LIU Blackbirds: West Coast Tip-Off Versus UC Irvine Anteaters

From the desk of:  THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

 

TONIGHT

 

LIU BLACKBIRDS
vs.

UC Irvine Anteaters

FROM

The Left Coast

LIU/BROOKLYN BLACKBIRDS: California, Here They Come.

I'm sorry, but ten days is too long of a wait between games, especially as the Blackbirds pushed the Indiana Hoosiers to their limits last time on the floor, albeit in defeat, and in hostile territory no less.  LIU put themselves into a great position to win, and lost on nothing more than a missed shot at the end.  So, there's much about that game for the Blackbirds to feel good about, and build upon.

You might say Coach Perri's crew restarts their season this evening.  Jason Brickman and the young Blackbirds of LIU are out west in California to oppose the UC Irvine Anteaters.  The Anteaters hail out of the Big West Conference, and enter tonight's game with a 2-2 non-conference record.  The Blackbirds hold an early lead in NEC Conference with a 1-1 non-conference record.

LIU will definitely have their hands full tonight.  The Gladiators' 54% field goal percentage is 8th best in the country, and their 20 assists per game rank 5th in the nation.  They're also the 12th leading scoring team in the country, averaging 93 points per game.

UC Irvine last played on Nov 17th, and coming off a lopsided 110-73 victory over the Pacifica College Gladiators.  Joannis Dimakopoulos led the Gladiators with 16 points, while Luke Nelson issued 8 assists.


THE DISH ON JASON BRICKMAN:

He led all NCAA Division-1 players with 290 assists last season, as well as an 8.5 assists per game average as a Junior.  After just two games as a senior, he's averaging 12 assists per.  He entered the season as LIU's all-time assists leader with 719.  The all-time NEC record is 804 assists.  So far, Jason has 24 assists in two games, and needs another 62 to set the mark.  With another 257 assists, he would become only the 4th NCAA player to amass 1,000 assists in a career.




Mike.BTB