SAN DIEGO – LIU’s best season in 14 years came to a close Friday afternoon.
The “Fins Up” celebration was no match for powerhouse and No. 1 seed Arizona. Rod Strickland’s tough group of Sharks fell behind big early and couldn’t mount much of a rally against one of the premier teams in the country in this 92-58 West Region, opening-round rout.
It was 12-2 only 3:01 in, and it was clear there would be no repeat of the scare Siena put into No. 1 Duke a day earlier. Arizona didn’t take LIU lightly. The two-loss Wildcats poured it on, leading by 24 points at halftime.
The Sharks had no answers for Arizona and its two projected first-round picks, Koa Peat and Brayden Burries.
The duo combined for 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting and 12 rebounds. Wildcats 7-foot-2 center Motiejus Krivas controlled the paint, to the tune of nine points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and Arizona crushed LIU on the glass, 52-31.
The Wildcats also shot 50 percent from 3, their supposed weakness.
Mason Porter-Brown led LIU with 15 points and Greg Gordon added 12. Malachi Davis and Jordan Fuller, the Sharks’ leading scorer, struggled from the field in shooting a combined 5-of-21 from the field.
Despite the lopsided loss, it was a memorable year for the Sharks, who returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years.
They won the NEC regular season and postseason titles, taking a major step forward in Strickland’s fourth year as coach.
