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COLUMBUS, Ohio — There was no fear, no awe, no NCAA jitters from the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds last night at Nationwide Arena.
But no history.
Alas, this wasn’t Robert Morris in the way of their improbable dream. It wasn’t Quinnipiac. It wasn’t Sacred Heart.
It was a proud, strong, selfless program that refused to be the first No.1 seed to lose to a 16.
LIU Brooklyn coach Jim Ferry tried desperately to find the right combination, threw everything but the kitchen sink at Junior’s on Flatbush Avenue at the Spartans.
He needed Dwight Howard even more than the Nets do.
To label Michigan State 89, LIU Brooklyn 67, a matchup of McDonald’s All-Americas against guys who eat McDonald’s would be a disservice to the gritty Blackbirds. But you get the point.
On a maddening March day when Norfolk State shocked Missouri, Lehigh shocked Duke and Ohio University shocked Michigan, Goliath let David hang around for 20 minutes before breaking his slingshot over his knee and heart in pieces.
There are no medals for trying, so making Tom Izzo sweat for 20 minutes will have to do for LIU Brooklyn.
To their credit, they never stopped giving it the old college try.
“They know we’re a tough bunch of people,” Jamal Olasewere said.
It will take a tough bunch of people for a 16 seed to shock a 1.
“Maybe it’ll be us next year if we get a 16,” Olasewere said, “I’m telling you that we’re going to be back here next year.”
Their hearts may have been broken, but their spirit was not.
“I still feel that if we play ’em again,” Julian Boyd said, “we’ll definitely give ’em a good run.”
Michael Culpo’s eyes were red and wet afterwards.
“I didn’t think I was going to break down emotionally, I’m not really an emotional person like that,” the senior from Pittsfield, Mass. said, “but just the thought of it’s my last college game so, end of my career, hit me.”
LIU Brooklyn, the third-highest scoring team in the nation, couldn’t run and so it couldn’t hide. Or rebound (a 43-20 disadvantage).
When Boyd scored inside off glass against Adreian Payne — a mere 6-foot-10, 240 lbs. — to cut the LIU Brooklyn deficit to 46-42, the LIU Brooklyn contingent of 300 fans began chanting “Dee-fense, Dee-fense” and the cheerleaders joined in.
One problem: The Blackbirds had no defense for Michigan State’s size.
At every position on the floor, the Blackbirds resembled chihuahuas nipping at the heels of Great Danes.
“They were just too big,” 5-foot-10 point guard Jason Brickman said.
Ferry put it another way: “Those guys,” he said, “are monsters.”
When 6-foot-7, 230-pound monster Draymond Green, one of the Spartans who could line up at defensive end for the football team, drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead to 60-47, how demoralizing do you suppose that must have been to the Blackbirds?
Soon, after Culpo missed a 3, Derrick Nix — a 6-foot-9, 270-pound monster — reached over the head of poor Kenny Onyechi for a chippie, and it was 64-50, and all of a sudden every Michigan State player must have looked like Magic Johnson to the Blackbirds — or Bubba Smith — and in the blink of an eye, it was 74-54.
“Tom Izzo raises that team and that program on toughness, and it definitely shows,” Boyd said.
Whenever the Blackbirds appeared susceptible to an early blowout, they would gather themselves and refuse to go away, and a pullup 3-pointer by Brickman cut the deficit to 25-21. A right corner 3-pointer by Booker Hucks made it 27-24.
LIU Brooklyn on the ropes.
LIU Brooklyn escaped again.
“We definitely thought we could win the game,” Olasewere said.
The Blackbirds believed in their heart of hearts that the NCAA tournament is built for upsets. And yesterday, it sure was.
Just not for them.