Liberty and Radford will tip off at 6 p.m. The game is televised by MASN, which is one of those channels in the 400s on the Dish Network. I can never remember. I usually just hit 420 on the remote and hope I get close.

ANYWAY ...

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Let’s run down the probable starting lineups:

LIBERTY (9-10, 4-4 Big South)
Jesse Sanders (G, 6-3, 200)  6.6 ppg/6.2 rpg
Evan Gordon (G, 6-2, 185)  11.1/4.4
Jeremy Anderson (G, 6-4, 200)  5.8/1.7
Patrick Konan (F, 6-5, 205)  6.9/4.5
Antwan Burrus (F, 6-6, 210) 6.2/3.5

RADFORD (10-7, 6-2)
Amir Johnson (G, 5-9, 190) 5.3/2.9
Lazar Trifunovic (F, 6-8, 225) 14.0/9.0
Blake Smith (G, 6-4, 175) 8.1/3.8
Joey Lynch-Flohr (F-C, 6-8, 220)  13.5/6.8
Artsiom Parakhouski (C, 6-11, 270) 23.5/12.8

Some notes/observations:

—I tell you what, I really like talking to Jesse Sanders. Because the kid doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t make excuses. He tells you how it is, which is refreshing in an increasingly cliche-riddled athlete-reporter relationship. He flat refused to make excuses about Kyle Ohman not being in the lineup Thursday at High Point. He excoriated himself and his teammates for what he perceived as poor effort and lack of heart. The storyline here tonight really isn’t the game. Look, I’ve been around college sports enough to know not to ever say a team can’t possibly win a game. But the odds are really stacked against Liberty here tonight. Coastal Carolina’s record is better than Radford’s, but the Highlanders are the best team in this conference. They have a senior point guard and two of the best bigs in the conference in Parakhouski and Lynch-Flohr. They’ve already played their toughest Big South road games. My hunch is that Radford will win the league by at least two games, if not more.

The real storyline is the growth that happens between Thursday’s abysmal showing at High Point and tonight’s game. If the Flames come out with the same sort of lacksadaisical effort they did in North Carolina Thursday, they’ll get smoked. If they show a little heart on defense, the game could be interesting. Liberty hasn’t had two bad efforts in a row since the Clemson-Old Dominion stretch in November. I’ve been pretty impressed with how Dale Layer has milked every little bit out of talent out of this team and made it competitive. Tonight will be another big test in that regard.

—Here’s why Ohman’s absence just killed Liberty Thursday. Ohman at his best can drive down either side of the lane and force a help defender to collapse on him. He also commands the occasional double-team, and when Sanders drives, two defenders are keeping an eye on Ohman, which opens up shots for guys like Anderson, Burrus and Konan. High Point never had to double team anyone Thursday. Gordon isn’t as physical or as mature as Ohman, and he generally drives to his left, making him a little easier to guard than Ohman, whose floor game has evolved tremendously this season.

—Liberty’s going to probably have to take a page out of the Charleston Southern playbook and zone the heck out of the Highlanders tonight. Liberty cannot matchup one-on-one with Parakhouski, Lynch-Flohr or Trifunovic. Parakhouski outweighs Carter McMasters by 50 pounds, and that’s Liberty’s tallest big. Liberty won here last year despite Parakhouski going off for 39 points and 19 rebounds. But the Flames had a few more offensive options that night than they do right now.

—Ohman is here tonight, by the way.

—This is the final game of the first half of the Big South season for the Flames, who sit at 4-4. What can realistically be expected out of this group the rest of the way? Let’s break it down:

* PROBABLE LOSSES: at UNC Asheville; at Coastal Carolina; at Charleston Southern; vs. Radford, at Radford

* PROBABLE WINS: vs. Presbyterian; vs. VMI

* 50-50 GAMES: vs. High Point; at Gardner-Webb; vs. Winthrop

Internally, I get the feeling that there was hope for 9-9 in the Big South, especially considering the staggering personnel losses and the youth on the team. Add in the loss of Tyler Baker and Ohman to injuries, and this group is incredibly raw and in essence searching again for some sort of offensive identity. It’s only going to get more difficult in the second half of league play as opposing coaches have a better feel for how all of the Flames’ young guys fit in. To get to 9-9, the Flames absolutely have to beat Presbyterian and VMI at home and hope to sweep those toss-up games. Charleston Southern is playing extremely well at home. Liberty doesn’t match up well at all with Radford and the Flames never seem to play well at UNCA’s Justice Center.

—Incidentally, this will be my last Flames road game until the Big South tournament. As I noted before, we’re not making overnight trips, and Liberty’s final two road trips involve overnight stays.