DAYTON, Ohio — A week ago, former LIU Brooklyn coach Jim Ferry watched his old team crush Mount St. Mary’s in the NEC Championship, vaulting the Blackbirds into tonight’s First Four matchup against James Madison.
“I think if they play like they played that night, they’ll be fine,” Ferry, now the coach at Duquesne, told The Post yesterday.
LIU is back dancing tonight, set to play in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year and hoping to finally obliterate its winless tourney history.
The Blackbirds (20-13) are 0-5 in this tournament, including losses in each of the last two seasons — to No. 2 seed North Carolina in 2011 and No. 1 seed Michigan State in 2012.
Tonight, they have landed in one of the NCAA Tournament’s four play-in games — facing not a national powerhouse but a fellow No. 16 seed in CAA champion James Madison (20-14). The winner takes on Indiana, the top seed in the East Region, on Friday.
James Madison hasn’t been to the tournament since 1994, whereas LIU’s core of senior forward Jamal Olasewere, senior guard C.J. Garner and junior guard Jason Brickman is playing in it for the third straight season. Both sides believe that is an LIU edge.
“I think our experience is definitely an advantage for us, being here for a third straight year,” Brickman said. “I think that we’re going to be comfortable in this environment and atmosphere and playing on national TV.”
James Madison coach Matt Brady said he’s concerned about LIU’s experience.
“I do think they have an advantage being here on the stage,” he said.
James Madison’s stage will be without one of its key players for tonight’s first half, as leading scorer and rebounder Rayshawn Goins is suspended for the opening 20 minutes.
Goins was reportedly arrested on Sunday for disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice, and the absence of the senior forward (who was not made available to the media) changes the dynamic of the game.
When Ferry’s Duquesne team played James Madison on Nov. 19, Goins had 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Ferry called the 6-foot-6, 275-pound Goins “a nightmare matchup for us” and said he was a key player LIU must contain.
“I think the two things that can cause problems for LIU is the size of the guards and the versatility of Goins,” Ferry said. “I think [Goins’ absence] changes a lot.”
Brady said James Madison beat William & Mary on Feb. 6 without an injured Goins, but William & Mary also wasn’t an NCAA Tournament team.
“It’s definitely going to affect us because we play through him,” point guard Devon Moore said.
LIU features a high-octane offense, ranking fifth in the country with 79.5 points per game.
“We’re trying to get the game in the 80s,” first-year head coach and longtime assistant Jack Perri said.
Brady, who does not want his Dukes in a game with a blazing tempo, said the pace is “the single biggest factor in this game.”
Ferry has spoken to Perri more than once about this game and also passed along Duquesne’s scouting reports on James Madison.
Perri said the inside information could be somewhat helpful, but added James Madison is not playing as big since the Duquesne game in November.
Tonight, LIU will need to play a big game as it tries to capture its first win in the Dance.