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NJIT completes the first weekend of Great West Conference play (and the Highlanders' longest homestand of the season) on Saturday with a visit from Houston Baptist. The game is scheduled for a 4 pm start, preceded by the women's game between NJIT and HBU, which tips at 2 pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
NJIT, which has played its last three games (Lehigh, Marywood, and Texas-Pan American) at home, opened Great West play on Wednesday night with a wire-to-wire 79-60 win over UTPA. Houston Baptist began conference play a night later, losing a high-scoring affair at Chicago State, 91-82.
Houston Baptist has certainly struggled so far this season, having won just once (88-81 at home vs. Texas State on December 4) in 15 games.
However, Great West teams are advised not to underestimate the Huskies. Last season, Houston Baptist went 1-17 outside the conference, but finished a solid second in the Great West, with a 9-3 regular season mark, before winning twice in the GWC Tournament, where it was runner-up after a 91-86 championship game loss to South Dakota.
Three of HBU's 12 wins a year ago came against NJIT. The Huskies won in Houston (75-62 on Jan. 16), in Newark at the Prudential Center (62-58 on Feb. 18) and finally on a neutral court at Utah Valley in the GWC Tournament semifinals (74-64 on March 12). Those wins ran Houston Baptist to 5-0 in the all-time series between the schools, as the Huskies swept both 2008-09 games in the programs' last pre-Great West season.
Houston Baptist relies heavily on 2009-10 GWC Newcomer of the Year and 2010-11 GWC Preseason Player of the Year Andrew Gonzalez. The 6-foot-6 senior is effective all over the court, averaging 20.9 points per game, plus a solid 5.2 rebounds. He is a decent 3-point threat, having made a team-best 36 last season and 22 this season, but he also draws fouls and does huge damage at the foul line. Last year, he made 182 free throws in 32 games (nearly 6 points per game from the foul line alone) and this year he is doing even better (93 free throws made in 14 games--6.6 ppg on free throws). He is connecting on better than 85 percent of his attempts.
Last season, he scored a relatively modest 14 points against NJIT in the first game, but then scored exactly half of his team's points in Newark (31 of 62) and then 24 points in the Great West Tournament semifinal.
Miles Dixon, who had 15 points and 8 rebounds against the Highlanders in the 2010 GWC Tournament, is averaging 12.2 points in five games this season for HBU, but he has missed the last 10 games due to injury.
Senior Michael Moss and junior Terry Bembry each average 8.1 ppg and Moss has a team-leading 55 assists and 45 steals for veteran head coach Ron Cottrell, who is in his 20th season guiding the Huskies (392 wins, 243 losses). With 3 steals per game, Moss would rank sixth nationally if HBU, still reclassifying, and its players were eligible for Division I team and statistical championships. Bembry, a junior college transfer, is the top rebounder for HBU, with 7.6 rpg.
The Highlanders, who did not score more than 70 points in their first seven games this season against Division I opponents, have averaged 79 points per game in their last four home contests—82 vs. LIU; 83 vs. Lehigh; 73 vs. Marywood; and, 79 vs. Texas-Pan American.
NJIT will aim to continue its recent offensive rhythm, while also improving on the defensive end. The Highlanders, who, despite scoring over 80 points each against LIU and Lehigh, had lost those games, held Division III Maywood to an opponents' season-low 47 points and then the 60 points for Texas-Pan American was the lowest for the season among 11 Division I foes.
The top three scorers for NJIT, all preseason all-Great West Conference picks, are bunched within 10 points of each other in total points. Senior Jheryl Wilson has scored 164 points (11.7 ppg); junior Isaiah Wilkerson has 158 points (11.3 ppg); and, sophomore Chris Flores had 154 points (11 ppg). Also entering the scoring average mix is freshman Lamar Kearse, whose season average is 9.4 ppg after he came off the bench for 22 points against Texas-Pan American. The 22 points for Kearse represented his personal best and matched the team season-best, matching Wilson's 22 points vs. Lehigh.
Wilkerson is NJIT's season rebounding leader (5.5 rpg), while Wilson adds 4.5 rpg and leads the team with 40 assists. Flores, who has scored at least 10 points in five of the last six games, has 36 assists and a team-best 22 steals.
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 from Matt Provence, as well as an in-game real-time stat feed. Audio coverage will begin immediately following the women's game, which will also be streamed live in its entirety.
