POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM COACH KENNEDY (VIDEO)


NEWARK, NJ – Despite sparring back and forth with No. 22 Seton Hall (4-0) for the first 21:30 of the contest, the NJIT men's basketball team (1-2) fell to the Pirates, 82-53, on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark.

After NJIT pulled to within 39-35 a minute and a half into the second stanza, Seton Hall went on a 24-3 run from 17:46 to 9:45 to pull away from the young, but feisty Highlanders squad.

"I thought we came out with good purpose in the second half and got a couple of quick buckets. But their size, their physicality kind of wore us down a little bit," said NJIT Head Coach Brian Kennedy. "Kudos to Kevin (Willard). He's got a great team and they know how to play and they really know how to share the ball. They are a very good team."

NJIT came out of the break with the first five points on a triple by sophomore Shyquan Gibbs and a layup by junior Abdul Lewis, but the Highlanders went without a field goal over the next 6:02 until Lewis hit a runner in the lane. During this span, the Pirates outscored the Highlanders, 14-1, to build a 53-36 lead. Seton Hall wound up outscoring NJIT, 43-18, over the final 18:30 en route to the 29-point victory.

"I thought we did a good job defensively, forcing them into tough shots which led to some better looks on the offensive end," said eighth-year Seton Hall Head Coach Kevin Willard, whose team finished with a 12-2 edge in fast-break points.

The Pirates now lead the all-time series, 6-0, though the Highlanders have provided a much more competitive challenge over the last three meetings.

Lewis led the Highlanders with 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting. The Newark native also led NJIT with two assists while tying for the team-lead with five rebounds. This marked the second time in three games that the Highlanders' big man led the team in assists.

Senior Chris Jenkins finished with nine points on a trio of three-pointers, while Gibbs and freshman David Kachelries posted seven points apiece. Sophomore Anthony Tarke also paved the way with five rebounds, but the team's leading scorer was held to five points on 2-of-12 shooting.

Senior Desi Rodriguez led four Seton Hall double-digit scorers with a game-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds. Freshman Sandro Mamukelashivili notched 11 points with a game-high nine boards. Sophomore Myles Powell (13 points) and freshman Myles Cale (11 points) were the other two in double figures.

The Highlanders shot 37.0 percent for the game (20-for-54) and 29.6 percent from downtown. Meanwhile, the Pirates shot 50.0 percent from the field (30-for-60) and 33.3 percent from three (7-for-21). Seton Hall also finished with a 38-29 rebounding advantage and was plus-six on turnovers.

Early on, the teams were tied, 10-10, after Jenkins buried a triple from the wing with 13:38 to go in the first half. However, the Pirates went on an 8-0 run over the next 3:16.

NJIT got a spark from its freshmen to keep things tight in the first half. Down 27-19 with 5:30 in the opening stanza, Kachelries drained a three-pointer from the wing. Just over a minute later, fellow freshman Zach Cooks connected from deep to pull the Highlanders closer at 31-25.

In fact, NJIT pulled to within three points on a Cooks layup to make it a 33-30 game with 3:04 to go. But the Pirates scored the final six points of the session on two layups in transition by Powell and another on a drive by senior Khadeen Carrington with :03 left to take a 39-30 lead into the half.

Rodriguez led all scorers at the half with 11 points in 4-of-8 shooting with a team-high four rebounds. Kachelries and junior Diandre Wilson paced NJIT with five points apiece while Lewis had a team-leading four rebounds and two assists after the first 20 minutes.
 
Seton Hall held the shooting advantage at the half, connecting on 10-of-23 (43.5%) field goals while NJIT connected on 9-of-23 (39.1%) attempts.

Saturday also marked the NCAA debut of freshman forward San Antonio Brinson, who missed the first two games recovering from a concussion in the preseason. The native of Augusta, Ga., recorded his first career point and rebound in seven minutes of action.
 
NJIT is now 1-22 all-time against BIG EAST teams. However, they won their previous meeting with an 83-74 victory at St. John's on Dec. 20, 2015. The Highlanders also fell to 1-4 all-time against nationally ranked opponents.

NJIT returns to action on Wednesday, when the Highlanders host Kean College with a 4 p.m. tip at the brand-new Wellness and Events Center (WEC) in Newark.

All-time, the Highlanders are 26-0 against non Division-I teams.