NJIT Game Notes (PDF)

Game Preview w/ Coach Kennedy (VIDEO)


MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- NJIT (5-4) will battle their second Big 10 foe of the season on Tuesday night when they take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-1). Opening tip from Williams Arena in Minneapolis is slated for 8 p.m
 
NJIT will be looking for their third straight win.
 
Last time out, the Highlanders eked out a 75-74 win at UMass Lowell on Saturday while Minnesota notched a 56-52 victory over Vanderbilt in Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
The game can be seen live on Big Ten Network.
 
Matt Provence, the voice of the Highlanders, will have the radio call with the pregame show beginning at 7:45 p.m. The broadcast can be accessed for free at www.njithighlanders.com or by clicking here.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
 
Tuesday marks the first ever meeting between NJIT and Minnesota. In fact, this will mark the first ever game in the state of Minnesota for the Highlanders.
 
NJIT is 1-2 all-time against Big 10 foes (1-8 all-time against current members) with the lone win coming in the 72-70 upset victory at No. 17/16 Michigan on Dec. 6, 2014.
 
Earlier this season, the Highlanders battled No. 17 Purdue for 40 minutes before falling short in a 79-68 loss to the Boilermakers.
 
MINNY SKINNY
 
The Golden Gophers closed the game on a 12-2 run to erase a six-point deficit and held Vanderbilt without a field goal over the final six minutes of the game en route to the 56-52 win on Saturday.
 
In fact, Minnesota held the Commodores to 30.2% shooting from the field.
 
Sophomore forward Jordan Murphy paced the Gophers with 16 points and 14 rebounds while freshman guard Amir Coffey chipped in with nine points and junior guard Nate Mason added eight points of his own.
 
Coffey leads the team in scoring at 13.9 ppg and is joined in double figures by Mason (12.1 ppg), Murphy (10.9 ppg) and sophomore guard Dupree McBrayer (10.6 ppg). Junior center Reggie Lynch ranks sixth in the nation in blocks with 3.57 per game.
 
Head coach Richard Pitino's squad has made their mark defensively this season as they have held opponents to 65.8 ppg and 36.0% shooting from the floor.
 
The Gophers are 6-0 at Williams Arena this season.
 
Pitino is in his fourth season and led the Gophers to an NIT title and a school record 25 wins in his inaugural campaign of 2013-14.
 
Prior to coming to Minneapolis, Pitino spent one season as the head coach at Florida International where he led the team to their first winning season since 1999-2000 with an 18-14 mark. The stint at FIU was preceded by stops at Florida and Louisville as an assistant.
 
During his time at Louisville, the younger Pitino served as an assistant to his father, Rick, and the Cardinals advanced to the 2012 Final Four.
 
Rick was inducted into the Basketball Hall of the Fame in 2013 and is currently in the midst of his 16^th season as the head coach at Louisville. After leading the Cardinals to the national title in 2013, the elder Pitino became the only coach in NCAA D-I history to win a championship at two different schools (Kentucky, 1996).
 
Coffey's father, Richard, played basketball at Minnesota and went on to play one season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Sisters, Sydney and Nia, played college basketball at Marist and Northwestern, respectively. Nia was a 2016 WBCA Division I All-American and received AP All-America Honorable Mention as well.
 
Lynch's uncle, Kevin, also played basketball for the Gophers and was a second round pick of the Charlotte Hornets in the 1991 NBA Draft.
 
Sophomore guard Stephon Sharp's uncle, Duer, played football at Wisconsin and currently serves as the commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
 
NJIT OUTLOOK
 
Senior guard Rob Ukawuba hit the go-ahead free throw with 20 seconds left to help the Highlanders pick up the 75-74 win at UMass Lowell.
 
Ukawuba tied his season-high with 15 points in the win to go along with 21 points and seven assists from senior guard Damon Lynn and a double-double from senior forward Tim Coleman (15 points, 11 rebounds). Sophomore center Abdul Lewis chipped in with 10 points of his own.
 
The 21 points from Lynn moved him into second place on the school's all-time scoring list and the double-double from Coleman was the 12^th of his career, which is tied for the most in school history with Nesho Milosevic ('08) and Isaiah Wilkerson ('12).
 
Coleman is just seven rebounds away from passing Wilkerson (616 rebounds) for NJIT's career rebounding record. The Union, N.J., native was named ASUN Co-Player of the Week on Monday (with UNF's Dallas Moore). This marks the first ASUN weekly honor of his career.
 
NJIT held a 15-point lead at halftime on Saturday before the second half featured a number of runs from both sides. Trailing 74-71 with 2:14 to play, Lewis converted a three-point play to tie things at 74 apiece for the Highlanders.
 
The Highlanders forced 15 River Hawk turnovers and have forced 16.4 turnovers per game this season, which is tops in the Atlantic Sun. 


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry