NJIT Men's Basketball Gameday Information| Game 22 | NJIT (11-10) at South Alabama (6-13) |
| Date/Time | Sunday, January 25, 2015/2:05 pm (CST) |
| Location/Arena | Mobile, Alabama/Mitchell Center |
| Live Audio | Highlander Sports Network w/Matt Provence pbp (free) |
| Live video | South Alabama All-Access (requires subscription) |
| Live Stats | In-game statistics (free) |
| Social Media | @njithighlanders |
| All-Time Series | First meeting |
| Game Notes | NJIT notes / South Alabama notes |
MOBILE, AL—NJIT heads south to visit first-time men's basketball opponent South Alabama in a game scheduled for 2:05 pm (Central) on Sunday.
The Jaguars will be the first opponent ever from the Sun Belt Conference for NJIT in men's basketball (NJIT is an associate member of the Sun Belt in men's soccer, but South Alabama does not sponsor the sport).
South Alabama is 6-13 overall in its second season under coach
Matthew Graves, who spent 17 years as a player and coach at Butler, which posted a combined 244-98 record during Graves' tenure there.
The Jaguars got off to a slow 2-10 start this season with three of the defeats coming in overtime. They followed up winning four of the next six, but lost their most recent decision, a 64-53 Sun Belt loss at Appalachian State Thursday night.
There isn't a lot to go on in forecasting this game since not only have South Alabama and NJIT never gone head-to-head, they do not have any common opponents this season so far (however, USA lost at home to Howard, 73-60, on Dec. 23; Howard will host NJIT on March 4)
South Alabama team stats and leaders:Scoring (team 70 ppg, -3.3 ppg):
Ken Williams (6-2, So; 15.1; 76 pct FTs; 47 3-pt FGs);
Taishaun Johnson (6-0, Fr.; 12.7 ppg; 77 pct FTs);
Dionte Ferguson (6-8, Sr; 10.8 ppg; 53 pct FG)
Rebounding (team 35.1 rpg, -1.5 rpg):
Ferguson (6.7 rpg);
Abdul Lewis (6-9, Fr; 6.4 rpg)
Assists: Barrington Stevens (5-10, Jr; 64)
Blocks: Ferguson (24)
Steals: Johnson (23)
NJIT heads to Mobile with an eye on maintaining a post-Christmas run that has seen the Highlanders win six of their seven games since December 30. They won at home against Saint Francis U to start a five-game winning streak that didn't end until last Saturday at Dartmouth.
The Highlanders then bounced back into the winning column with a 65-55 win at Maine two days after the loss at Dartmouth.
Damon Lynn matched his season-best 27 points in the victory at Maine and
Rob Ukawuba added 14 points, a new career high for the sophomore.
Lynn is NJIT's top scoring threat at 16.7 ppg, followed by
Winfield Willis (11.1 ppg). Sophomore
Tim Coleman is two total points shy of giving NJIT a third healthy player averaging double figures (9.9 ppg).
Junior
Ky Howard averaged 11.3 points in the first 18 games, but he remains out due to injury. He also leads NJIT in rebounding (5.6 rpg) and assists (73). Coleman's 4.3 rpg is tops among the active Highlanders and Lynn has 71 assists and a team-leading 37 steals.
Matt Provence will provide play-by-play on the free live streaming audio here on
www.njjthighlanders.com. Programming is scheduled to begin around 15 minutes before tipoff.
Video, which is provided through the website of the home team, is available for a subscription fee ($5.95 for a 24-hour pass on www.usajaguars.com).
