NJIT Game Notes (PDF)


KENT, OH -- The Highlanders (5-5) will continue their season-long five-game road trip on Saturday when they battle the Kent State Golden Flashes (6-3). Opening tip from the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center in Kent is slated for 7 p.m.
 
NJIT took Big 10 foe Minnesota to the brink in a 74-68 loss to the Golden Gophers on Tuesday night in Minneapolis. Kent State has won two in a row including a 100-72 win over Niagara last time out.
 
Matt Provence, the voice of the Highlanders, will be on the call beginning with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. The broadcast can be accessed for free at www.njithighlanders.com or by clicking here.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
 
Saturday marks the second all-time meeting between the Highlanders and Golden Flashes.
 
Last season, Kent State closed the game on a 13-4 run en route to an 80-75 win over NJIT on Dec. 7, 2015 at Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark.
 
Junior guard Kellon Thomas scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in the final 3:20 to help lift the Golden Flashes to the comeback win. Thomas was joined in double figures by senior forward Jimmy Hall who had 17 points while sophomore guard Jaylin Walker and Xavier Pollard each chipped in with 15.
 
Senior forward Tim Coleman paced the Highlanders with 20 points and six rebounds while senior guards Damon Lynn and Rob Ukawuba contributed 14 points apiece.
 
In fact, Kent State is the only member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) that NJIT has played.
 
NEWS FLASHES
 
The Golden Flashes rank second in the MAC at 84.1 ppg and have three players averaging in double figures led by Hall-a Preseason All-MAC East Division Team selection-at 18.7 ppg. Walker (12.1 ppg) and senior guard Deon Edwin (11.0 ppg) are the others scoring in double figures for head coach Rob Senderoff's squad.
 
Kent State's defense has been the calling card for the team this season though as they are allowing just 68.0 ppg (2^nd in the MAC) and have held opponents to just 39.2% shooting from the field, which is tops in the league.
 
Senderoff is in his sixth season as the head coach of the program and has compiled a 106-70 record to date. The Spring Valley, N.Y., native took over as the head coach in 2011 after two previous stints as an assistant at KSU from 2002-06 and 2008-2011.
 
In his 11 seasons associated with the program, Senderoff has been a part of 10 postseason teams including an NCAA Tournament berth in 2006.
 
Kent State is 4-0 at home this season and has won 12 straight against non-conference foes at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center dating back to a loss to Loyola-Chicago on Nov. 29, 2014.
 
Edwin's brother, Jason, also played basketball at Kent State.
 
Hall played his high school ball for Hall of Fame head coach Bob Hurley, Sr. at powerhouse St. Anthony's H.S. (NJ).
 
NJIT sophomore center Abdul Lewis and Kent State junior guard Taishaun Johnson were teammates at South Alabama in 2014-15.
 
Kent State is the alma mater of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban who has won four national championships with the Crimson Tide.
 
NJIT OUTLOOK
 
The Highanders battled for 40 minutes in a 74-68 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night and never trailed by more than seven.
 
In fact, NJIT held a 61-58 lead with 7:16 to play before the Gophers closed the game on a 16-7 run.
 
Ukawuba led NJIT with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting and hit all three of his attempts from downtown. The senior co-captain was joined in double figures by Lynn (12 points) and freshman Anthony Tarke who contributed 13 points and five rebounds off the bench.
 
The 18 points were a season-high for Ukawuba who came within a basket of tying his career-high of 20.
 
With four rebounds on Saturday, Coleman will pass Isaiah Wilkerson ('12) and become the school's all-time leading rebounder. The Union, N.J., native ranks second on the team in rebounding this season at 6.5 boards per game, just behind Lewis (7.0 rpg). 


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry