NJIT GAME NOTES (PDF)


NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT Highlanders (7-8) open ASUN play with a home tilt against the Spartans of USC Upstate (5-12) on Saturday afternoon at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) in Newark. Opening tip is set for 4 p.m.
 
NJIT is coming off a 70-69 heartbreaking loss at the hands of Brown on Wednesday, while USC Upstate fell to UMKC, 79-77 in Spartanburg on Tuesday.
 
The Highlanders have won seven of their first nine at the WEC.
 
NJIT posted a 3-11 mark in ASUN play last season, which was tied for seventh in the league. Over its two seasons in the conference, the Highlanders are 11-17 in league play.
 
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 Dave Calloway.
 
All-Time Series
 
USC Upstate leads the all-time series 3-1, but three of the four contests have been decided by two points or less.
 
NJIT captured the most recent meeting, an 88-87 victory on Feb. 23, 2017 in Newark. The Highlanders erased a 16 point halftime deficit in that contest and sophomore guard Shyquan Gibbs hit a pair of go-ahead free throws with 0:07 left.
 
Senior guard Chris Jenkins gave NJIT their first lead of the second half at 84-83 when he buried a three with 2:48 to play.
 
USC Upstate took the lead back on a pair of Michael Buchanan free throws before Tim Coleman hit a jumper with 1:15 left to put the Highlanders back in front for the time being.
 
Buchanan converted a layup with 0:56 left and gave the Spartans the lead at 87-86 to set the stage for Gibbs' clutch free throws.
 
Sophomore forward Anthony Tarke led five Highlanders in double figures with 18 points, while Coleman added 15 points, Oza Ivebuwa chipped in with 13 and the duo of Gibbs and junior center Mohamed Bendary had 10 apiece.
 
Buchanan paced USC Upstate with 27 points, while junior guard Mike Cunningham chipped in with 16 on 7-of-12 shooting and Phillip Whittington added 10 points off the bench.
 
The Spartans captured the ASUN opener between the two teams a year ago with a 75-65 victory in Spartanburg on Jan. 7, 2017.
 
The State of Up
 
In the 79-77 loss to UMKC, the Spartans rallied late to cut the lead to a pair with 22 seconds left, but the Kangaroos hit three free throws in the final 14 seconds to seal the victory.
 
Junior forward Malik Moore and junior guard Jure Span had 22 points apiece for USC Upstate, while redshirt freshman guard Thomas Booker added 12 off the bench and Cunningham chipped in with 11.
 
Four of the Spartans' five wins have come against non-Division I foes, with an 88-78 victory over Abilene Christian on Nov. 25 marking the only win over a Division I opponent.
 
Moore leads four Spartans who average double figures in points at 15.0 ppg, a total that ranks seventh in the ASUN. Junior guard Deion Holmes checks in at 12.8 ppg, Cunningham sits at 11.5 ppg and Span is at 10.6 ppg.
 
Moore is also the team's leading rebounder at 6.2 boards per game.
 
This will mark the final year as a member of the ASUN for the Spartans who will compete in the Big South Conference beginning in the 2018-19 school year.
 
Head coach Kyle Perry in his first season at the helm of USC Upstate after taking over for Eddie Payne who stepped down from the role on Oct. 3, 2017.
 
Perry had spent the previous eight seasons as an assistant under Payne. During his tenure as an assistant, Perry has helped lead the program to four CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament appearances and USC Upstate has recorded victories over Power Five programs such as Virginia Tech and South Carolina.
 
Previous stops for Perry include stints as an assistant at South Carolina State and Division II Carson-Newman University.
 
Holmes' parents, Elliott and Sharon, both played basketball at USC Upstate and Elliott still ranks 10th in school history in career scoring average (15.1 ppg).
 
NJIT Outlook
NJIT came up just short in the 70-69 heartbreaking loss at Brown on Wednesday as junior guard Diandre Wilson misfired on a contested three at the buzzer that would have given the Highlanders the win.
 
Head coach Brian Kennedy's squad led for a majority of the contest, but Brown embarked on a 16-3 run in the second half that gave the Bears a 63-53 lead with 5:58 to play.
 
Tarke paced NJIT with 17 points, eight rebounds and a career-high six assists, while Gibbs and freshman guard Shawndale Jones added 13 points apiece for the visitors.
 
In his last nine games, Tarke is averaging 16.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg and 1.8 spg.
 
Jones has scored at least eight points in each of his last six games and is averaging 10.7 ppg during that stretch.
 
The Highlanders have featured a balanced attack offensively with four players averaging more than 7.0 ppg: Tarke (14.3 ppg), Wilson (11.4 ppg), junior forward Abdul Lewis (9.9 ppg) and Jones (7.3 ppg).
 
Lewis also leads the ASUN in rebounding at 8.6 rpg.
 
On the defensive side of things, NJIT ranks second in the league in scoring defense at 72.3 ppg and is tied for third in field goal percentage (44.9%).
 
With a win, the Highlanders will win a league opener for the first time since a 57-52 victory over Utah Valley in the team's Great West Conference opener on Jan. 5, 2013.


Write-up courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry