NJIT's Brian Kennedy Preview (VIDEO)

NJIT Game Notes (PDF)


DELAND, FL -- The Highlanders (9-10, 1-2 ASUN) will look for their second straight win when they head south to battle the Stetson Hatters (7-12, 0-3 ASUN) on Thursday night at the Edmunds Center in DeLand. Opening tip is slated for 7 p.m.
 
NJIT is coming off their first conference win with an 84-78 victory over North Florida on Saturday, while the Hatters dropped an 84-65 decision to Kennesaw State.
 
The game can be seen on ESPN3 (all remaining NJIT basketball games can be seen 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.
 
Matt Provence, the voice of the Highlanders, will be on the audio call with the pregame show beginning at 6:45 p.m. The broadcast can be accessed for free at www.njithighlanders.com or by clicking here.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
 
NJJT leads the all-time series by a 2-1 count, but the No. 7 seeded Hatters picked up an 82-67 victory over the No. 2 seeded Highlanders in the quarterfinals of last season's Atlantic Sun Conference tournament.
 
The Highlanders picked up a pair of over Stetson during the 2015-16 regular season and won the only previous meeting in DeLand on Jan. 16, 2016 by a 71-59 score.
 
In the afore-mentioned ASUN quarterfinals on March 1, 2016 at Fleisher Athletic Center, the Hatters shot 53.6% from the floor and opened up a 13-point halftime lead en route to the 82-67 win.
 
Senior guard Damon Lynn poured in 24 points to lead NJIT, while sophomore forward Derick Newton paced Stetson with a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds.
 
MAD ABOUT THE HATTERS
 
The Hatters have dropped three in a row and six of their last seven entering play on Thursday.
 
Stetson couldn't recover from a 52-25 halftime deficit in the 84-65 loss at Kennesaw St. on Saturday. Junior forward Larry Dennis had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hatters offensively while sophomore guard Leo Goodman hit 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 13 points of his own.
 
As a team, head coach Corey Williams' squad puts up an average of 76.9 ppg and shoots 42.9% from the field.
 
Newton leads the team in both scoring (15.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) while junior guards Divine Myles (15.6 ppg) and Luke Doyle (11.1 ppg) also average double figures in points.
 
Williams is in his fourth season at the helm of the Hatters and led last year's squad to a berth in the ASUN Championship game before falling to Florida Gulf Coast in overtime.
 
He played his college basketball at Oklahoma State under legendary coach Eddie Sutton and finished his career ranked eighth in school history with 1,320 career points.
 
Williams was a second round selection of the Chicago Bulls in the 1992 NBA Draft and was also selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 12^th round of the 1992 NFL Draft despite not playing football in high school or college.
 
The Macon, Ga., native was a member of the 1993 NBA Champions as the Bulls won their third straight title led by Michael Jordan.
 
During his coaching career, Williams spent time as an assistant at both Oral Roberts and Florida State.
 
Junior guard Matthew Cioce is a cousin of Temple head coach Fran Dunphy.
 
Dennis' father, Larry Sr., played his college basketball at Northwestern.
 
Sophomore forward Will Hollman's father, Mark, played basketball at SMU and currently serves as one of Stetson's team physicians.
 
Senior forward Brian Pegg's brother, Adam, was an all-conference player at Stetson from 2010-13.
 
Junior guard Angel's Rivera's uncle, Walter Hodge, played basketball at Florida and was a member of the Gators' back-to-back national title teams in 2006 and 2007.
 
NJIT OUTLOOK
 
On Saturday afternoon at Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark, the Highlanders picked up their first conference win and their first ever victory over North Florida with an 84-78 decision against the Ospreys.
 
NJIT embarked on a 15-5 run in the second half and led by as many as 18 points at one point before holding off the late rally from UNF.
 
Lynn drained six threes en route to a game-high 33 points and freshman Anthony Tarke added a career-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting to lead the way for NJIT offensively.
 
Tarke also brought down 10 rebounds and was named the ASUN'S Newcomer of the Week after averaging 17.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg in two games last week.
 
With one three-pointer on Thursday, Lynn will move into sole possession of fifth place all-time for career three-pointers made in NCAA Division-I history.
 
The senior co-captain currently ranks third in the ASUN in scoring at 21.9 ppg, a total that is also tied for 14^th in the nation. 


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry