Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball team ended what had been a solid stretch of nonconference play with a definite down note in a 48-point road loss to Michigan on Sunday.

Now WKU (9-4) embarks on Conference USA play with a road game at Liberty on Thursday night in Lynchburg, Virginia. Game time is 6 p.m. CT with CBS Sports Network set to broadcast.

Sunday’s loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Hilltoppers, who were down to just eight regulars in the rotation due to injuries.

Whether or not the Tops get any of those injured players back – graduate senior guard Khristian Lander, redshirt senior forward/center Blaise Keita and senior forward Babacar Faye – a two-game road CUSA road swing awaits starting with Thursday’s matchup against the Flames followed by a Saturday visit to Florida International in Miami.

Liberty (12-1) is rolling with a nine-game winning streak, the last a 79-56 win against UT Arlington on Dec. 21. Thursday’s matchup against WKU is the fourth of six straight home games for the Flames, whose lone loss was a 77-74 overtime decision against Florida Atlantic at a neutral site on Nov. 16.

During the nine-game winning streak, Liberty is shooting 53.8% from the field and averaging 83.8 points while allowing 56.4 points per outing. The Flames lead the nation in effective field goal percentage (61%), are sixth nationally in scoring defense (58.2 points allowed) and eighth in 3-pointers per game (11.2).

Redshirt junior guard Kaden Metheny (14.2 points per game) and junior forward Zach Cleveland (11.2 ppg), both preseason All-CUSA picks, lead a balanced Flames offense.

Liberty, in its second year in CUSA, is 1-1 all-time against WKU after the teams each won on their home floor in a pair of regular-season meetings last year.

WKU senior guard Don McHenry is the fourth-leading scorer in CUSA with a team-high 18.5 points per game. McHenry also leads the Tops with 2.1 steals per game, good for fourth in CUSA and 48th nationally.

The Hilltoppers are averaging 80.6 points per game, which ranks 76th in the nation. The Tops are ninth in the nation in defensive rebounding with 29.5 per game, rank second in CUSA and 50th nationally in steals (8.9) and are eighth in the nation in adjusted tempo with an average of 74.3 possessions per 40 minutes.

Freshman guard Julius Thedford ranks third on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game, behind McHenry and the injured Faye.