A while after the game ended, radio guy Bob Ramsey walked into the press room and asked, “So, what did we learn tonight?”

I had to admit I didn’t know. (Bob agreed.) SC Upstate, like the previous two teams on SLU’s schedule, isn’t that good and it’s tough to get a good feel for what’s going on. Yes, SLU’s defense is getting better, but Upstate isn’t 0-8 by accident. SLU got a few new challenges in having to use a really short bench and in playing against a 7-3 guy. In the first half, SLU got shots against Upstate’s zone but couldn’t knock them down. In the second half, SLU didn’t take anywhere near as many outside shots — according to the shot chart they went from having 10 shots from more than 15 feet to 5 and got a lot of their second-half points around the basket. Willie Reed, who has the highest arc on his shots of anyone I can remember, is getting good at stepping back and hitting that nice mid-range jumper.

Before I forget, SLU’s PPP was .96. Upstate’s was .66.

Not surprisingly, there wasn’t a big crowd to see Upstate — 5,172 was the attendance — and there probably won’t be a big one Friday for Liberty. (My single biggest surprise may have been the fans there wearing Upstate sweatshirts. Who knew they traveled?) With school out, the student section was substantially smaller.

In its little three-game winning streak, SLU has never trailed by more than 3 points. In the Kent State loss, SLU was able to keep it close, but they got in big holes against Nebraska, Detroit and SIUC. Of course, considering how low scoring SLU games usually are, they almost by default are going to be close.

SLU took 56 shots against Upstate, the most they’ve taken since they put up 58 against Sam Houston last year. SLU was 1 for 8 on 3’s in the first half, 1 for 3 in the second. “We did a better job of getting the ball inside,” Majerus said, “a better job of trying to drive it when it was there. Sometimes you get jump shot happy. Sometimes you take it because it’s easy, you settle for them, and I think having played all those crazy lineups, they got a little more comfortable.”

SLU has outrebounded its opponent in seven of nine games this season. Last season, they outrebounded their opponent in 12 of 31 games. The Upstate challenge was 7-3 Nick Schneiders. “I wish we wouldn’t have tried to get rebounds against a 7 foot 3 guy,” Majerus said. “I wish we would have made more of an effort to block him out.”

SLU got 28 points in the paint, a season high. The five of 10 performance at the free throw line couldn’t have gone over too well.

SLU’s last three opponents have shot under 38 percent from the field. In the past two games, SLU’s opponents are a combined 2 of 21 on 3-pointers.

Lisch’s next point will break a tie with Marque Perry and put him alone in 10th place at SLU. If he scores 11 against Liberty, he’ll pass Joe Wiley and move into ninth.

Liddell needs 21 points to pass Lewis McKinney and move into 13th all-time in scoring. That was Liddell’s 12th career double-double.

Paul Eckerle and Kyle Cassity are both expected to play against Liberty. Eckerle hurt his foot against Samford. Cassity sprained his ankle in practice on Monday, but both were very minor and if was a conference game, they probably would have played. (I kept expecting the refs to stop the game to tell Eckerle to tuck in his shirt.) The absence of Eckerle and Cassity was made worse by the departure of Ruben Cotto, which meant they had three less guards on Wednesday than they did a week before.

“Obviously Ruben leaving the team and quitting effects the team,” Majerus said. “He doesn’t quit on me or SLU, he quits on his teammates.”

Kwamain Mitchell is 8 to 1 on assists to turnovers the past two games. He’s also got nine rebounds in those past two games.

Brian Conklin came into the game shooting 69.4 percent from the field, which would have put him fourth in the nation if he had enough attempts to qualify. (To make the NCAA stats, you need five attempts per game. He was four short.) Then he made 2 of 7 shots against Upstate. If he tries seven shots against Liberty, he’ll be eligible next week. Conklin has 19 offensive rebounds and 24 defensive rebounds.

Willie Reed lost his first jump ball of the season, and had a nice basket leaning in on Schneiders, who may have had 50 pounds on him. He’s 8 for 13 in his past two games.

The plus-minus leader was … Tommie at plus-20. Here are the full numbers:

Liddell +20

Reed +16

Conklin +14

Mitchell +13

Lisch +11

Eberhardt +10

Craig +1

Thompson 0

As for Friday, Liberty’s stats are here. The Flames are 7-3 overall, with a win over Virginia. The star of the team is Seth Curry, the younger brother of Stephen Curry, who is averaging 20.9 points per game as a freshman. He’s 6-3. Liberty’s five starters, three of whom are freshmen, are between 6-3 and 6-6, so it will be interesting to see how SLU matches up.