Game Notes (PDF)


HIGHLIGHTS:
•           NJIT has tied a season high with its current three-game winning streak (also Nov. 21-27). The last time the Highlanders won four straight was 2/25/12-3/9/12 – a span which included two Great West Tournament games. The only longer win streak in NJIT's D-I history was a program-record six-gamer, 2/1/11-2/19/11.
•           NJIT is above .500 through 17 games (9-8) for the first time in its D-I era. A win Thursday would mark the deepest into a season the Highlanders will be two games above .500. In fact, they've only been two games above .500 twice in the era: 2-0 in their very first season (2006-07) and 4-2 through November this season.
•           NJIT is 0-9 all-time against teams from the Ivy League; 0-2 against Penn. This is the Highlanders first crack at the Ancient Eight this season.
•           With the NJIT win at Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday, Head Coach Jim Engles earned his 50^th career victory.
•          NJIT has tied a program best with four wins against a non-conference, Division- I opponents – New Hampshire (AEC), South Carolina State (MEAC), Army (Patriot) and FDU (NEC). A win Thursday will provide a program-record fifth – all five against teams representing different conferences.


NEWARK, NJ – Riding the momentum of a three-game winning streak and the 50^th all-time victory in the coaching career of Jim Engles, the Highlanders will look to notch their first-ever win against an Ivy League school when they host University of Pennsylvania (2-13) on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Fleisher Athletic Center. The Quakers have lost eight consecutive affairs.

NJIT and Penn haven't met since the 2008-09 season, when the Quakers cruised to a 59-40 win on Jan. 17, 2009, at Fleisher Athletic Center – which was coincidentally the Highlanders' final loss during their historical 51-game losing streak.

Penn also doled out Loss #21 of the streak with a 79-68 defeat of NJIT at The Palestra on Jan. 5, 2008 (pre-Engles era) in their only other all-time meeting.

For today's Highlanders, a win on Thursday will mark just the third time in their Division I era that they will achieve a four-game winning streak. The Highlanders last won four in a row towards the end of last season, when NJIT emerged victorious in the final two regular-season affairs and in its first two GWC Tournament games from Feb. 25 through March 9.

The other string was during the program's all-time best, six-game winning streak during the 2010-11 season, from Feb. 1-19.

Remarkably, this recent surge started after the Highlanders' worst loss of the season – an 83-66 defeat at Lafayette on Jan. 2. The 17-point loss was more than double their average margin of defeat in four BIG EAST losses as well as seven points more than all three of their non-BIG EAST defeats combined.

NJIT has come roaring back.

Most recently, the Highlanders passed yet another gut-check in holding off Fairleigh Dickinson on the Knights' home court, 66-63, on Monday in Hackensack. Despite building a 39-25 halftime lead, the Highlanders watched a much improved Knights team charge back and take its first (and, subsequently, only) lead of the game at 52-51 with 6:07 remaining.

But the battle-tested team persevered, scoring the next six points and never falling behind again. They were forced to overcome two late ties, as freshman G Ky Howard buried a three-pointer to break a 57-57 deadlock with 3:04 remaining and later senior G Chris Flores knocked down a short jumper to put NJIT up for good at 62-60 with 1:07 left to play.

In fact, NJIT has improved mightily at the free-throw line to help prevail in all three of these nail-biting victories. After starting the season just .659 from the stripe in their first 14 games, the Highlanders have canned 58-of-74 (.783) free throws during this recent winning streak.

The biggest factor for their success, both during the streak and throughout the season, remains the Highlanders' team defense. NJIT entered the week with the 11^th best field-goal percentage defense in the nation, holding the opposition to shooting just 36.5 percent. That total is just 35.1 percent during the past trio of victories.

The Highlanders also out-rebounded FDU, 32-25. In addition to leading the GWC in rebounding margin (+3.5), NJIT ranks 10^th in the nation in averaging 41.7 rebounds per game.

The past two contests have marked terrific bounce-backs for NJIT's top two scorers, Flores and F Ryan Woods. After being held to their lowest combined output of the season with 15 points at Utah Valley, the two seniors combined for their best total all-time against Chicago State (51) and followed with 39 combined tallies at FDU.

