Game 4	vs. Kean Cougars (0-2; 7-18, 5-13 NJAC in 2017-18)
Date | Time	Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018 | 7 p.m.
Location | Arena	Newark, NJ | Wellness & Events Center
Tickets	www.NJITtix.com | 973-596-5555
Live Video	ESPN+ | Matt Provence (PBP) and Rob Kennedy (Color)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
All-time series	NJIT, 28-24 (1-0 as a D-I program)
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | Kean Notes

 
 
(NEWARK, NJ) -- The Highlanders look to build upon their historical start when they host Kean University on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC).

NJIT became the nation's first NCAA program to reach three victories against Division-I opponents this season following Sunday's 63-60 win over Brown University. Unfortunately, the Highlanders' race to a fourth such win will have to wait until Saturday since the Cougars compete as a Division-III program.

Regardless, NJIT (3-0) is off to its fastest start since winning the first four contests of the 1996-97 season -- the program's final campaign competing at the D-III level. The last time a Highlanders team started 5-0 was during a 28-2 campaign in 1995-96, then NJIT advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight (D-III) under then head coach Jim Catalano.

With a win on Wednesday, the Highlanders' four-game surge would mark their longest winning streak since a five-gamer from Jan. 30 to Feb. 13, 2016. 

In their most recent win over the Bears, the Highlanders again escaped on the "right side" of a nail-biter at the WEC. With the score tied, 60-60, senior Diandre Wilson hit a game-winning layup with 26 seconds remaining. Wilson, who finished with a game-high 20 points, was the only NJIT player to register a field goal in the final eight minutes of regulation.

The Fort Lauderdale native also nailed the game-winner in the season-opening defeat of Colgate in Newark – when he converted a four-point play with remaining in overtime.

For his heroics, Wilson was named the inaugural ASUN Player of the Week on Monday. Over the course of three contests in five days, the transfer from Mott Community College (MI) averaged 16.3 ppg while shooting 55-percent (16-for-29) from the floor and 53-percent (8-for-15) from deep.

For the third consecutive game, NJIT played without ASUN preseason All-Conference selection Abdul Lewis. In soaking up the extra minutes, senior Mohamed Bendary is averaging 7.7 ppg and a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game – the latter of which ranks 10^th in the ASUN.

The Highlanders also played most of the game Sunday without senior Reilly Walsh, who went down with an ankle injury just 2:36 into the game and did not return. Some of his playing time fell to freshman Diego Willis, who was a spark of the bench in the first half – scoring all of his career-high seven points in the stanza.

While "do-all" sophomore guard Zach Cooks did not have his best shooting performance on Sunday, he still contributed eight points and a career/team-high-tying six rebounds. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.0 ppg while sitting fifth in the ASUN in thefts at 2.3 steals per game.

NJIT is coming off a 14-16 season in which the Highlanders captured fourth place in the ASUN. Head Coach Brian Kennedy is back for a third season and returns 10 players -- including four starters and five seniors -- from a season ago. In fact, the team returns 76.2% of its scoring and 81.1% of its minutes played from 2017-18.
 
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Matt Provence, who enters his 12th season with NJIT, will handle the play-by-play with and color analysis from Rob Kennedy.
 
A simple way to find ESPN+ is on NJIT's official athletics website, www.njithighlanders.com. Near the middle of the home page under the headlines section, an upcoming events calendar lists scheduled NJIT contests. After finding the event, click the camera icon to the left of the event listing. That brings you to an ESPN+ portal where you can access the desired program.

All-Time Series

NJIT leads the all-time series against Kean University, 28-24 -- which includes meetings when Kean was known as Newark Normal, Newark Teachers and Newark State. Of course, all but the most recent bout took place long before the Highlanders transitioned to D-I (or D-II, for that matter).

The teams met last season for the first time in 28 years, and NJIT earned a 116-63 victory on Nov. 22, 2017 at the WEC. The point total was the NJIT's largest since the D-III Highlanders posted a 118-74 win over Conordia (NY) on Jan. 4, 1999. NJIT also set a program record with 32 assists, as the team shot a blistering 67.7-percent (44-for-65) from the floor.

Freshmen accounted for 55 points on an impressive 22-for-32 (.688) shooting. Shawndale Jones led the way with a game-high 23 points while Cooks recorded 17 points. 

Kean's Vaughn Laki Anderson buried five of his six field-goal attempts to pace the team with 12 points.

Kean won at home in the prior meeting, 120-100, on Jan. 15, 1990.

All-time, NJIT is 21-0 vs. D-III foes and 28-0 vs. non D-I opponents -- with an average margin of victory of 41.7 ppg. Last year, NJIT also defeated Bryn Athyn (D-III), 99-53, on Dec. 22, 2017.

Citizens Kean

The Cougars have started 0-2 this season with non-conference losses on the road to Neumann University (75-66) and Baruch College (82-63).

After a season in which it finished just 7-18 (5-13 NJAC), Kean University summoned a new leader in veteran head coach Adam Hutchinson. The local product of  St. Benedict's Prep (Newark) enters his 19th season as a head coach after most recently patrolling the sidelines for 14 years at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. (2003-17) -- where he become the second-winningest coach in program history with 154 victories. He also guided the Generals to the ODAC title game in 2009 and the semifinals in 2014 and 2017.

The Amherst College graduate started his head coaching career with a pair of seasons at both Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (2001-03) and Stevens Institute of Technology (1999-01) before returning to his alma mater as an assistant a year ago.

Hutchinson returns two starters, including 2017-18 leading scorer, senior Micah Kerr (10.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg), and senior Justin Watson (9.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg).

This season, Kerr is tied for the team lead in scoring with freshman Justin Latane at 15.0 ppg -- while the latter has averaged a team-best 7.0 rpg.

Kean's roster features a Newark native in freshman Javon Jackson, who went to Kearny High School.

The Cougars figure to have issues with the height in NJIT's rotation, as their only player taller than six-foot-five is a freshman in Nate Lyles (6'6").

The Highlanders next host another Ivy league opponent in Cornell University on Saturday. It will be Alumni Day at the WEC with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m.

Full season ticket packages, mini plans and group outings are available for purchase now at www.NJITTix.com. For more information, please call our ticket office via phone at 973-596-5555 or email at tickets@njit.edu.