LIU-Brooklyn it is

   JMU will take on LIU-Brooklyn in a play-in game on Wednesday night at 6:40 p.m. A win will put them up against Indiana Friday in Dayton as a part of the East regional.

   “I’m excited at the opportunity to play on Wednesday night,” coach Matt Brady said. “No matter who our first round opponent is, it’s an opportunity to get a win.”

   While many expected a straight 16 seed for the Dukes, they are handed a play-in game, also known as the first four.

   “I told A.J. that a play-in game would get the jitter’s out,” freshman Andre Nation said. “I feel like it will get us going.”

   Brady agreed at the momentum building opportunity of a play-in game.

   “If you play in this game, you get the rust of,” Brady said. “We will have been idol for over a week so I think the opportunity to play and then play two days later…I don’t think there is a downside to it.”

   The Dukes will be headed to Dayton tomorrow evening, but coach Matt Brady is hopeful to get in a practice before the team departs Harrisonburg.

   The game will be somewhat of a homecoming for redshirt seniors Devon Moore, A.J. Davis, and Rayshawn Goins. Moore and Davis, who are cousins, reign from Columbus while Goins resides in Cleveland.

   JMU has faced LIU-Brooklyn twice. The two previous meetings occurred in 1999-2000. JMU won both meetings, 72-59 and 72-54 respectively.

   So what does this team know about the Blackbrids? Not much.

   “They have a couple of guards that are quick,” Moore said. The team will viciously hit the DVD players to study film in the coming hours to scout their opponent.

   “We’re going to watch a lot of film and get ready for this long journey,” Moore said.

   The Dukes (186) and Blackbirds (168) are similar teams in terms of RPI. The Blackbirds come out of the NEC (Northeast Conference) and got to the big dance by also winning their conference tournament, for the third straight season. They rank fifth in the nation in points a game at 79.5 and tenth in field goal percentage at .484. The closest connection between the two schools is that LIU also defeated Hofstra in non-conference action 88-84. JMU beat Hofstra 62-41 to put it into perspective.

   The winner of this game will get the daunting pleasure of staying in Dayton and facing the top seeded Indiana Hoosiers. The David vs. Goliath task does not faze the Dukes though.

   “We going to do what we always do,” Nation said. “We’re not scared to play anyone, we just want to play our game.”

   Is Coach Brady thinking ahead to Friday where they could face the Hoosiers?

   “No. My staff will be responsible for game planning for Indiana and breaking down tape of any if there are any areas of weakness, which I’m not sure there is, what we can exploit. My focus for the rest of the night and tomorrow will be LIU.”

  Despite the inclement weather, fans filed into the Convocation Sunday evening to take part of the action with the team and Coach Brady.

   “Five years, we have believed in you,” one fan told Brady.

      Students also had opinions of their own as to the Dukes’ matchup with the Blackbirds Wednesday night.

   “It’s hard after seeing the way we’ve been playing recently to say we’re one of the worst four teams in the NCAA tournament,” junior Alex Burden said. “I think Brady can use that as a chip on the shoulder aspect.”

   Tickets will be hard to come by for Wednesday night. The school is only allotted 200 tickets for a play-in game and this includes all of the families of players and such.

   Nonetheless fans, faculty, alumni, and students got to share the selection Sunday moment with their Dukes before they head off to Dayton.

   In the end, Dayton will serve as a potential catalyst for a March Madness run.

   “This is a place that is accessible to our fans if they want to go,” Brady said. “More importantly it’s a game that will be on nationally TV and we’ll essentially have that audience for ourselves. People will know why JMU basketball can be a special thing.”