NJIT GAME NOTES (PDF)


NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team (1-2) looks to get back to the .500 mark when Division-III foe Kean University (0-2) comes to the brand new Wellness and Events Center (WEC) for a 4 p.m. tip on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Highlanders are coming off a hard-fought 82-53 loss at No. 20/22 Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon, while Kean fell to Montclair State by a score of 77-63 on Tuesday night. 
 
The game can be seen live on ESPN3 (all remaining NJIT home 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, is on play-by-play with expert analysis from Dave Calloway.
 

All-Time Series
 
This marks the first meeting between the two teams since NJIT started competing at the Division I level in 2006-07. The Highlanders hold a 27-24 mark in the all-time series, which includes meetings when Kean was known as Newark Normal, Newark Teachers and Newark State.

The two teams haven't met since a 120-100 Kean home win on Jan. 15, 1990 -- when the Highlanders' competed at the D-III level. NJIT last beat Kean in a 83-81 home win Jan. 4, 1989, before dropping the last two meetings.

All-time, NJIT is 19-0 against D-III foes and 26-0 against non-NCAA Division-I opponents with an average margin of victory of 37.9. The Highlanders were 2-0 last season with a 100-38 win over D-III Sarah Lawrence (11/11) and a 92-50 victory over USCAA Dean College (12/22).
 
Kean is one of two Division-III foes that the Highlanders will play this season as Bryn Athyn comes to the WEC on Dec. 22.
 
 
Cougar Crawl
 
The Cougars are off to an 0-2 start in 2017-18 after an 85-67 loss to Baruch, the 77-63 loss at the hands of Montclair State and a 94-55 defeat in an exhibition game at Fairleigh Dickinson.
 
In Tuesday's 77-63 defeat, Kean held a 35-33 halftime lead before Montclair State outscored the Cougars 44-28 in the second half en route to the victory. 

Freshman guard Adrian Baucum scored a team-high 15 points, while junior forward Mike Summerer added 10 points and 10 rebounds. 
 
Baucum paces the Cougars at 13.0 ppg on the young season and is joined in double figures by junior guard DeAndre Thomas (12.5 ppg) and Williams Jr. (10.0 ppg).
 
Kean returned three of their top four scorers from a team that went 1-24 (1-17 NJAC) a year ago.
 
The Cougars compete in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
 
Head coach Rob Kurzisnky is in his 11^th season at the helm of the Cougars and has accumulated 89 victories along with an NJAC Division Championship during his tenure.
 
In 2010-11, Kean posted an 18-8 mark and captured the NJAC South Division title for the first time in school history. That season, current assistant coach Jonathan Jones averaged 23.9 ppg and 13.7 rebounds per game, becoming just the second player in school history to earn All-American honors.
 
Jones ranks second all-time in school history in rebounds (915) and third in points (1,359).

 
NJIT Outlook
 
The Highlanders battled for all 40 minutes, but fell short in the afore-mentioned 82-53 loss to No. 20/22 Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center.
 
NJIT scored the first four points of the second half and trailed 39-35 with 18:30 to play before the Pirates embarked on a 24-3 run over the next eight minutes to put the game out of reach.
 
Junior forward Abdul Lewis paced head coach Brian Kennedy's squad with 10 points, while senior guard Chris Jenkins chipped in with nine and sophomore guard Shyquan Gibbs and freshman guard David Kachelries added seven apiece.
 
Lewis has posted a double-double in two of his three games this season and has also led the team in assists on two occasions. Gibbs leads the ASUN in both field-goal percentage (11-14, .786) and three-point percentage (5-6, .833).

The Highlanders have featured a balanced offensive attack so far this season as five players are currently averaging between 8.0 and 10.7 points per game: Lewis (10.7), Gibbs (10.0), sophomore forward Anthony Tarke (10.0), junior guard Diandre Wilson (9.3) and Jenkins (8.0).
 
Lewis is also the team's leading rebounder at 10.7 boards per night and assists (2.0 apg). 


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry