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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Liberty ended Coastal Carolina’s perfect season with a blocked kick in overtime.
Elijah James blocked Massimo Biscardi’s 42-yard field goal attempt to give No. 23 Liberty a 37-34 victory over No. 9 Coastal Carolina in a wild finish Saturday night in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl.
Liberty (10-1) took the lead on Alex Barbir’s 44-yard field goal on the first extra possession.
Coastal Carolina (11-1) got a huge break in regulation when Liberty’s Joshua Mack fumbled inside the 1 with 41 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Safety Alex Spillum recovered the fumble to end the long drive.
“I thought it was a touchdown but they called it a fumble,” said Liberty quarterback Malik Lewis, who set several records in the game. “But the next opportunity we got, we took advantage of it.”
Willis ran for 137 yards and four touchdowns and completed 19 of 29 passes for 220 yards with two interceptions.
The Flames’ only loss came to North Carolina State on a blocked field goal.
“No question this is the best season Liberty University has ever had,” safety Javon Scruggs said.
Coastal Carolina overcame an early 14-0 deficit, and drove 72 yards to tie it in the fourth quarter. Grayson McCall ran in a 2-point conversion to make it 34-34 after throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Greg Latushko with 3:01 remaining
Coastal Carolina had won 12 straight.
“We couldn’t do anything with their quarterback,” Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell said. “You see why he was a five-star player.”
McCall had a big game for Coastal Carolina, completing 21 of 32 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. The red-shirt freshman also ran for 96 yards
It was the first time any ranked team had played in the six-year-old bowl, which was moved to prime time after being scheduled in the early afternoon. The teams were scheduled to meet Dec. 5, but that game was canceled because of COVID-19.
Willis led touchdown drives of 64 and 66 yards on the Flames’ first two possessions, running 7 yards for the first touchdown and 6 yards to make it 14-0 late in the first quarter.
Braden Matts’ interception turned the game in Coastal Carolina’s direction early in the second quarter. Biscardi’s 21-yard field goal got the Chanticleers on the board, and McCall connected with tight end Isaiah Likely on a 25-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-10 with 2:02 left in the half.
Biscardi added a 33-yard field goal on the final play of the half after Barbir kicked a 37-yarder for Liberty.
Scruggs’ 59-yard interception return set up the Flames at the Costal Carolina 10 early in the second half, and Willis’ third TD run made it 24-13. Coastal Carolina answered quickly on McCall’s 43-yard scoring pass to Latushko.
Javon Heiligh caught 16 passes for 168 yards for the Chanticleers, who never led in the game.
TAKEAWAY
Coastal Carolina: Missed a chance for a perfect season.
Liberty: Willis set school records for total touchdowns (passing and rushing) with 34, and for rushing yardage by a quarterback (944).
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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Corey Kispert recorded career highs with 32 points and nine 3-pointers, leading No. 1 Gonzaga to a 98-75 romp over 16th-ranked Virginia, the most recent NCAA champion, on Saturday.
The game at a neutral site in Texas was essentially the Zags’ replacement for what was supposed to be a 1-2 matchup against Baylor in early December in Indianapolis.
After that game was called off less than 90 minutes before tipoff because of COVID-19 issues, Gonzaga ended up on national TV on CBS in Baylor’s home state instead in its fourth game since a five-game pause because of the coronavirus.
Kispert was 9 of 13 from long range, including one about a foot from the midcourt logo followed immediately by another from several feet behind the arc in the year-old Fort Worth arena that is supposed to host the American Athletic Conference tournament in March.
Drew Timme also had a career high with 29 points and led the Zags (7-0) with eight rebounds. Gonzaga now has the nation’s longest neutral-site winning streak at seven games and has beaten four ranked opponents before the start of conference play for the first time in school history.
Kihei Clark scored 19 points and Trey Murphy added 15 for the Cavaliers (4-2), who dropped to 1-31 all-time against top-ranked teams almost 35 years since their only victory.
The matchup of one of the best offenses in the country against one of the best defenses wasn’t much of a contest, with Gonzaga shooting 60% with superior ball movement and screening. Virginia hadn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40% this season.
The Zags’ offense was so efficient, Virginia coach Tony Bennett tried to slow it by using a timeout three times when the media break was set for the next dead ball. The last of those came after Kispert’s two long 3s and a putback from Timme that put Gonzaga ahead 62-38 early in the second half.
BIG PICTURE
Virginia: The Cavaliers barely avoided giving up at least 100 points for the first time since a 106-63 loss to Washington on Nov. 22, 2010, Bennett’s second season. Virginia had three straight games scrapped because of COVID-19, including against No. 5 Villanova and 12th-ranked Michigan State. The Cavaliers returned with a 76-40 win over William & Mary on Tuesday.
Gonzaga: The Zags didn’t cool off at all in the second half after Kispert came out hitting 3-pointers almost from the start. Gonzaga shot 68% after halftime to beat Virginia for the third time in four meetings in the series. It was the first meeting in 14 years.
UP NEXT
Virginia: At Notre Dame in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener Wednesday. The ACC opener was supposed to be Dec. 16 at Wake Forest.
Gonzaga: Northern Arizona at home Monday in the last of four consecutive games added after the five-game coronavirus pause.
Image: LU Athletics Facebook
(from Liberty.edu) The Flames will look to cap off their best season in football program history with a win over No. 9/11 Coastal Carolina in the 2020 FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 26. The 2020 FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl will be played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 26 at Noon on ESPN. Coastal Carolina is currently 11-0 on the season and is one of five remaining undefeated teams in the country.
The Chanticleers, who posted an 8-0 record in Sun Belt play this season, were scheduled to face off against Louisiana in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game, last Saturday, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Coastal Carolina program. Liberty and Coastal Carolina, former Big South rivals, were scheduled to face each other during Liberty’s regular season finale on Dec. 5 at Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C. however, the contest was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Liberty Football program.
Liberty finished the regular season with a 9-1 record and is currently ranked No. 23 in the final regular season Associated Press and Amway Coaches national top-25 polls. Last year, Liberty captured its first-ever bowl victory with a 23-16 win over Georgia Southern in the RBC Mortgage Cure Bowl on Dec. 21 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Nahiem Alleyne and Jalen Cone each made five 3-pointers and scored 18 points as Virginia Tech routed Coppin State 97-57 on Saturday night. It was the second straight win for Virginia Tech (6-1), which beat No. 24 Clemson on Tuesday after its 20-point loss to Penn State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Dec. 8.
The Hokies were a season-best 20 of 37 from 3-point range, with eight players hitting at least one. They made 11 from distance against Radford and attempted 27 against VMI. They led the Atlantic Coast Conference last season with 315 made 3-pointers. Alleyne and Cone were a combined 12-of-23 shooting from the field. Keve Aluma added 12 points and Hunter Cattoor had 11, and each made a pair of 3s for Virginia Tech. Cattoor also had five assists.
The Hokies shot 52% (30 of 58) overall and outrebounded the Eagles 43-29. Virginia Tech entered as the only team in the ACC with two wins over ranked teams this season. They also beat then-No. 3 Villanova, 81-73 in overtime on Nov. 29. The Hokies face Longwood on Monday and continue conference play hosting Miami on Dec. 29.