The NJIT men return to action against Great West Conference foe Utah Valley University in the second half of a doubleheader between the men's and women's teams of the two schools. The game between the Highlanders and Wolverines is scheduled for a 4 pm tipoff, following completion of the women's game in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center on campus.
NJIT, which hasn't played since last Saturday and won't play again until next Saturday, is coming off one of its finest efforts as a Division I program. The Highlanders defeated Great West foe Chicago State, 66-37, setting new program DI records for scoring defense (the old record low for an opponent was 51), scoring margin (the old mark was +11) and 3-point field goals made (10; the old standard was 9).
NJIT's leaders in the win over Chicago State were junior Jheryl Wilson, who scored a game-high 23 points and led the Highlanders in rebounds, with eight. Isaiah Wilkerson added 17 points and 7 rebounds for NJIT. Teddy Schickel, who made his second start of the season, had a career-high 6 assists for the Highlanders, as well.
For the season, the Highlanders have three players averaging double-figure scoring—Wilkerson (13.7 ppg); Wilson (12.8 ppg); and, freshman Chris Flores (12.1 ppg). The same trio averages double-figure scoring through the first three conference games, paced by 14.3 ppg for Flores.
Wilkerson is NJIT's top rebounder (5.4 rpg), followed by Wilson (5 rpg). Wilson is the team's assists leader (44) and Flores, who made four steals against Chicago State, is the season leader in that category, with 35.
Although NJIT and Utah Valley are both among the seven schools who united to form the newly-expanded all-sports Great West Conference this season, they are early enough in conference play that they have only one common foe to date—Chicago State. NJIT owns the big win from last week and will visit CSU in the regular season finale on March 6. Utah Valley has played the Cougars twice already, defeating Chicago State, 48-43, on January 9 in Utah and then losing in Chicago, 43-41, Thursday night before moving on to Newark to challenge NJIT.
Before heading to the Great West this season, Utah Valley had been the industry standard for Division I Independents, a group NJIT first joined in 2006-07 before the Great West Conference expanded to include basketball. The Wolverines hold a 6-0 record in the all-time series, having defeated the Highlanders twice in each of the previous three seasons.
Dick Hunsaker, a nationally-respected coach, is in his eighth season at Utah Valley and has at least 15 wins and as many as 27 in each of his first seven seasons in Orem. He was previously coach at Ball State, Macalester, and Utah before going to Utah Valley, which, like NJIT, achieved full Division I status in September 2009. Hunsaker's overall career record is 312-152.
Like NJIT's previous opponent, Chicago State, Utah Valley is dealing with the 2009 graduation of its all-time scoring leader. UVU's Ryan Toolson netted 2,163 career points and holds 11 other significant school records.
The Wolverines, who are 8-2 at home, 0-7 away, and 1-2 in neutral site games, have three men averaging double-figure scoring, led by senior Jordan Swarbrick (12.5 ppg). Junior Corey Claitt averages 11.9 points and junior Justin Baker gets 10.6 ppg. The top rebounder is senior Jourdain Scoubes (6.2 rpg).
Swarbrick is an all-around threat, averaging 5.4 rebounds and standing second on the team in assists (44) and leading in steals (27). Claitt is the assists leader, with 51.
An important statistic if the game is close is that Utah Valley shoots 74 percent from the foul line as a team, ranking 33rd in Division I.
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.
