# 2018–19 LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball team

The 2018–19 LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball team represented LIU Brooklyn during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blackbirds were led by second-year head coach Derek Kellogg, and played their home games at the Steinberg Wellness Center, with two home games at the Barclays Center, as members of the Northeast Conference (NEC). They finished the season 16–16 overall, 9–9 in NEC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the NEC tournament, they advanced to the semifinals, where they were defeated by Saint Francis (PA).
The season was the final season for the LIU Brooklyn athletic program as a distinct entity, and also the last for the "Blackbirds" nickname. Long Island University merged its two athletic programs—the Division I LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and Division II LIU Post Pioneers—into a single Division I athletic program that has since competed as the LIU Sharks. The unified LIU program maintained LIU Brooklyn's NEC membership. The Brooklyn campus will be home to the unified basketball program.

## Previous season

The Blackbirds finished the 2017–18 season at 18–17, 10–8 in NEC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the No. 4 seed in the NEC tournament, they defeated St. Francis Brooklyn, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Wagner to become NEC Tournament champions. They earned the NEC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the First Four to Radford.

## Roster

Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:00 pm | | New Rochelle | W 109–76 | 1–0 | Steinberg Wellness Center Brooklyn, NY |
| November 9, 2018* 7:30 pm | | Brown | W 83–81 | 2–0 | Steinberg Wellness Center (452) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 13, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Fairfield | W 89–87 | 3–0 | Webster Bank Arena (1,017) Bridgeport, CT |
| November 18, 2018* 8:00 pm | | at San Francisco Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic campus game | L 52–84 | 3–1 | The Kelp Bed (289) Seaside, CA |
| November 20, 2018* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Milwaukee Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic campus game | L 87–92 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (895) Milwaukee, WI |
| November 24, 2018* 2:30 pm | | NJIT | L 70–77 | 3–3 | Steinberg Wellness Center (397) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 29, 2018* 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Albany Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic Samson semifinals | W 80–77 | 4–3 | SSE Arena (3,166) Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| November 30, 2018* 2:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Marist Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic Samson championship | L 53–70 | 4–4 | SSE Arena (6,460) Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| December 8, 2018* 1:00 pm | | at Saint Peter's | W 74–56 | 5–4 | Yanitelli Center (586) Jersey City, New Jersey |
| December 12, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Stony Brook | L 79–83 | 5–5 | Island Federal Credit Union Arena (2,475) Stony Brook, NY |
| December 21, 2018* 12:00 pm | | Binghamton | L 67–68 | 5–6 | Barclays Center (721) Brooklyn, NY |
| December 30, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Fordham | W 60–57 | 6–6 | Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,538) Bronx, NY |
| Northeast Conference regular season ||||||
| January 3, 2019 6:00 pm | | at Sacred Heart | L 75–79 | 6–7 (0–1) | William H. Pitt Center (384) Fairfield, CT |
| January 5, 2019 4:00 pm | | at Bryant | W 79–70 | 7–7 (1–1) | Chace Athletic Center (1,184) Smithfield, RI |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 pm | | Saint Francis (PA) | L 67–74 | 7–8 (1–2) | Steinberg Wellness Center (437) Brooklyn, NY |
| January 12, 2019 4:30 pm | | Robert Morris | W 80–73 | 8–8 (2–2) | Steinberg Wellness Center (572) Brooklyn, NY |
| January 19, 2019 4:30 pm | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 79–77 | 9–8 (3–2) | Steinberg Wellness Center (492) Brooklyn, NY |
| January 21, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | St. Francis Brooklyn | L 70–79 | 9–9 (3–3) | Steinberg Wellness Center (758) Brooklyn, NY |
| January 24, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Mount St. Mary's | L 72–74 | 9–10 (3–4) | Knott Arena (1,832) Emmitsburg, MD |
| January 26, 2019 1:00 pm | | at Central Connecticut | W 84–71 | 10–10 (4–4) | William H. Detrick Gymnasium (764) New Britain, CT |
| January 31, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Fairleigh Dickinson | L 77–80 | 10–11 (4–5) | Rothman Center (990) Hackensack, NJ |
| February 2, 2019 4:00 pm | | at Wagner | L 59–71 | 10–12 (4–6) | Spiro Sports Center (1,918) Staten Island, NY |
| February 7, 2019 7:00 pm | | Mount St. Mary's | W 77–62 | 11–12 (5–6) | Barclays Center (1,934) Brooklyn, NY |
| February 9, 2019 4:30 pm | | Wagner | L 65–68 | 11–13 (5–7) | Steinberg Wellness Center (672) Brooklyn, NY |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 pm | | at St. Francis Brooklyn Battle of Brooklyn | L 76–83 | 11–14 (5–8) | Generoso Pope Athletic Complex (672) Brooklyn, NY |
| February 16, 2019 2:00 pm | | Sacred Heart | W 92–84 | 12–14 (6–8) | Steinberg Wellness Center (597) Brooklyn, NY |
| February 21, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Robert Morris | L 49–62 | 12–15 (6–9) | North Athletic Complex (1,016) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 23, 2019 1:00 pm | | at Saint Francis (PA) | W 69–66 | 13–15 (7–9) | DeGol Arena (1,218) Loretto, PA |
| February 28, 2019 7:00 pm | | Central Connecticut | W 84–55 | 14–15 (8–9) | Steinberg Wellness Center (621) Brooklyn, NY |
| March 2, 2019 4:30 pm | | Bryant | W 81–65 | 15–15 (9–9) | Steinberg Wellness Center (721) Brooklyn, NY |
| NEC tournament ||||||
| March 6, 2019 6:00 pm | (6) | at (3) Sacred Heart Quarterfinals | W 71–62 | 16–15 | William H. Pitt Center (494) Fairfield, CT |
| March 9, 2019 12:00 pm | (6) | at (1) St. Francis (PA) Semifinals | L 64–72 | 16–16 | DeGol Arena Loretto, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Schedule source: