Link to FOX Sports 1 Channel Finder
 
Live audio link on NJITHighlanders.com (play-by-play from Matt Provence)
 
Live stats link (free)
 
 
NEWARK, NJ—Off to the best 10-game start in its Division I era at 6-4, the NJIT men's basketball team will head to downtown Newark and the Prudential Center to visit Seton Hall (6-3) in a 9 pm Tuesday game that will be televised across the nation on FOX Sports 1.
 
FOX Sports 1 is a new national 24-hour multi-sport cable channel launched on August 17 by FOX Sports with the ability to reach approximately 90 million homes. NJIT will be making its first appearance on the new cable channel and will be on FOX Sports 2, which reaches approximately 37 million homes, later this month when the Highlanders visit Butler for a December 28 game.
 
In addition, Matt Provence, voice of the Highlander,s will have all the play-by-play action live here on www.NJITHighlanders.com. Matt's coverage begins at least 15 minutes before tipoff.
 
NJIT will make its shortest road trip of the year, heading down from University Heights for approximately 1.4 miles to take on the Pirates in The Rock for the fifth consecutive season. Seton Hall holds a 4-0 lead in the series and last season's 68-59 win for SHU was the closest contest in the series to date.
 
This year, both teams come in on something of a roll, as Seton Hall, immersed in a 3-game-in-6-days stretch, has won its last two, topping 2012-13 Northeast Conference champ LIU Brooklyn (NJIT's next foe, coincidentally) and then Rutgers, a long-time in-state rival of The Hall.
 
Seton Hall has been in a high number of close games, with mixed results in terms of wins and losses. On the plus side: a 2-point win over Kent State (78-76); a 1-point win over Virginia Tech (68-67); and, a 6-point win at Rutgers (77-71). On the down side: a 3-point double overtime loss at Mercer (77-74); a 1-point loss to Oklahoma (86-85); and, a 4-point loss to Fairleigh Dickinson (58-54).
 
Four Pirates are averaging double-figure scoring, led by Sterling Gibbs (16 ppg). Fuquan Edwin (13.8 ppg) and Patrik Auda (12 ppg) are listed as out due to injury. And Brian Oliver (10.7 ppg) is the team's fourth man overall and second among the healthy, in double-figures.
 
Gibbs, who starred in high school at Seton Hall Prep, originally went to Texas, but transferred home and is in his first year playing for the Pirates. He is coming off a career-high 27 points in the win at Rutgers Sunday night.
 
Burly 6-9, 270 center Gene Teague, who averaged 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds as a junior last year, is at 9 ppg and 8.6 rpg this year and is coming off back-to-back double-doubles with 17 points and 16 rebounds vs. LIU and 16 and 16 vs. Rutgers. Teague is at least an inch taller and 40 pounds heavier than any NJIT player.
 
Such is Seton Hall's depth that Jaren Sina, rated one of the Top 100 recruits in the national high school class of 2013 and a 3-time All-State player in New Jersey, is averaging 5.7 points. A player with his background is a threat to break out at any time.
 
NJIT, 6-4 for the first time since 2000-01, when the Highlanders competed in Division II, will counter with a lineup that, at its best, can get its scoring from a variety of players, thanks to selfless sharing of the ball.
 
The Highlanders, who defeated UMass Lowell on Saturday (55-44) and Maine before that (81-72) have come out on top in 6 of the last 8 games.
 
The top scorer is freshman Damon Lynn, averaging 18.9 points and ranked 14th in Division I with 3.5 3-point field goals made per game. On the inside, Terrence Smith, a quick 6-6 sophomore, has been terrific, scoring 13.6 points a game to go with a team-best 6 rebounds per night. Winfield Willis, Tim Coleman and Ky Howard all average at least 8.6 points and Coleman gets 5 rpg.
 
NJIT, which is shooting 46 percent from the floor as a team, also has the bonus of being outstanding as a team at the foul line, with Lynn (80 pct), Smith (87 pct), Coleman (77 pct), and Willis (76 pct) all being high percentage shooters on free throws. As a team, NJIT shoots 74 percent (153-207).
 
As a special promotion for Tuesday night's game, Seton Hall is offering a "Pay What You Want" promotion in support of its Division of Volunteer Efforts (D.O.V.E). Fans will have the opportunity to purchase tickets in selected sections with a face value of $45 dollars for whatever price the fans choose in dollar increments, with a minimum donation of $1.
 
All funds collected from the sale of "Pay What You Want" tickets will go to D.O.V.E for its upcoming volunteer missions to El Salvador and Haiti. The offer is only applicable on Tuesday at the Prudential Center box office after 6 pm and at the box office on Seton Hall's campus from 9 am to 5 pm. No such tickets are being sold on the NJIT campus.