NJIT GAME NOTES (PDF)


NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT Highlanders (1-1) look to move above .500 on the season as they battle No. 22 Seton Hall (3-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark. Opening tip is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 2 (FS2).
 
The Highlanders are coming off a 96-80 victory over Lafayette on Tuesday, while Seton Hall has opened the season with wins over Fairleigh Dickinson, Monmouth and most recently an 84-68 win over the Indiana Hoosiers on Wednesday.
 
This will mark NJIT's fifth all-time meeting with a Top-25 opponent and their first since a 79-68 loss to No. 18 Purdue on Nov. 26, 2016. The Highlanders' lone win against a Top-25 opponent came in a 72-70 victory at No. 17 Michigan on Dec. 6, 2014.
 
Seton Hall is one of two Top 25 teams that NJIT will play this season as head coach Brian Kennedey's squad will battle No. 24 West Virginia on Nov. 30.
 
 
All-Time Series
 
Saturday is the sixth all-time meeting between NJIT and Seton Hall with the Pirates holding a 5-0 series lead. SHU's average margin of victory in the series is 23.6 points.
 
The last meeting between the two teams came on Dec. 10, 2013 with the Pirates notching a 71-55 win. However, the Highlanders trailed just 31-28 at the half and trailed by just five with under six minutes left in the game before a 10-0 Seton Hall run iced the victory.
 
The two teams played for five straight seasons between 2009-10 and 2013-14, but have not played since.
 
All-time, the Highlanders are 1-21 against the Big East, but won their last matchup against the conference with an 83-74 victory at St. John's on Dec. 20, 2015.

 
A Pirate's Life
 
In the 84-68 win over Indiana on Wednesday, Seton Hall led by just one at halftime before scoring 51 points in the second half en route to the victory.
 
Senior forward Desi Rodriguez led the Pirates with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and was joined in double figures by senior center Angel Delgado (19 points), senior guard Khadeen Carrington (17 points) and sophomore guard Myles Powell (11 points).
 
Seton Hall returns four starters from a 21-12 team last season that earned their second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid before falling in the opening round to Arkansas.
 
The Pirates were picked to finish second in the Big East Preseason poll, which is the highest that they have been chosen since the 2000-01 season.
 
Carrington was the team's leading scorer a year ago at 17.1 ppg, while Delgado led the nation in rebounding at 13.1 boards per game.
 
Head coach Kevin Willard is in his eighth season at the helm of the Pirates and led his team to the 2016 Big East Tournament Championship. The back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths in the last two seasons marks the first time that Seton Hall has accomplished the feat since going to four straight NCAA tourneys from 1991-94.
 
Prior to being named the head coach at Seton Hall in March 2010, Willard spent three seasons as the boss at Iona and was named MAAC Coach of the Year after leading the Gaels to a 21-10 mark (12-6 MAAC).
 
Sophomore guard Eron Gordon's older brother, Eric, was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year for the 2016-17 season and has spent parts of 10 seasons in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers (2008-11), New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans (2011-16) and Houston Rockets (2016-present).
 
Assistant coach Shaheen Holloway is the Pirates' all-time leader in assists (681) and ranks 13^th in points (1,588). Holloway was named the Big East Most Improved Player of the Year in 2000 and received All-Big East recognition in three different seasons.
 
NJIT Outlook
 
The Highlanders scored the first 13 points of the game and 20 of the first 22 en route to the 96-80 win over Lafayette on Tuesday night at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) in Newark.
 
The 96 points was the most scored by the Highlanders against a Division I opponent since a 96-84 win over Houston Baptist on Jan. 15, 2011.
 
NJIT hit 7-of-15 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes and 13-of-26 in the game as senior guard Chris Jenkins and junior guard Diandre Wilson each hit three treys apiece.
 
Wilson paced the Highlanders with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and was joined by three others in double figures: sophomore guard Shyquan Gibbs (14 points), sophomore forward Anthony Tarke (12 points) and junior forward Abdul Lewis (10 points). Jenkins and freshman guard David Kachelries each added nine off the bench.
 
Lewis recorded 10 points and 15 rebounds and has recorded double-doubles in each of the first two games of the season after notching five a year ago.


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry