2013 GWC Tournament Bracket (PDF)

Game Notes (PDF)

CHICAGO, IL -- After winning its first Great West Conference regular-season title in program history, the NJIT men's basketball team will now attempt to earn its first-ever conference tournament championship. The No. 1 seed Highlanders will open play in the second round on Friday at 5 p.m. CST, against No. 4 Houston Baptist, which defeated No. 5 Utah Valley, 76-74, in double overtime on Thursday.

Below is a Highlanders preview for the 2013 GWC Tournament:

Regular Season: 16-12, setting a program Division-I record with 16 wins (most since 18-11 record as D-II in 2002-03).
Conference Record: 6-2, .750; First Place (tied best GWC winning percentage win 9-3 from 2010-11).
Tournament Seed: 1, highest in program history (previous best was a 2-seed in 2010-11).
At Stake: Tournament winner receives an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
Second-Round Opponent: No. 4 HBU, which defeated No. 5 UVU, 76-74, in 2 OT on Thursday.

Tournament History:
2009-10: 6-seed (out of 7). Lost in second round to No. 2 Houston Baptist, 74-64. Defeated No. 3 North Dakota in the first round, 70-57.
2010-11: 2-seed (out of 7). Lost in first round to No. 7 HBU, 72-70.
2011-12: 4-seed (out of 6). Lost in finals to No. 2 North Dakota, 65-64. Defeated No. 5 HBU, 65-64, in first round and No. 1 Utah Valley, 88-78 in OT in the second round.

Final Major Rankings: Basketball State 158, ESPN 229, Pomeroy 260 and NCAA RPI 299.


What's Good: Despite a 76-59 loss in a “meaningless” game at Texas-Pan American to close out the regular season, NJIT enters the tournament hot, having won five of its last six games and posting a 10-4 overall record since conference play opened on Jan. 5.

What's Not: Team health. NJIT literally limps into the tournament with plenty of question marks. Though expected to play, senior F Ryan Woods, an All-GWC Second Team selection and the league's fifth leading scorer, missed the season-finale at HBU. Freshman G Ky Howard, as All-Newcomer Team selection, left the season-finale with an injury and is questionable for the tournament. Senior C Sean McCarthy, who started 26 of 27 games this season, sustained an injury in practice as is questionable for the tournament. The only positive news is that freshman F Terrence Smith, who has missed the last 18 games, has a chance to play for the first time since Dec. 13.

Team Strengths: As a team NJIT led the GWC in many key categories: scoring offense (70.8 ppg) and defense (64.5 ppg), FG percentage defense (.381; 10th in NCAA), rebounding margin (+3.5) and blocked shots (5.2 bpg; 22nd in NCAA). The Highlanders also finished 11th in the nation in rebounding (39.6 rpg), 22nd in steals (8.8 spg) and 54^th in three-point accuracy (.371).

Individually, the Highlanders boast the 2012-13 GWC Player of the Year in senior G Chris Flores, who leads the league in scoring at 17.2 ppg and in steals at 2.4 spg – which ranks 16^th in the nation. He also lists sixth in the conference at 2.9 apg. He was also selected as the 2012-13 GWC Player of the Year by College Sports Madness and CollegeInsider.com.

Ryan Woods leads the GWC in three-points per game at 3.0 – which ranks 13^th in the nation -- and ranks second in three-point percentage (.418). The co-captain finished fifth in the league at 14.3 ppg and eighth in rebounding at 4.9 rpg.

Senior G PJ Miller, also an All-GWC Second-Team honoree, ranks second in the conference in assists-to-turnover ratio (+1.4), third in both assists (3.5 apg) and steals (1.7 apg) and 10^th in scoring (9.9 ppg). In the last 18 games, Miller is averaging 11.6 points per game, with 13 double-digit scoring efforts.

Ky Howard is second among conference freshmen in both scoring (7.2 ppg) and rebounding (4.6) – the latter of which ranks 10^th overall in the conference. The Philadelphia native is averaging 8.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg and 3.6 apg over his last 10 games.

Head Coach Jim Engles, who has seen his program improve in each of his first five seasons, was selected as the 2012-13 GWC Coach of the Year by the conference as well as by College Sports Madness and CollegeInsider.com. In fact, Engles was named one of 20 national finalists for the 2013 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award, which is also presented by CollegeInsider.com.

