FORT MYERS, FL – The NJIT Highlanders (8-9, 1-1 ASUN) look to move above .500 in conference play with a tilt against first-place Florida Gulf Coast (11-8, 2-0 ASUN) on Saturday night at Alico Arena in Fort Myers. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m.
 
NJIT fell, 80-67, at Stetson on Thursday, while FGCU remained perfect in league play with a 75-58 victory over USC Upstate.
 
With a win, the Highlanders will snap a 15-game road losing streak that dates back to last season. NJIT's last road win was a 64-61 triumph at Stony Brook on Dec. 28, 2016.
 
Saturday is a matchup of the top two scoring defenses in the ASUN with FGCU allowing a league-best 70.1 ppg, while the Highlanders rank second at 73.6 ppg.
 
The game can be seen live 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, 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.
 

All-Time Series
 
The Eagles lead the all-time series by a 3-1 count after capturing both meetings a year ago.
 
FGCU won by an 84-71 score in Fort Myers and posted an 80-73 victory in Newark last season.
 
On Feb. 16, 2017 in Newark, Florida Gulf Coast outscored the Highlanders by a 43-31 margin in the second half en route to the 80-73 victory.
 
Senior guard Brandon Goodwin paced the Eagles with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Demetris Morant added 16, senior guard Christian Terrell chipped in with 15 points and senior forward Antravious Simmons came through with 10.
 
Tim Coleman led the way for NJIT with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and was joined in double figures by senior guard Chris Jenkins (17 points), Rob Ukawuba (14 points) and sophomore forward Anthony Tarke (10 points).
 
The last meeting in Fort Myers was on Jan. 21, 2017 and FGCU shot 53.6% from the floor on their way to the 84-71 win. The Eagles led wire to wire in the game and led by as many as 19 in the first half.
 
In that contest, the Highlanders lost all-time leading scorer Damon Lynn to a torn Achilles just 4:45 into the game.

 
From The Eagles Nest
 
FGCU knocked down six threes in the first half and built a 38-17 halftime advantage in Thursday's 75-58 win over USC Upstate.
 
The Eagles led by as many as 29 in the second half.
 
With the win, head coach Joe Dooley's squad has won four in a row after dropping four straight prior to the current stretch.
 
Florida Gulf Coast shoots a league-best 48.5% from the field and ranks tied for second in the ASUN in points per game (79.2) while shooting 35.4% from beyond the arc, a total that sits third in the conference.
 
Along with leading the ASUN in scoring defense, Eagles' opponents are shooting just 41.2% from the floor and 30.4% from deep, both totals are tops in the league.
 
After advancing to each of the past two NCAA Tournaments, FGCU was picked as the preseason favorite in both the coaches and media polls.
 
Goodwin leads the Eagles and ranks third in the ASUN in scoring at 17.0 ppg, while junior guard Zach Johnson checks in at 13.7 ppg and Terrell averages 12.3 ppg.
 
Terrell and Goodwin are tied for the team lead in rebounding at 5.6 boards per game.
 
Terrell ranks second in the ASUN in three-point percentage (48.0%) and sits fifth in field goal percentage (54.6%).
 
Dooley is in his fifth season at the helm of the Eagles and has posted a 102-54 mark (.654) to date. The West Orange, N.J., native has posted four straight 20-win seasons to go along with the pair of afore-mentioned NCAA Tournament berths.
 
Prior to coming to FGCU, Dooley spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas and won the 2008 National Championship.
 
Florida Gulf Coast burst onto the national scene as "Dunk City" during the school's run to the 2013 Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed which included upset wins over Georgetown and San Diego State.
 
Terrell was high school teammates with Duke's Grayson Allen at Providence High School in Jacksonville.
 
Freshman guard Darnell Rogers' father, Shawnta, was named the 1999 Atlantic Player of the Year at George Washington and is a member of the GW Hall of Fame.
 
Junior forward Ricky Doyle's father, Richard, played college basketball at UTSA and spent 11 seasons playing professionally in France.
 
Freshman guard Ryan McAdoo's father, Bob, was a five-time NBA All-Star and received the 1973 NBA Rookie of the Year and 1975 MVP Awards. The elder McAdoo spent 14 seasons in the NBA with Buffalo (1972-76), New York (1976-79), Boston (1979), Detroit (1979-81), New Jersey (1981), the Los Angeles Lakers (1981-85) and Philadelphia (1985-86).
 

NJIT Outlook
 
The Highlanders led 41-34 at halftime on Thursday against Stetson, but were outscored 46-26 in the final stanza in the 80-67 loss.
 
NJIT held a 46-38 advantage with 17:11 left in regulation before Stetson embarked on a 28-8 run over the next 10:27 that made it a 66-54 game in favor of the Hatters with 6:44 to play.
 
In the second half, the Highlanders shot just 28.8% (8-of-28) from the floor.
 
Tarke matched his career-high with 23 points to lead three Highlanders in double figures as freshman guard Shawndale Jones chipped in with 11 points and junior guard Diandre Wilson added 10.
 
Freshman guard Zach Cooks contributed six points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals off the bench for head coach Brian Kennedy's squad.
 
Tarke has led NJIT in scoring in nine of his last 11 games and is averaging 17.8 points per game during that stretch.
 
The Gaithersburg, Md., native had previously scored 23 on Jan. 14, 2017 and Feb. 9, 2017 against North Florida.
 
The 11 points for Jones marked his fourth straight double-digit scoring output and the Pittsburgh, Pa., native is averaging 11.0 points per game and 5.0 rpg in his last eight contests.
 
On the season, five Highlanders are averaging at least seven points per game: Tarke (15.2 ppg), Wilson (11.1 ppg), junior forward Abdul Lewis (9.9 ppg), Jones (7.9 ppg) and Cooks (7.2 ppg).