Flores, the preseason GWC Player of the Year selection, continues to pace the conference at 16.8 points per game. He also leads the circuit in steals (2.0 spg) and ranks sixth in assists (2.7 apg).

Woods, a preseason All-GWC Second-Team selection, stands third in the league in scoring (14.5 ppg). He tops the GWC in three-pointers made per game (3.1) and ranks second in three-point marksmanship (.423). In fact, the Staten Island native has drained 11-for-19 (.579) from deep over his last two games.

Woods has also connected on 45 of 49 free-throw attempts this season to pace the GWC at .918 from the line.

Senior G PJ Miller, who set a program record with nine assists on Saturday, leads the GWC in assists (4.5 apg). Prior to netting just five points at FDU, he had scored in double-digits in five consecutive games (13.0 ppg) after never previously posting 10+ points in more than back-to-back games during his four-year career.

With the significant injuries in the frontcourt to both freshman F Terrence Smith (left foot) and junior F Quentin Bastian (left ankle) – both sidelined since mid-December – sophomores forwards Daquan Holiday and Odera Nweke have successfully shouldered the load.

Holiday, who set a program record with 17 rebounds on Saturday, has averaged 6.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 2.6 bpg over his last nine affairs. Nweke has averaged 6.4 ppg and 5.7 rpg over his last seven games.

The two teams have shared a pair of common opponents this season. Both squads lost to Villanova, though NJIT was defeated on the road, 70-60, while Penn was upended at The Palestra, 70-57. Both also dropped a game to Lafayette, though NJIT fell on the road, 83-66, while Penn was edged at home, 85-83.

According to the up-to-date 2013 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings, Penn has an RPI of 262 while NJIT is at 269.

•   NAIL BITERS
Take out BIG EAST teams and Division III opponents and NJIT is 6-4 – with eight games determined by five or fewer points. They've won two games at the buzzer while losing three, which includes the defeat at Providence.

•   LEADERS OF THE PACK
NJIT leads the GWC in many key categories: scoring offense (70.2 ppg) and defense (64.9 ppg), FG percentage defense (.365), three-point FG percentage defense (.298), rebounding margin (+3.2) and blocked shots (6.0 bpg). As of Jan 10, the Highlanders rank ninth in the nation in rebounding (42.3 rpg) and 13th in FG percentage defense.


FROM THE QUAKERS' PENN:

After starting with a season-opening victory over UMBC on Nov. 9, University of Pennsylvania (2-13) has dropped 13 of its last 14 contests and the last eight in succession.

The Quakers were predicted to finish fifth according to the preseason Ivy League coaches poll after posting an impressive 20-13 record and 11-3 conference mark a season ago.

Penn is led in scoring by junior F Fran Dougherty, whose 15.7 ppg would rank third in the Ivy League if his 10 games were enough to qualify. However, he has not played since Dec. 21 having missed five straight games due to mononucleosis. The 6-8 native New Britain, Pa., has also pulled down a Quaker-best 8.8 rpg.

Junior G Miles Cartwright is second on the team at 13.4 ppg, which stands fifth best in the conference. His 3.3 apg is good for the team lead and for eighth best in the Ancient Eight.

Recently, freshman G Tony Hicks has picked up some slack. The native of South Holland, Ill., set career highs in points (16), rebounds (6), assists (5) and minutes played (30) last time out against Princeton. Hicks now has four straight double-figure scoring performances, averaging 13.0 ppg during the stretch (7.4 for the year).

Of note, former Penn standout Ira Bowman will be making his return to Fleisher Athletic Center as an assistant under Head Coach Jerome Allen. The 1996 Ivy League Player of the Year spent the past four seasons as an assistant at NJIT from the inaugural season of the Jim Engles regime.

Penn has won 1,699 games as a program; with one more, the Quakers will become the 11th NCAA Division I program to reach 1,700 wins.

Fans can follow all the action live on www.njithighlanders.com, which will carry a live video stream and webcast play-by-play and commentary from Matt Provence, as well as an in-game real-time stat feed. Coverage begins at 7:15 p.m. with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.


Write-up courtesy of Matt Provence