Heading into the game, the Owls were a perfect 12-0 at home this season before the Royals broke the streak. Queens used a strong second-half performance outscoring the Owls 48-38 in the final 20 minutes to emerge victorious 83-76. Kenny Dye poured in a game-high 24 points on a 50 percent shooting clip. AJ McKee dropped 20 points on a 5-for-14 clip from the field. Despite going 0-for-2 from the free throw line in the first half, the Royals finished the afternoon 19-for-28. Queens forced 15 Kennesaw State turnovers which were converted into 20 points.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Wednesday night will mark the first all-time meeting between the Royals and the Flames. Queens is finishing up the first season as a member of the ASUN Conference while Liberty is wrapping up its final season in the league. The Flames are set to join the Conference USA in 2023-24.
 
Game Notes
QUEENS UNIVERSITY OF CHARLOTTE (17-12 overall; 7-9 ASUN)

• Queens enters Wednesday night averaging 79.6 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc. The Royals are the league's leading scoring offense and hold a 1.104 offensive efficiency rating.
• On defense, the Royals are allowing 75.3 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc.
• Queens is 8-4 inside Curry Arena this season, and 227-67 in the last seven seasons.
• The ASUN leads all NCAA Conferences in three-point attempts this season with a combined 9,796 attempts. The Royals are averaging 27.1 three-pointers per game which is the third most in the league. Queens is sinking an average of 9.5 three-pointers per game.
• Queens has gotten to the free throw line the second most in the ASUN and made the most free throws in the league. The Royals are top 50 in the nation in free throw attempts per game.
• Kenny Dye is the leader of the veteran Royals squad as the senior is averaging a team-high 17.8 points per game while hauling in 4.1 boards and dishing out 4.8 assists per game. The Royals are 112-32 when Dye is in the starting lineup as he is second in points per game and first in assists per game in the league. Dye is 11 assists away from tying the program record which was set by Donay Fullwood in 1991-95.
• AJ McKee has been a consistent producer this season as he has reached double figures in 28-of-29 games. The sophomore is averaging 18.3 points per game against league opponents which is second-best in the ASUN.
• BJ McLaurin has been a weapon for the Royals averaging 9.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game across 22.4 minutes. McLaurin turned in his first double-double as Royal, and 15^th of his collegiate career against Bellarmine last week.
• Jay'Den Turner is averaging 8.0 points and 6.9 rebounds this season. The junior is fourth in the league in rebounds per game as he has brought down double-digit boards in three of the last five games.
• Sophomore Chris Ashby has been electric from behind the arc for Queens. The transfer has made 65 three-pointers for an average of 2.2 per game which is top 15 in the league. Ashby has banged a deep ball in 24 straight games and is coming off back-to-back double-digit performances.
• The Royals are 42-7 in the last two seasons when outrebounding their opponent. This year, Queens is second in the ASUN in rebounds per game with 37.7 and second in the league in offensive boards per game with 11.5. Queens has posted double-digit offensive rebounds in 20 games this season, including 10 of their last 16 games.

 
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY (22-7 overall; 13-3 ASUN)

• Liberty enters Saturday afternoon 22-7 overall and 13-3 in league play. The Flames are 3-2 in their last five games as they sit in second place in the league standings with two games remaining.
• Despite being 15-1 at home this season, the Flames are 5-5 in true road games this season.  Liberty is 5-3 against league opponents on the road this season.
• Liberty is averaging 75.1 points per game on 48 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent from behind the arc. The Flames lead the league in field goal percentage and sit third in the nation in effective field goal percentage.
• On defense, Liberty is allowing 59.9 points per game on 41 percent shooting from the field and 34 percent shooting from the field. The Flames have the best-scoring defense in the ASUN and top 10 in the country.
• Liberty is led by the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, Darius McGhee. The senior is averaging a league-high 22.0 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent shooting from behind the arc. McGhee has garnered ASUN Player of the Week honors four times this season as he is second in the country in scoring, three-point attempts, and three-pointers made.
• Preseason All-Conference recipient Kyle Rode is averaging 10.5 points and 3.9 assists per game.
• Last season, Liberty finished
• Kennesaw State finished 22-11 overall and 12-4 in league play. The Flames fell in the semifinals of the ASUN Tournament semifinals against the tournament champions from Bellarmine.
• Ritchie McKay is in his 10^th season at the helm of the Flames program. Under his direction, Liberty is 221-111 overall. McKay has 21 years of head coaching experience with stops at New Mexico, Oregon State, Colorado State, and Portland State. McKay served as an assistant coach for the Royals under former Queens head coaching legend, Dale Layer.

 
Fans and families can purchase their tickets for Wednesday night's game by visiting the Queens Athletics website. The game will tip off at 7:00 PM EST from Curry Arena.

Be sure to follow the Royals men's basketball program on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to follow all of the Royals sports in action.