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NJIT Visits #7 Villanova 7 pm Tuesday, FOX Sports 1

NJIT (5-7) at #7 Villanova (11-0): December 23: The Pavilion, Villanova, PA

Villanova leads the all-time series, 1-0 (70-60, at Villanova, December 28, 2012)

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VILLANOVA, PA
—Just more than two weeks after playing, and defeating, a Top 25-ranked team for the first time ever, NJIT will take on the biggest heavyweight a Highlander team has faced yet, unbeaten (11-0) and 7th-ranked Villanova Tuesday at 7 pm at Villanova in a game to be shown nationally on FOX Sports 1.
 
Villanova, which ended last season with a 29-5 won-lost record, has beaten all comers so far this season. The Wildcats are 11-0 and have shown they can win big (twice by more than 30 points and by an average of 18.3 points per game) and that they can win close (60-55 over Michigan; 82-76 in overtime over Syracuse).
 
In Jay Wright, Villanova has one of the elite coaches in the game. Coach Wright, who will celebrate his 53rd birthday a day after facing the Highlanders, owns a career head coaching record of 419-234, which includes 297-149 at Villanova, where he took the helm in 2001 (he led Hofstra for seven seasons before that). He is 13-9 in NCAA Tournament play and guided Villanova to the 2009 Final Four, the first time the Wildcats went that far since 1985, when they won the whole thing. Seven of his former players—five from Villanova and two from Hofstra—have had NBA careers, including current Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry.
 
The current edition of the Villanova Wildcats features a remarkably balanced lineup. The top scorer Darrun Hilliard, a 6-foot-6 senior, averages 12.6 points, which is relatively low for a leading scorer, but he is one of four Wildcats who average at least 10.5 points.
 
Dylan Ennis (6-2 redshirt junior) averages 11.3 points, Josh Hart (6-5 sophomore) 11.1 points, and JayVaughn Pinkston (6-7 redshirt senior) 10.5. Right behind them are: 6-foot-11 junior Daniel Ochefu (9.1 ppg); 6-6 sophomore Kris Jenkins (7.3 ppg); and, 6-3 junior Ryan Arcidiacono (7.0).
 
Villanova averages four more rebounds than its opponents and Ochefu is the top individual rebounder (7.2 rpg), followed by Pinkston (6.3 rpg) and Hart (5.5).
 
Arcidiacono leads the team in assists with 42 and has committed just 12 turnovers.
 
The teams have one opponent in common so far this season and it is a pivotal one in the history of NJIT athletics, thanks to the events of December 6 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
 
On November 25, Villanova dealt Michigan what was then the Wolverines' only loss, 60-55. Two games later, NJIT stunned Michigan, then ranked #17/#16, 72-70, on December 6 in a game that forever changed the perception of NJIT basketball on the national scene. The loss to NJIT was Michigan's second of the season after it had lost its first vs. Villanova.
 
College basketball pundit Doug Gottlieb called NJIT's triumph "the upset of the century".
 
That game at Michigan marked the first time NJIT had ever faced a nationally-ranked team in men's basketball, much less beaten one. Now, the Highlanders will take on a second ranked opponent in less than three weeks, this one 10 spotsahead of where Michigan was in the polls.
 
In the win over Michigan, the Highlanders got a combined 54 points from their three top scoring threats Damon Lynn (20 points) and Ky Howard and Winfield Willis (17 points each). The trio combined to go 20-for-32 from the field, including 10-for-15 on 3-pointers, and 4-for-4 at the foul line.
 
On top of that, the NJIT team played strong defense across the board, played the Wolverines even on the backboards (26-26) and got clutch plays throughout the roster.
 
It will take at least as much to stay with Villanova.
 
Lynn (17.5 ppg), Howard (13.2 ppg), and Willis (10.2 rpg) all average double-figure scoring. Howard, a guard, leads NJIT in rebounding (6.4 per game), assists (46) and free throw accuracy (.757).
 
Meanwhile, senior Daquan Holiday, coming off a career-best 13 points, plus 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in Saturday's win at Central Connecticut, has averaved 11 points and 5 rebounds in his two previous games vs. Villanova's fellow BIG EAST Conference programs St. John's and Villanova. He made 6-of-10 from the field and 10-of-12 at the foul line in the two games combined.
 
He and Villanova's top scorer, Darrun Hilliard, are both college seniors and old high school rivals whose schools compete against each other in the Lehigh Valley Conference. Holiday is a graduate of William Allen High School in Allentown, PA, and Hilliard went to Liberty High in nearby Bethlehem, PA. The towns are less than six miles apart.
 
Matt Provence is on the call for all 29 games this season, describing the action live on the Highlanders Sports Network here on www.njithighlanders.com.
 
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Players Mentioned

Daquan Holiday

#10 Daquan Holiday

F
6' 8"
Senior
Ky  Howard

#0 Ky Howard

G
6' 4"
Junior
Damon Lynn

#5 Damon Lynn

G
5' 11"
Sophomore
Winfield Willis

#11 Winfield Willis

G
6' 0"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Daquan Holiday

#10 Daquan Holiday

6' 8"
Senior
F
Ky  Howard

#0 Ky Howard

6' 4"
Junior
G
Damon Lynn

#5 Damon Lynn

5' 11"
Sophomore
G
Winfield Willis

#11 Winfield Willis

6' 0"
Junior
G