Highlanders Season Highlights:
•   A five-game winning streak from Feb. 6 to March 2 – the second longest in the program's D-I history (one win shy of the program-record six-gamer, 2/1/11-2/19/11).
•   Climbing five games above .500 for the first time in the program's D-I era and for the first time since ending a D-II season at 18-11 in 2002-03. Prior to this year, they had only been two games above .500 once (after the first two games of the era in 2006-07).
•   Setting a program record with wins against six non-conference D-I opponents.
•   Recording two, non-conference road wins this season (at Fairleigh Dickinson, at Colgate). The only other time the Highlanders accomplished this was in their first year in the D-I era, when they had wins at Manhattan and at Longwood in 2006-07.
•   Notching a 77-58 win at Colgate on Feb. 6. Not only was this their largest road win ever over a D-I opponent, but it sparked the five-game winning streak after a loss at HBU.
•   Starting conference play with a 57-52 win at preseason No. 1 UVU on Jan. 6 -- their first victory against the Wolverines in seven tries in Orem. In fact, they defeated UVU in Newark on Feb. 16 (63-55) for a sweep of the season series against a team that had defeated them in 11 of 12 regular-season games since the schools began squaring off in 2006-07 (the 11 loses represent their most to any other D-I opponent).
•   Despite finishing 0-4 against BIG EAST, providing the home team a scare in all four:  Providence (tied inside :06 remaining), St. John's (up 14 points in second half), Seton Hall (within four points inside of final 2:00) and Villanova (tied inside 6:00 remaining). In sum, they have lost by a total of 28 points (7.0 points per game) -- none by more than 10 points. Prior to this year, NJIT had lost to Big East teams by an average of 25.7 points.


SHOULD NJIT PLAY UTAH VALLEY (14-17, 3-5):

Season Results (2-0):
Jan 6:   Won, 57-52, at UVU. Outrebounded Wolverines, 50-33, and outscored them 12-2 in final four minutes.
Feb 16: Won, 63-55, in Newark. NJIT bench outscored (20-2) and out-rebounded (12-3) UVU reserves.

All-Time Series:
UVU leads, 11-4 (NJIT leads 1-0 in tournament)
Despite its GWC success, UVU has surprisingly never won a tournament game (0-3). NJIT knocked off the No. 1 seed with an 88-78 OT victory in the second round last season and then snapped their 15-game conference home winning streak this season. The two teams have won the last three GWC regular-season titles.

The Good: NJIT swept the season series and held the team with the conference's leading shooting accuracy (.452) to just 32.4-percent (35-for-108) and just 12.9-percent (4-for-31) from downtown. The Highlanders held All-GWC First-Team performer Holton Hunsaker to an average of just 7.5 ppg and 12.5-percent shooting (3-for-24) in the two meetings this season. They also held All-Newcomer Team honoree Nick Thompson to an average of 5.0 ppg.

The Bad: Trying to slow down All-GWC First-Teamer Ben Aird, who had a career game in the first meeting with a triple-double (26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 blocks). Although NJIT “tamed” him to 11 points and nine rebounds in the last meeting, he's averaged 14.4 ppg and 10.6 rpg in seven career games against the Highlanders. Can NJIT hold Hunsaker quiet for a third time? The junior entered the season averaging 14.8 ppg in his first five career games against the Highlanders. Can NJIT defeat the UVU three times in one season?


SHOULD NJIT PLAY HOUSTON BAPTIST (12-16, 3-5):

Season Results (1-1):
Feb 2:   Lost, 69-58, at HBU. Shot just 35.5-percent and committed 20 turnovers.
March 2: Won, 69-58, in Newark. Survived 26-9 deficit and played without Woods for final 14:28.

All-Time Series:
HBU leads, 9-6 (2-1 in tournament)
Remarkably, the two teams have met in each of the first three tournaments. The Highlanders avenging a pair of prior losses with a 65-64 win last season.

The Good: NJIT defeated HBU in the last meeting, holding All-GWC First-Teamer Art Bernardi to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. In two meetings, the Highlanders have held the Huskies to shooting 37.4 percent (40-for-107). Freshman G Caleb Crayton, played a significant role in the home win, is likely out due to injury.

The Bad: The Huskies were one of two teams to register a conference win over the Highlanders. Like NJIT, HBU's strength is in defense. The Huskies finished second behind the Highlanders in team defense (66.8 ppg) and held the Highlanders to 63.0 ppg in two meetings. Bernardi helped to take over the game in the first meeting with a double-double (22 points, 12 rebounds).


Fans can follow all the action live on www.njithighlanders.com, which will carry a live audio stream with play-by-play and commentary from Matt Provence. Coverage begins at 4:45 p.m. CST with tip-off set for 5 p.m.CST.


Write-up courtesy of Matt Provence.