DAYTON, OHIO – The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team will take to the court in Dayton Tuesday night looking to make history. The Blackbirds will take on Radford in the First Four bracket of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, in hopes of winning the program's first ever tournament contest. The two teams will face off in a nationally-televised game at the University of Dayton Arena slated to tip off at 6:40 p.m. The contest will air on truTV, with the winner of the matchup heading to Pittsburgh to take on No. 1 Villanova, Thursday, March 15.

GAME INFORMATION
LIU Notes | Radford Notes
Live Stats | Radford Radio
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Radford comes to the NCAA Tournament riding a seven game winning streak, including a win in the Big South Championship game. The Highlanders are 22-12 this season, with a 12-6 conference record.
• Radford defeated No. 10 Longwood, 59-53 in the quarterfinals, No. 3 Winthrop, 61-52, in the semifinals and No. 5 Liberty, 55-52, in the finals to win the Big South Championship.
• This game marks the second meeting between the Blackbirds (18-16) and the Highlanders (22-12). The teams first met in 2011, at the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. The Blackbirds won that game, 81-59.
• Radford is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since 2009.
• Radford is led by Big South Coach of the Year Mike Jones, Big South Freshman of the Year Carlik Jones, and first team All-Big South honoree Ed Polite Jr. The last time the Highlanders were in the NCAA tournament in 2009, No. 16 seed Radford fell to No. 1 North Carolina, 101-58.
• The Blackbirds punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament by earning the Northeast Conference's automatic bid Tuesday. LIU upset top-seeded Wagner, 71-61 in the NEC championship to win their sixth overall title, and first since 2013.
• That year, the Blackbirds were named a No.16 seed, and traveled to Dayton to face No. 16 seed James Madison as one of the First Four games in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. In that game, LIU rallied from a 12-point, first-half deficit to take a one-point lead five minutes into the second half against James Madison, but were unable overcome poor shooting and fell to the Dukes, 68-55.
• In last week's NEC Championship game, senior Joel Hernandez and junior Raiquan Clark took their game to the next level, leading the Blackbirds in the win and earning LIU its first NCAA tournament bid in five years. Hernandez, who was named NEC Tournament MVP, finished with 32 points and seven rebounds, while Clark was named to the All-Tournament team with 20 points and eight rebounds.
• The Blackbirds are led by first-year head coach Derek Kellogg, who is making his second NCAA Tournament appearance. He led his former team UMass to an at-large bid in the tournament in 2014, after finishing the regular season 24-9. Coach Kellogg is just one of four coaches in NEC history to win an NEC Championship in the first year with a team. Kellogg encourages a quick style of play that the Blackbirds have embraced, as LIU is ranked in the top 40 nationally in pace.
• Senior Joel Hernandez ranks third among active NEC players in points scored in a career. He has 1,421 career points thus far, moving him up to 15^th on LIU's all-time scoring list.