Game 10	vs. Army West Point (4-5; 13-17, 6-12 PL in 2017-18)
Date | Time	Tuesday, Dec. 4, 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, 4-3
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | Army West Point Notes

 

(NEWARK, NJ) – The Highlanders return home for the first time in over two weeks for a two-game swing beginning against Army West Point on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC).
 
NJIT (7-2) is coming off a 94-71 road loss at UMass Lowell (5-5) on Saturday – just their second defeat of the season.
 
The prior time they fell in a contest – Nov. 17 against Cornell – the Highlanders responded by winning three-consecutive road games. During the span, they knocked off the reigning NEC regular-season champions (Wagner) the NEC tournament champions (LIU Brooklyn) and a CAA opponent (Drexel).
 
NJIT is out to prove the loss to the River Hawks was an abortion. Brian Kennedy's team entered the game ranked second in the ASUN in both field-goal-percentage defense (.405) and scoring defense (64.4 ppg) – but the 94 points allowed was a season-high and the largest total since a 102-69 loss at No. 19 West Virginia on Nov. 30, 2017. Additionally, UML shot a sizzling 57.6-percent (24-for-59) and 50.0-percent (11-for-22) from downtown.
 
The Highlanders' 4-0 start on the road had been their best in 30 seasons and since competing at the Division-III level in 1988-89.
 
Still, at 7-2 overall, the Highlanders are off to their best start since opening 8-2 in 2000-01 -- when they were a Division-II program. They currently stand No. 190 in the most recent NCAA NET Rankings.
 
Tuesday will mark NJIT's first game in the WEC since the Cornell game. The team is 3-1 at home after producing a 10-7 record in Newark a season ago.
 
One guy who again shined in the losing effort Saturday was sophomore Zach Cooks. He tied his career high with 25 points (10-for-19 FG) and has now reached the 20-point plateau in four of his last five games – averaging 22.0 ppg in the span.
 
Cooks leads the team in scoring at 18.1 ppg – a figure that ranks third in ASUN standings and third in NJIT's all-time single-season leaders. Despite his five-foot-nine stature, the Lawrenceville, Ga., native continues to lead the team in rebounds (44). Not as surprising, the 2018 ASUN All-Freshman selection leads the ASUN in steals per game (2.9) and ranks third in the nation in total steals (26) behind Brandon Beard (31) of Florida International.
 
Junior Shyquan Gibbs (13 points) was NJIT's only other double-digit scorer at the Tsongas Center. The co-captain has shown a spike in scoring in each of his three seasons in the program – going from 3.3 ppg as a freshman to 5.8 ppg as a sophomore to nearly double that this season at 11.3 ppg (good for third on the squad).
 
Senior Diandre Wilson is the Highlanders' second-leading scorer at 12.4 ppg in 2018-19.
 
NJIT's lone representative on the ASUN preseason All-Conference team, senior Abdul Lewis, missed the first four games and showed some rust in his first two affairs. However, over the last three contests, the Newark native is averaging 11.7 ppg and 8.0 rebounds per game.
 
The Highlanders will play one more home game – against St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday – before another four-game road trip with challenging matchups at Fordham (Dec. 11), at Fairleigh Dickinson (Dec. 15), at Houston (Dec. 29) and at Duquesne (Dec. 31).
 
This tough stretch will culminate the non-conference schedule and lead into ASUN play with a home bout against Kennesaw State on Jan. 5.
 

All-Time Series:
 
NJIT leads the all-time series with Army, 4-3 – last beating the Black Knights, 79-65, in the first round of the 2016 CollegeInsider.com National Postseason Tournament (CIT) in Newark.
 
All-time, NJIT is 13-24 against Patriot League opponents.
 
However, the Highlanders have won seven of their last nine meetings with PL foes, including an 81-78 overtime victory against Colgate University in the season-opener on Nov. 6 at the WEC.
 
 
Knightly News:
 
Army arrives in Newark with a 4-5 record and a No. 265 NCAA NET Ranking. However, the Black Knights have some momentum after taking three of their last four contests with home wins against Maritime, Binghamton and Fairfield.
 
The two teams already have three common opponents this season. Both earned a win against Binghamton and a loss to UMass Lowell. However, NJIT secured a home defeat of Brown on Nov. 11 (63-60) while Army lost to the Bears in Providence on Nov. 18 (86-66).
 
One other game stands out when reviewing the Black Knights' schedule – a 94-72 road loss at No. 3 Duke. Army fought tough, trailing by just three points more than one minute into the second half.
 
The Black Knights are coming off a season in which they went 13-17 (6-12 in PL) and finished tied for eighth in PL standings.
 
Predicted to finish sixth according to the PL preseason poll, the Cadets welcomed back their four leading scorers from 2017-18 in senior guard Jordan Fox (13.7 ppg), junior forward Matt Wilson (12.0 ppg), junior guard Tommy Funk (10.8 ppg) and sophomore forward Alex King (9.3 ppg).
 
Wilson has gotten off to a terrific start this season, leading Army in scoring (15.4 ppg) and ranking second in the PL in rebounding (8.1 rpg) – while sitting 15^th in the nation in field-goal percentage (.678).
 
Funk, who ranks second on the team in scoring (10.9 ppg), leads the PL in assists per game (6.7) and places sixth in the nation with 60 assists.
 
Fox is the only other Black Knight averaging double-digits in scoring this season at 10.4 ppg. He scored eight points in the win over Fairfield to become the 33^rd Cadet to reach 1,000 points in his NCAA career.
 
As a team, Army leads the conference in rebounding, assists and turnovers forced per game while ranking fourth in the nation in three-point field-goal attempts and 19^th in three-pointers made (83).
 
Third-year head coach Jimmy Allen (30-41) was previously an assistant to Zach Spiker for six seasons after serving as head coach at Division-III Averett University (97-70) in Danville, Va., for six campaigns.
 
Earlier in his career, he had assistant coaching stints at Wofford University (2002-04) and Navy (1996-03).
 
As a collegiate athlete, Allen was a four-year starter at point guard at Emory & Henry and holds the program's record with 117 consecutive games played and ranks second on the school's all-time assist ledger. He was inducted into the Emory & Henry Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.