Jim Engles Preview vs. UNF (Video)


NJIT Men's Basketball Gameday Center
 

Game 21	North Florida (16-6; 5-0 A-Sun) at NJIT (11-9; 2-2 A-Sun)
Date/Time	Sunday, January 24, 2016/ 6 pm
Location/Venue	Newark, NJ/ Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center (1,500)
Live Coverage	ESPN3 streaming telecast (WatchESPN app; www.watchespn.com)  Matt Provence (play-by-play); Jon Schaeffer (color)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Buy Tickets Onlne	NJITTIX.com
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-Time Series	UNF leads, 1-0 (game played in 2003-04 when both were Division II)
Game Notes	NJIT notes / North Florida notes

 
The game will be shown live on ESPN3 (all remaining NJIT basketball games--home and away--will be live on ESPN3)
  
A simple way to find ESPN3 is on NJIT's official athletics website, www.njithighlanders.com. Near the middle of the home page NJIT TV section, click Upcoming Events for a list of scheduled NJIT contests. After finding the event, click the camera icon to the right of the event listing. That brings you to an ESPN3 portal where you can access the desired program.
 
For more details on how to watch NJIT on ESPN3, go to the section at the bottom of this page.
 
Matt Provence, voice of the Highlanders, is on play-by-play, with Jon Schaeffer handling color commentary..
 
Atlantic Sun Conference Game: North Florida at NJIT (Sunday, 6 pm)
The game will be played a day later than originally scheduled due to the expected arrival of Winter Storm Jonas (read more)

With its first two Atlantic Sun Conference wins in the book, NJIT will face its most imposing conference foe to date when it hosts North Florida, the defending conference champion that was the A-Sun coaches pick to repeat in the preseason poll.
 
The Ospreys, based in Jacksonville, have lived up to their billing, going 5-0 to open the conference slate, and they come to Newark with a 16-6 overall record that includes wins in their last 6 games.
 
NJIT, playing its first season as a member of the Atlantic Sun, is 2-2 after being picked third in the coaches preseason poll behind #1 North Florida and #2 Florida Gulf Coast.
 
The programs have faced off once before, but that was when both competed as members of NCAA Division II. UNF defeated the Highlanders (73-63) on January 3, 2004 in the consolation game of a tournament hosted by Florida Gulf Coast.
 
A LOOK at NORTH FLORIDA (16-6; 5-0 A-Sun)
The Ospreys are a loaded, battle-tested outfit.
 
Picked to finish first by seven of the eight A-Sun coaches in preseason, the Ospreys had four players unanimously picked by the coaches for the Preseason All-Conference team, headed by Preseason Player of the Year Beau Beech (6-9, Sr). He is joined as a unanimous pick by junior guard Dallas Moore (6-1, Jr); DeMarcus Daniels (6-8, Sr.), the 2014-15 A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year; and Chris Davenport (6-8, Jr), last year's leading scorer and rebounder.

Matthew Driscoll has been head coach of the Ospreys since 2009. Before that, he was an assistant coach at several Division I programs, including Baylor, where he served for 6 years immediately before going to UNF.
 
Aside from the Atlantic Sun Conference games, NJIT and UNF have one common foe this season. NJIT scored an overtime win over St. Francis Brooklyn on December 10 and the Ospreys beat St. Francis on a neutral court, 78-65, on November 28.
 
North Florida team stats and leaders:
Scoring (team 85.4 ppg; +8.1 ppg): Dallas Moore (6-1, Jr; 19.8 ppg); Beau Beech (6-9, Sr; 15.3 ppg); Trent Mackey (6-3, R-Sr; 12.6 ppg); Demarcus Daniels (6-8, Sr; 12.5 ppg); Chris Davenport (6-8, Jr; 12.4 ppg)
Rebounding (team 35.2 rpg; -4.0 rpg): Davenport (7.7 rpg); Beech (6.2 rpg); Daniels (5.2 rpg)
Assists: Moore (125); Davenport (78)
Blocks: Daniels (51); Davenport (46)
Steals: Beech (30)
3-pt FGM: Mackey (76); Beech (68)
 
A LOOK at NJIT (11-9; 2-2 A-Sun)
After losing their first two A-Sun games in razor-thin decisions (80-78 vs. USC Upstate on a tip-in in the last second and 82-78 in OT at FGCU), the Highlanders have bounced back with two wire-to-wire A-Sun victories, beating Stetson, 71-59, and Jacksonville, 83-63.
 
Damon Lynn had a game-high 20 points and 7 assists and Tim Coleman had a double-double (10 pts, 12 rebs) vs. Jacksonville. Ky Howard (6-7 FG, 2-2 3FG, 2-2 FT) and Rob Ukawuba each scored 14 and Terrence Smith (5-7 FG; 27-35 last 6G) added 10.
 
NJIT team stats and leaders:
Scoring (team 76 ppg; +1.8 ppg): Damon Lynn (5-11 Jr; 18 ppg); Tim Coleman (6-5, Jr; 14.4 ppg); Ky Howard (6-4, Sr; 13.4 ppg);
Rebounding (team 35.2 rpg; -2.3 rpg): Coleman (7.3 rpg); Howard (4.5 rpg); Terrence Smith (6-6, Jr; 4.5 rpg)
Assists: Howard (85)
Blocks: Coleman (19)
Steals: Lynn (31); Coleman (30)
3-pt FGM: Lynn (74)
 
How to watch NJIT sports programming on ESPN3
ESPN3 is the live platform for at least 23 NJIT men's basketball games this season. Every NJIT game in the Atlantic Sun Conference throughout the regular season and into the A-Sun postseason tournament will be covered on ESPN3. 
 
ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network.  It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. 
 
The network is currently available to more than 99 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. 
 
ESPN3 is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks. That means devices served by NJIT's on-campus computer network can link directly to ESPN3.
 
Others can access ESPN3 through WatchESPN if they receive ESPN programming from an affiliated service provider. Those users need to provide the username and password they use in online communication with their regular service provider (can usually be found on regular billing material from the service provider).
 
Here is a link to Frequently Asked Questions about WatchESPN.