Myrtle Beach Invitational Website

The Liberty Flames have been invited to compete in a strong field at the 2023 Myrtle Beach Invitational.

The event will take place at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina (Conway, S.C.) and will be contested on Nov. 16, 17 and 19.

The eight-team field includes: Liberty, Furman, Charleston, Wichita State, Coastal Carolina, Saint Louis, Vermont and Wyoming. All games will be televised across the ESPN platforms.

“Any time that you get a chance to play in an ESPN event, it’s a privilege. We’re really excited about the opportunity and the challenge the field presents,” stated Liberty Men’s Basketball Head Coach Ritchie McKay. We always want to try to test ourselves in the non-conference because we think it’s necessary in preparation for what will be a really tough CUSA regular season.”

Of the eight-team field, four teams competed in postseason play during the 2022-23 season after finishing atop their conference’s regular season standings – Liberty (ASUN), Furman (SoCon), Charleston (CAA) and Vermont (America East). Liberty competed in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) for the first time, defeating 2022 NCAA Final Four participants Villanova in the first round before falling to Wisconsin in the second round.

Furman, Charleston and Vermont competed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, with the Paladins upsetting No. 4 seed Virginia in the round of 64.

Owned and operated by ESPN Events, the Myrtle Beach Invitational will make tickets available for purchase this summer following the announcement of the complete tournament schedule. In the meantime, fans can sign up for first access to tickets at www.myrtlebeachinvite.com.

Past Myrtle Beach Invitational champions include UCF (2018), Baylor (2019), Utah State (2021) and UMass (2022). Three teams in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Invitational competed in postseason play, with Boise State and Texas A&M advancing to the NCAA Tournament and Charlotte capturing the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) title.

Six of the eight teams listed in this year’s Myrtle Beach Invitational finished at No. 112 or better in the NCAA Men’s Basketball NET Rankings, led by Liberty at No. 46. Head coach Ritchie McKay and the Flames have won 131 games over the last five seasons, fourth most in the country during that span. Liberty won at least a share of the regular season conference and/or division title in all five seasons in the ASUN Conference and will be transitioning to Conference USA this year.

Liberty’s addition to another strong non-conference event for the 2023-24 season comes on the heels of Tuesday’s announcement that sees the Flames set to compete in a new and innovative Field of 68 Media Network Tip-Off event, a three-year round robin series with mid-major powers FAU and Charleston from 2023-25.