Twenty Years Ago, A Record-Shattering Blowout Win Altered The Course Of LIU Basketball

Yesterday, you saw something in college basketball you probably never seen before. In the Minnesota-Alabama game at the Barclays Center, Alabama played several minutes of the second half with just three players as their entire bench got ejected for coming on to the court during an altercation. The crazy thing was, they nearly pulled off the comebacks of all-time comebacks with just three guys!

The reason why I bring that up is that today marks the twentieth anniversary of Medgar Evers-Long Island (as they were known back then before they became better known as LIU Brooklyn) game. Another crazy game in the annals of college basketball. That was the game in which the Blackbirds won by 117 points. Yes, you read correctly, 1-1-7. Twenty years later, it is still an NCAA record for largest margin of victory.

I wrote this piece for my old blog, Blackbirds Hoops Journal, five years ago on the fifteenth anniversary of that game which I was in attendance for. In my opinion, it was probably one of the best pieces I wrote during my five-year run writing for the site. I wanted to bring it back to share it for this twentieth anniversary of that game and I hope one day this record actually gets broken by some team some day. I don’t think it will ever happen though. I think this is one LIU is going to own for a long, long time. I hope you enjoy this recollection of one of the more crazier game I ever attended and will never forget.  Continue reading “Twenty Years Ago, A Record-Shattering Blowout Win Altered The Course Of LIU Basketball” →

MAAC Weekly Recap – Thanksgiving Eve

Mark it down as a week to forget for the MAAC, which went a combined 5-16 since our last recap. A few programs picked up their first wins of the season while others suffered some losses where “disappointing” would be an understatement. With a great deal of action – including a few tournament appearances – left to summarize this week, let’s dive right in: Continue reading “MAAC Weekly Recap – Thanksgiving Eve” →

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Series Streaks and Scoring Stars

Half the league picked up their first wins, but 10 days into the season, no team is above .500 in D-I play. Inside this week: Two weird losing streaks continue, scorers keep scoring, and Penn fans demand cheesesteaks. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Series Streaks and Scoring Stars” →

Revolving Door Shut, Niagara Might Be MAAC Contender

As a freshman or sophomore, Matt Scott could have chalked up Niagara’s 101-76 blowout loss to UMass Sunday afternoon to growing pains for a young team. But the revolving door that had plagued Chris Casey’s first few seasons in greater Buffalo has been closed for the time being.

(The extensive list here is only partial, believe it or not.)

If you count Kahlil Dukes’ transfer year from USC, everyone that started for Niagara Sunday has been with the program for at least three seasons. The time of Joe Mihalich winning the MAAC regular season and then taking Juan’ya Green and Ameen Tanksley with him to Hofstra was five years ago. Since then, Casey – playing with a different hand every year – has gone 33-97 at Niagara. Even with sympathy points for starting in a tough spot and having seemingly everyone transfer his first two seasons, there is some pressure to succeed.

Continue reading “Revolving Door Shut, Niagara Might Be MAAC Contender” →

Manhattan 73, Harvard 69: Jaspers Hold On Again At Home

Heading into Saturday’s game at Draddy Gym, Manhattan’s path to victory seemed to run through its vaunted press. Its opponent, Harvard, was only 42 hours removed from an ugly 23-turnover performance in a loss at Holy Cross, leaving the Jaspers’ defense with an opportunity to feast.

Instead, the Crimson committed just 13 turnovers, only a handful of which were attributed to Manhattan’s pressure. The hosts committed 18 miscues of their own, and they blew a 17-point lead in the second half. Yet they won anyway, getting enough stops and hitting enough tough shots to eke out a 73-69 win. Continue reading “Manhattan 73, Harvard 69: Jaspers Hold On Again At Home” →

Dartmouth Moves On Without Boudreaux

David McLaughlin and Dartmouth had some optimism heading into the 2017-18 season, his second in Hanover. The Big Green were only 4-10 in the Ivy (and 7-20 overall), but improved as the season progressed and were on the fringes of the Ivy Tournament race until the final weekend of the season.

They would have to replace a lot of interior size in Wesley Dickinson and point guard Mike Fleming, but they were otherwise young.

Continue reading “Dartmouth Moves On Without Boudreaux” →

Albany 80, Yale 72: Three Thoughts

(photo courtesy: Steph Crandall)

Yale freshman Paul Atkinson picked up his second foul five minutes into Friday night’s game in Albany, and as per James Jones’ custom, Atkinson was immediately banished to the bench for the rest of the half.

Except who to replace him with? What would have been the starting center – sophomore Jordan Bruner – is out for the year with a knee injury. Fellow sophomore Austin Williams, who played sparingly last season but is it at least 6-foot-8, 235 pounds, is out as well. Replacing the likes of Justin Sears and Brandon Sherrod is obviously darn near impossible, but recent history has shown that last year’s No. 5 Sam Downey was also extremely underappreciated.

Continue reading “Albany 80, Yale 72: Three Thoughts” →