NJIT GAME NOTES (PDF)


NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team (3-2) looks for its third straight win when Northeast Conference foe LIU Brooklyn (2-5) comes to town the state-of-the-art Wellness and Events Center (WEC) on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. tip.
 
The Highlanders are coming off a 65-53 win over Drexel on Saturday, while LIU-Brooklyn has dropped two straight contests and three of their last four after a 94-86 loss at Brown on Saturday.
 
NJIT has won three of their its four contests at the WEC.
 
With a win, the Highlanders will have won three straight for the first time since taking three in a row from Dec. 22, 2016, to Jan. 4, 2017. Head coach Brian Kennedy's squad would also match their best six-game start in program history at 4-2 (2012-13, 2013-14).
 
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, http://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 Rob Kennedy.
 
 
All-Time Series
 
NJIT is 0-4 all-time against the Blackbirds, but Tuesday marks the first meeting between the two schools since a 65-49 win by LIU Brooklyn on Dec. 14, 2014 at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn.
 
That contest was a one-point game at halftime before the Blackbirds outscored the Highlanders by a 33-18 margin in the second half en route to the win. Guard Ky Howard had 15 points and seven rebounds to pace NJIT.
 
This marks the first meeting in Newark since a 96-93 Blackbirds victory at Fleisher Athletic Center on Dec. 12, 2013.
 
The Highlanders are 13-12 all-time against NEC opponents including a 60-49 loss to Wagner in this year's season opener on Nov. 11.
 
LIU Brooklyn is one of three NEC foes on the schedule in 2017-18 along with Wagner and Fairleigh Dickinson (Dec. 16).
 
 
Blackbird Down
 
In the 94-86 loss to Brown on Saturday, the Bears took control of the game with a late 10-2 run en route to the victory. The two teams combined for 59 fouls and 41 turnovers in the contest.
 
Junior guard/forward Raiquan Clark led the Blackbirds with a game-high 26, while guard Julian Batts chipped in with a career-high 20 points.
 
LIU Brooklyn ranks second in the Northeast Conference at 82.3 points per game.
 
Clark leads the Blackbirds and the NEC in scoring at 22.1 ppg, joined in double figures by senior guard Joel Hernandez (17.3 ppg), senior forward Zach Coleman (11.4 ppg) and sophomore guard Jashaun Agosto (11.2 ppg).
 
Head coach Derek Kellogg is in his first season at the helm of LIU Brooklyn after spending nine seasons as the bench boss at UMass.
 
During his tenure with the Minutemen, Kellogg led his alma mater to three straight 20-win seasons, three consecutive postseason appearances and the 2014 NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed.
 
Kellogg had an illustrious playing career at UMass from 1992-95 and ranks fifth all-time in school history in assists (453) and seventh in three-pointers made (138).
 
Prior to taking over as the head man at UMass, the Springfield, Mass., native was an assistant for eight seasons at the University of Memphis including the team that reached the 2008 National Championship Game.
 
 
NJIT Outlook
 
The Highlanders trailed by three at halftime, but held Drexel to just 19 points in the second half in Saturday's 65-53 win over the Dragons at the WEC.
 
Drexel shot just 32.8% (19-58) from the field and 14.3% (3-21) from beyond the arc in the contest.
 
NJIT enters Tuesday's play holding the top scoring defense in the ASUN, allowing just 67.6 points per game.
 
In the win over Drexel, the Highlanders used a 13-0 run over an 8:40 stretch in the second half to take control of the game. Junior guard Reilly Walsh and junior forward Abdul Lewis contributed four points apiece during the run.
 
Walsh paced the hosts with a game-high 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and was joined in double figures by sophomore forward Anthony Tarke (13 points, seven rebounds) and junior guard Diandre Wilson (12 points, six rebounds).
 
The 14 points for Walsh marked the second-highest total of his career and the first time in his career that he has led NJIT in scoring. Walsh's career-high of 15 came on Feb. 27, 2017 in the ASUN Quarterfinals at Lipscomb.
 
On the season, the Highlanders have featured a balanced offensive attack with five players averaging more than seven points per game: Tarke (11.0 ppg), Wilson (10.6 ppg), Lewis (8.6 ppg), freshman guard Zach Cooks (7.6 ppg) and sophomore guard Shyquan Gibbs (7.4 ppg).
 
Lewis leads the team in rebounding at 10.0 boards per game, which is tops in the ASUN and 31^st in the nation.


Write Up Courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry