The Highlander men host their counterparts from Chicago State University in what will be the first-ever home basketball date for NJIT in the new Great West Conference. The game between the Highlanders and Cougars men will follow a 2 pm game between the two women's programs from the schools in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center on campus.
The inside of the Fleisher Athletic Center should be a welcome sight for the NJIT men who have played nine of their last 10 contests on the road, including their last two, the Great West opening trip to Texas. NJIT lost at Texas-Pan American (66-53) on Thursday, Jan. 14, and then two days later at Houston Baptist (75-62).
Chicago State made the same trip in reverse, falling at Houston Baptist (66-56) and then went to Texas-Pan Am and lost last Saturday (63-42).
NJIT and CSU also have a common foe in Wagner, which lost twice this season to the Highlanders (in November in Newark and December on Staten Island). Chicago State beat Wagner in the Las Vegas Classic two days before Christmas.
The Highlanders have a triumvirate of players averaging double-figure scoring, topped by sophomore captain Isaiah Wilkerson, who gets 13.5 points per game and is the most consistent threat, reaching double-figures in 16 of the team's 18 games. He also paces the NJIT rebounders with 5.3 per game.
Freshman Chris Flores gets 12.3 ppg and leads NJIT in steals (31). He was the team's top scorer in both conference games, netting a game-high 16 points at UTPA and leading the Highlanders with 20 points, highlighted by 10-for-12 at the foul line, at Houston Baptist.
Junior Jheryl Wilson, who tied the NJIT Division I records when he scored 27 points and made 10 field goals at Lehigh on Jan. 2, averages 12.2 points and leads the Highlanders with 42 assists in a close race with Flores (39) and Wilkerson (37).
NJIT also expects to welcome talented freshman PJ Miller back to action. Miller returned to practice after missing the previous eight games due to a stress fracture in his left foot. He had started eight of 10 games before being sidelined.
Chicago State, a 19-game winner last year for coach Benjy Taylor, has won all four of its previous games against NJIT (two in each of the last two seasons). CSU boasts one of the top inside players in the Great West Conference in Carl Montgomery, an explosively athletic 6-foot-7 post player, who leads the Cougars in scoring (13.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.2 rpg). Junior guard Christian Wall chips in 12.2 ppg for CSU.
Chicago State is dramatically changed from a year ago when it averaged over 84 points per game, some 24 points per game over this season's 60-point average. That's not a huge surprise considering the departure of David Holston (25.9 ppg in 2008-09) and John Cantrell (19 ppg), who combined for over 3,600 points in their four years together as Cougars.
Fans unable to make the game can follow all the action live on www.njithighlanders.com, which will carry a webcast play-by-play and commentary by Matt Provence, as well as an in-game real-time stat feed.
