Cent. Conn. St. visits LIU following Gordon’s 20-point outing

By Canadian Press on January 2, 2026.

Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (6-5) at Long Island Sharks (6-7)

New York; Friday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: LIU plays Cent. Conn. St. after Greg Gordon scored 20 points in LIU’s 89-74 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Sharks have gone 2-1 at home. LIU is third in the NEC with 10.2 offensive rebounds per game led by Gordon averaging 2.2.

The Blue Devils are 3-4 on the road. Cent. Conn. St. has a 2-0 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

LIU scores 76.6 points, 5.1 more per game than the 71.5 Cent. Conn. St. gives up. Cent. Conn. St. averages 8.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 more made shots on average than the 7.0 per game LIU allows.

The Sharks and Blue Devils match up Friday for the first time in NEC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Malachi Davis is scoring 16.1 points per game and averaging 3.2 rebounds for the Sharks. Jamal Fuller is averaging 16.0 points and 5.7 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Jay Rodgers is averaging 10.1 points and 7.1 assists for the Blue Devils. Darin Smith Jr. is averaging 20.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Sharks: 4-6, averaging 75.9 points, 30.8 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 8.4 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.5 points per game.

Blue Devils: 5-5, averaging 75.4 points, 33.2 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 6.7 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.2 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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