Sports

Hey, hoops snobs: No beating rivalry of LIU and St. Francis

Prior to coming to the World’s Great Tabloid Newspaper, I did a lot of freelance work, pitching stories here and there.

One was a piece on the 10 best rivalries in college football. I ranked Lehigh-Lafayette above Auburn-Alabama. A gentleman from a Birmingham, Ala., radio station asked if I would be willing to share a few minutes to discuss my rankings.

Three-plus hours later, I got off the phone feeling like a human pinata.

So I get it, the masses — whether fans of college football or basketball — love the big-name rivalries: Duke-North Carolina, Kentucky-Indiana, Georgetown-Syracuse.

But tomorrow, college hoops fans should consider getting their noses out of the clouds and going to one of the really great rivalries — at any level: St. Francis of Brooklyn meets LIU Brooklyn at Barclays Center. It’s the 98th meeting between the Kings County residents. It’s the Battle of Brooklyn. High noon.

This is turf war. This is the West Side Story of local hoops, though I’m not going designate either program the Jets or the Sharks.

The two campuses are seven-tenths of a mile apart. The two programs play in the same league — the Northeast Conference.

The rosters are very different. LIU is comprised mostly of players from outside the Big Apple. St. Francis can field a debate team that would be a tough out if the topics are finding the best slice of pizza or best hot dog in the city.

LIU won the first matchup, 78-68, on Jan. 24. The Blackbirds (12-11, 7-4 NEC), who lead the all-time series 59-36, made more free throws (20) than the Terriers (9-13, 5-6) attempted (18) so you know that’s been the topic of some locker room chatter.

The Blackbirds are trying to become the first NEC school to win three straight tournament titles, which comes with an automatic NCAA Tournament berth. Since the higher-seeded team gets home court throughout the NEC tournament, LIU, which is chasing Bryant University (9-2), needs to win tomorrow’s game.

If you’re a snob, you can probably make it home in time for the tip-off of St. John’s game at Syracuse (3 p.m., ESPN).

LIU-St. Francis is as good an appetizer as you can ask for.

* This season, St. John’s coach Steve Lavin has majored in developing one of the youngest rosters in college basketball and minored in curtailing expectations. Sorry, but as of yesterday, the horse has left the barn. Lavin’s Red Storm players head to Syracuse knowing a win would put them heavily on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

“We can win,’’ said freshman JaKarr Sampson.

Yes, the Johnnies (15-8, 7-4 Big East) have proven they will fight any opponent for the last piece of meat on the bone. Then again, none of these Johnnies has played the Orange (19-3, 7-2) in the Carrier Dome. Lavin knows his players will probably get their noses bloodied a few more times this season, but he won’t sandbag them when discussing the potential of this group.

“Clearly when I came to St. John’s and I recruited these players, the objective is to be able to be going dancing in March,’’ said Lavin. “It’s natural for our players to aspire to that and we’re very clear on an annual basis that the goal is to make the NCAA Tournament and try to make something special happen.’’

* Stat of the Week:
Collin Rochford of Rumble In The Garden points out that St. John’s point guard Phil Greene IV has committed just five turnovers in his last 268 minutes of Big East play. Greene can hold my money.

Statement of the Week: From one to nine, the Atlantic 10 might be better than the Big East this year.