Link to FOX Sports 2 Channel Finder
 
Live audio play-by-play by Matt Provence on NJITHighlanders.com (free)
 
Live stats link (free)
 
 
INDIANAPOLIS—NJIT men's basketball makes its second national television appearance of the year on Saturday at 1 pm when the Highlanders visit national power Butler for a game in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse to be televised national on FOX Sports 2, a cable channel that reaches approximately 37 million homes.
 
On August 17 this year, FOX Sports, already known for its award-winning coverage of the NFL and Major League Baseball, among others, launched FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 for multi-sport cable channels. FOX Sports 1, a 24-hour channel reaches approximately 90 million homes and NJIT's game vs. Seton Hall was on that channel on December 10. Now, the Highlanders will appear on FOX Sports 2 taking on Butler.
 
Butler, located in Indianapolis in the heart of basketball-mad Indiana, has always had a passionate local and regional following. In recent years, that has translated into national success, making Butler one of the elite programs in all of college basketball.
 
The Bulldogs' place near the top of the college game was cemented when Butler advanced all the way to the National Championship Game in both 2010 and 2011. Those two appearances at the pinnacle underlined the success of a program that has been in the NCAA Tournament 9 times since 2000. Further, the Bulldogs who joined the revamped BIG EAST Conference for 2013-14, have had at least 20 wins in 15 of the last 17 years.
 
Last year, Butler's record was 29-7 and the program advanced to the Round of 32.
 
Butler is a regular in the national Top 25 this century, but is not there at this point, despite a 9-2 record.  The Bulldogs' two losses came by a combined four points, both on a neutral court in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, FL. The Bulldogs lost to Oklahoma State, 69-67, on November 29 and to LSU on December 1, 70-68, in overtime. They have won four in a row since those back-to-back defeats in Orlando.
 
Butler is outscoring its opponents by an average of 76.1 points per game to 63.8 points per game. Six players average at least 6.5 points, led by 6-foot-6 sophomore Kellen Dunham (18.9 ppg) and 6-foot-6 senior Khyle Marshall (16.6 ppg). Kameron Woods, a 6-foot-9 junior, is just under double-figure scoring at 9.6 ppg, but he leads the rebounders at 9.5 rpg (Marshall averages 6.8 rpg). The Bulldogs are dominating the team rebounding against their foes (38.1 rpg-to-32.9 rpg).
 
Butler's first-year head coach is former star player Brandon Miller (Class of 2003), who had coached as an assistant at Butler, Illinois, Ohio State, and Xavier. He took over for Brad Stevens, who departed Butler in July to become head coach of the Boston Celtics.
 
Another feature of Saturday's game is the venue, Hinkle Fieldhouse, one of the iconic basketball buildings in the world.
 
Hinkle Fieldhouse, opened as Butler Fieldhouse in 1928 on campus in Indianapolis, served for many years as home of the famed Indiana high school championship game, the culmination of an "open" annual tournament that began with schools of all sizes in the Hoosier state. The most famous game in that series of open championships was the "Milan Miracle" of 1954 when tiny Milan High (town population of 1,150) shocked Muncie Central (city population over 60,000) on Butler's home court. In a case of art imitating life, it was used to film all of the championship scenes in the iconic 1986 film Hoosiers, which was inspired by the Milan Miracle.
 
NJIT went into its first national TV appearance vs. Seton Hall on FOX Sports 1 with a 6-4 record, the first time the Highlanders won 6 of their first 10 games since 2000-01, when the program competed at the Division II level.
 
The Highlanders gave a good showing vs. Seton Hall before losing, 71-55. They haven't won since, having dropped four straight as the enter the daunting challenge against Butler.
 
A young squad, NJIT's top nine scorers are either freshmen or sophomores and two of the sophomores are in their first seasons competing as Highlanders after transferring in and sitting out 2012-13.
 
Freshman Damon Lynn averages a team-best 16.6 points per game and has connected on 46 3-pointers less than halfway through the season. He is also one of five Highlanders shooting better 80 percent on foul shots.
 
Sophomore Terrence Smith, who played in only 11 games as a freshman due to injury, is averaging 13.4 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds, plus a team-best .576 field goal percentage. He is coming off back-to-back double-doubles, including 18 points and a career-high 11 rebounds at St. Francis Brooklyn.
 
Sophomore Winfield Willis averages 10.6 points per game. One of the transfer sophomores, he has played all 14 games, starting four and coming off the bench in 10. One of those was against LIU Brooklyn on December 12, when he was a sub and poured in 30 points, the most by a Highlander vs. a Division I opponent since the program moved up to Division I competition on 2006-07.
 
Matt Provence, voice of the Highlanders, will have all the play-by-play action live here on www.NJITHighlanders.com. Matt's coverage begins at least 15 minutes before tipoff.