Welcome to March. It snowed all the way down here, starting from about Altavista. A little hairy around Reidsville, where the snow stuck for a bit. But the blog made it, so let’s get right to it.

I’ll be updating the Twitter feed during the game. Follow it if you’d like in-game thoughts.

* The Flames and Eagles are meeting for the fourth time in the Big South tournament, and Winthrop owns a 3-1 edge and has won the last three meetings.

* Liberty bussed straight from Charleston to Rock Hill following Saturday night’s game at Charleston Southern, and I’m assuming they’ll leave straight for Conway after the game should they win tonight.

* What has to happen for Liberty to win tonight? A few things:

1. The Flames have to man up, and I don’t mean in terms of man-to-man defense. Winthrop straight up manhandled the Flames physically in the meeting in Lynchburg in February. Dale Layer made a good point on yesterday’s Big South conference call. Sure, Kyle Ohman’s absence played a role in that game. But the second Winthrop started pounding away physically, Liberty backed down. And Winthrop pounced. To that end, during warmups here, Liberty strength coaches and trainers are pounding the heck out of Flames players with pads to get them ready for the physical play.

2. Winthrop has to shoot in the 30s. If Winthrop shoots 42-45 percent, Liberty won’t win. Bank on that. The Eagles struggle when they have long stretches of offensive futility. You’re not going to go on extended runs against them because their defense is so good.

3. The Flames can’t let Matt Morgan and Charles Corbin get going. Those two killed Liberty last month in Lynchburg. Corbin has a tendency to fall in love with his jump shot even though he’s more of a physical post guy. But he was hitting that night in Lynchburg, so it didn’t matter. Morgan can score on the block and has a decent jumper.

4. Liberty must drive and kick, and Kyle Ohman must drive and draw fouls, especially against Morgan and Mantoris Robinson.

* I don’t think the environment itself will be very intimidating. Winthrop isn’t drawing like it used to, back in the glory days. Thirty minutes before tipoff, there are about 100 fans here. The crowd won’t be much of a factor.

* One thing that worked for LU in the meeting here in January was its press, which Winthrop couldn’t handle. That surprised me, considering WU has a lot of athleticism and some pretty decent ballhandlers. Liberty put Carter McMasters in the back of the press, and he made off with a couple of steals during that game.

* Prediction time—All four home teams win tonight, marking the third straight year seeds 1-4 have advanced to the semifinals. Take heart, LU fans, as my predictions have stunk lately.