NJIT Men's Basketball CollegeInsider.com National Tournament Gameday Center
 

Game 34	UT Arlington (24-10) at NJIT (19-14)
Quarterfinal	2016 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT)
Date/Time	Thursday, March 24, 2016/ 7:30 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) and Rob Kennedy (analyst)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Buy Tickets Online	NJITTix.com
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-Time Series	First meeting
Game Notes	NJIT notes / UT Arlington notes

 
CIT Tournament Schedule and Results


Highlanders Host First-time foe UT Arlington in CIT Quarterfinals Thursday Night
NJIT, which made a run to the semifinals of the 2015 CIT, is aiming for a return to the semis and beyond, if it can overcome the formidable Mavericks of UT Arlington, who own a 24-10 record this season.

The Highlanders, who defeated New Hampshire, Cleveland State, and Canisius in last year's CIT before falling at Northern Arizona in the semifinals, have reached this year's quarterfinals with double-digit victories in the first two rounds of the 2016 CIT. NJIT opened with a 79-65 victory over Army West Point on March 16 and followed with an 83-72 win over Boston University on Monday night.

UT Arlington got here by winning its CIT opener at Savannah State (75-59) in what was the program's first-ever national postseason victory. Ranked second among the remaining teams in the CIT field in the official NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the Mavericks were awarded a bye into the quarterfinals, where they will visit the Highlanders.
 
Tickets are on sale
A sellout is expected in the Fleisher Athletic Center and Highlander fans are urged to get their tickets in advance to avoid being shut out.
 
Follow this link for details on advance ticket purchases.
 
Live coverage on ESPN3
The game will be shown live on ESPN3 with Matt Provence, voice of the Highlanders, on play-by-play, with expert analysis from Rob Kennedy.

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.
 
Previewing NJIT vs. UT Arlington; March 24, 7:30 pm, Fleisher Athletic Center
UT Arlington, which plays as a member of the well-regarded Sun Belt Conference, plays most of its games within the Sun Belt's geographic footprint, which runs from Texas in the west through to southeastern states Georgia and North Carolina.

Off the court, the University of Texas Arlington is a top institution, undergoing a booming student population and widespread recognition in academia. With an enrollment of 51,000, UT Arlington, the second-largest campus in the University of Texas system, was founded in 1895 and became part of the UT system in 1965. The University began offering graduate degree programs in 1966, with the first PhD, in engineering, approved in 1969. Today, the Carnegie Foundation classifies UT Arlington as a "Doctoral University-Highest Research Activity".
 
A look at UT Arlington (24-10)
Nineteen of the Mavericks' 34 games have been played in the state of Texas, so UT Arlington has flown a bit under the radar when it comes to national exposure.

That's not likely to last much longer if the team builds on what it has done this season. UT Arlington posted consecutive non-conference away wins against Ohio State (73-68 on Nov. 20) and Memphis (68-64 on Nov. 23) and an overtime loss at Texas on December 1.

The Mavericks got off to a 13-2 start this season that included the wins over Ohio State and Memphis and the loss at Texas. But the Mavericks hit a rough patch in conference play in mid- and late January, losing five of six.

They were 1-1 in the 2016 Sun Belt Tournament.
 
Scott Cross, who took over as head coach of the Mavericks in 2006, has built a strong program that got back-to-back postseason bids in 2012 and 2013, before returning this year in the 2016 CIT. He is 177-138, the winningest coach in program history.
 
The Mavericks have a young team with just two seniors and all of their statistical leaders in either the sophomore or junior class.
 
In addition to strong points and rebounds per game numbers (+10.3 in points and +8.3 in rebounds), they are holding their opponents under 40 percent shooting for the season. UT Arlington leads the nation in total rebounds and is third in offensive rebounds per game.
 
When it comes to 3-point shooting, the no Maverick has made more than 67 from distance, but the team has a total of 301 3-point baskets and seven different players have made at least 20 treys.
 
Leading scorer and rebounder Kevin Hervey is out for the season due to a knee injury. Sophomore point guard Erick Neal was named first-team All-Sun Belt Conference,
 
UT Arlington team stats and leaders:
Scoring (team 79.5 ppg; +10.3 ppg): Kevin Hervey (6-7, So; 18.1 ppg in 16 GP); Erick Neal (5-11, So; 12.9 ppg); Jalen Jones (6-3, Jr; 12.7 ppg); Kaelon Wilson (6-2, So; 10 ppg)
Rebounding (team 43.7 rpg; +8.3 rpg): Hervey (9.8 rpg in 16 GP); Jorge Bilbao (6-8, Jr; 7 rpg)
Assists: Neal (206)
Blocks: Bilbao (18)
Steals: Neal (51)
3-pt FGM: Drew Charles (6-2, RS, Jr; 67)

A LOOK at NJIT (19-14)
Damon Lynn scored 31 points to lead four double-figure scorers for NJIT in an 83-72 victory Monday night over visiting Boston University in the second round of the 2016 CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
 
 In addition to Lynn's game-high 31 points, the victorious Highlanders got 20 points from Tim Coleman, who also 9 rebounds and 6 assists; 14 points off the bench from Rob Ukawuba; and 12 points from Ky Howard, who added 6 assists.
 
Coleman raised his season rebounds total to 240, which is a new NJIT season record sincethe  program began Division I competition in 2006-07. The old record was 234, set by Nesho Milosevic in 2007-08.

Down 38-20 at halftime, BU broke out for 52 second-half points, including 8-for-15 on 3-pointers. However, NJIT made 62 percent (16-for-26) of its shots in the second half to survive Boston University's hot-shooting after the break.
 
NJIT team stats and leaders:
Scoring (team 75.8 ppg; +1.6 ppg): Damon Lynn (5-11 Jr; 18.6 ppg); Tim Coleman (6-5, Jr; 13.9 ppg); Ky Howard (6-4, Sr; 12.6 ppg);
Rebounding (team 35 rpg; -1.1 rpg): Coleman (7.3 rpg); Howard (4.8 rpg);
Assists: Howard (145)
Blocks: Coleman (28)
Steals: Lynn (55)
3-pt FGM: Lynn (107)
 
How to watch NJIT sports programming on ESPN3
ESPN3 is the live platform for at least 23 NJIT men's basketball games this season.
 
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.