NJIT Men's Basketball Gameday Information
 

Game 5	NJIT  (3-1) at Providence (3-0)
Date/Time	Monday, November 23, 2015/ 6:30 pm
Location/Venue	Providence, RI/Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,410)
Live Television/Audio	FS1 (FOX Sports 1 channel finder) national telecast  Live audio on www.njithighlanders.com Matt Provence (play-by-play)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-Time Series	Providence leads 1-0 (PC 64, NJIT 63; November 10, 2012)
Game Notes	NJIT notes / Providence notes

 
The game is being shown live on FS1 (FOX Sports 1), the national 24-hour, multi-sport cable channel arm of  FOX Sports. Here is a link to the FS1 channel finder Link (note the unusual 6:30 pm starting time).
 
Matt Provence, voice of the Highlanders, has the audio play-by-play call on NJITHighlanders.com.
 
HIGHLANDERS TAKE AIM AT PROVIDENCE OF THE BIG EAST CONFERENCE
NJIT is in its 10th season of NCAA Division I basketball competition and this year's 3-1 record is the best four-game start in Division I for the Highlanders. Making the 3-1 start all the more impressive is that the Highlanders are facing their most challenging schedule of opponents ever.
 
Already, NJIT has played #2 Kentucky, a team that is all but certain to contend for, if not win, the National Championship next March. Two days later, the Highlanders visited South Florida of the high-major American Athletic Conference and then NJIT opened at home against Boston University, a quality program two years removed from a 2013-14 season that included the Patriot League regular season championship and 24 wins overall. Most recently on Saturday, the Highlanders hosted defending Patriot League champion Lafayette, which played in the 2015 NCAA Division I Tournament.
 
Despite facing all quality foes, NJIT has won its last three games.
 
Now, the Highlanders will face another top opponent, heading northeast to challenge Providence, a member of the powerful BIG EAST Conference on Monday night at 6:30.
 
For all the recent accomplishments by the Highlanders, one prize that has eluded them is a win over a team from the elite BIG EAST.
 
Last December's victory at #17/#16 Michigan, a power in the elite Big Ten Conference, gave NJIT a signature win that earned national respect. But the Highlanders are 0-20 all-time against the BIG EAST (lost at St. John's, Marquette, and eventual BIG EAST champion Villanova last season).
 
As it happens, the closest score for NJIT against a BIG EAST team was in the 2012-13 season opener at Providence, when the Friars pulled out 64-63 victory in the Dunkin' Donuts Center. In a game with five lead changes and seven ties, the Highlanders had the ball for the game's last shot, but they fell short by a point.  
 
A LOOK AT PROVIDENCE (3-0)
Providence owns one of the great traditions in college basketball, with 17 NCAA Tournament appearances (reached the second round each of the last two seasons) and 19 appearances in the National Invitation Tournament (two championships).
 
This season, the Friars are off to a 3-0 start after going 22-12 last season (11-7 in the BIG EAST) and reaching the second round of the NCAAs.
 
Providence opened 2015-16 with a 74-64 win over Harvard, led by Kris Dun's career-best 32 points; PC next nipped Illinois by a point and then thumped crosstown Providence rival Brown 94-73 Saturday night.
 
Ed Cooley, in his 10th year as a head coach (fifth at Providence), is 174-125 in his career (92-69 at Fairfield; 82-56 at Providence). He is 1-0 vs NJIT.
 
Rodney Bullock, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, leads the Friars in scoring (19 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.7 rpg) in his first season of action after missing out on playing during his first two college years.
 
Kris Dunn, the 2014-15 BIG EAST Player of the Year among a slew of other honors, is a National Player of the Year candidate this season. He averages 17.7 points and 7 rebounds. The 6-foot-4 junior was an All-American last year, as well as garnering BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors.
 
Sophomore Ben Bentil leads the PC rebounders at 9 rpg and scores 11 ppg.
 
Providence team stats and leaders:
Scoring (team 76.7; +10.4 ppg): Rodney Bullock (6-8, So; 19 ppg); Kris Dunn (6-4, Jr; 17.7 ppg); Ben Bentil (6-9, So; 11 ppg); Ryan Fazekas (6-8, Fr;10 ppg)
Rebounding (team 38.7 rpg; +2.7 rpg): Bentil (9 rpg); Bullock (7.3 rpg); Dunn (7 rpg)
Assists: Dunn (18); Kyron Cartwright (6-0, So; 14)
Blocks: Bullock (5)
Steals: Dunn (14)
3-pt FGM: Fazekas (7)
 
A LOOK AT NJIT (3-1)
The Highlanders, coming off a 21-win season that featured the win at #17/#16 Michigan, wins over teams from nine different Division I conferences, and a postseason national run to the semifinals of the 2015 CIT, have fared well early in the new season.
 
They opened with a loss at #2 Kentucky, but followed with a road win at USF (a former BIG EAST program) and then two home wins over Boston U and Lafayette, two top contenders in the Patriot League.
 
NJIT has seen all five of its starters, Tim Coleman, Ky Howard, Damon Lynn, Terrence Smith, and Winfield Willis reach double-digit points in each of the last two wins. Further attesting to the Highlanders' balance, they've played four games and had three different scoring leaders and four different rebounding leader.
 
NJIT team stats and leaders:
Scoring (team 71.8 ppg; +0.3 ppg): Damon Lynn (5-11 Jr; 18.5 ppg); Ky Howard (6-4, Sr; 15 ppg); Tim Coleman (6-5, Jr; 12.5 ppg)
Rebounding (team 34.2 rpg; -4.6 rpg): Coleman (6.8 rpg); Howard (6 rpg);
Assists: Howard (16); Winfield Willis (6-0, Sr; 12); Lynn (10)
Blocks: Vlad Shustov (6-9, So; 3)
Steals: Coleman (8); Howard (6); Willis (6)
3-pt FGM: Lynn (13; 126; 2nd in the nation in 2014-15)