Game 18	vs. Lipscomb (12-4, 3-0 ASUN)
Date | Time	Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 | 7 p.m. ET
Location | Arena	Newark, N.J. | Wellness and Events Center
Tickets	www.NJITtix.com | 973-596-5555
Live Video	ESPN+ | Mike Ventola  (PBP) and Rob Kennedy (Color)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
All-time series	Lipscomb leads, 5-2
Game Notes	NJIT Notes (PDF)

 

NEWARK, NJ—NJIT will host 2018 ASUN Conference champions Lipscomb on Wednesday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Wellness and Events Center.

NJIT (13-4, 1-1) looks to capitalize on home-court advantage in Newark, where they've won six of seven contests so far this season.

TICKETS: NJIT vs. Lipscomb | Wednesday, January 15

In their last outing, NJIT dropped its first ASUN meeting at North Alabama, 61-55, at Flowers Hall in Florence, Alabama.

Sophomore San Antonio Brinson scored a game-high 16 points followed by Zach Cooks with 12 points. The road defeat was just the Highlanders' second of the season, dropping its away record to 7-2 on the year.

Brinson scored 14 of his 16 points in a monster second-half performance, the second most points in a single game he's scored this season (18 at Fairleigh Dickinson).

The forward shot 5-9 from the field for a season-best shooting percentage (.556), also adding five boards and two blocks.

Cooks, who ranks second all-time in NJIT single-season scoring average, has tallied at least 19 points in 10 of the last 13 games. His 19.0 ppg ranks second in the ASUN Conference for scoring, trailing only Kennesaw State's Tyler Hooker (19.1), in addition to 43 steals (1st in ASUN) and 42 three-point field goals made (3rd in ASUN).

Senior Abdul Lewis recorded a team-high eight rebounds against North Alabama. The forward has now snatched eight or more rebounds in three consecutive games and leads the Highlanders in rebounding at 8.8 rpg.

All-Time Series: Lipscomb Leads, 5-2

NJIT has faced Lipscomb seven times in the regular season and postseason combined since joining the ASUN, and recorded a win over the Bisons in their previous meeting.

Last time out, the Highlanders defeated Lipscomb, 81-77, in a spirited road performance. Abdul Lewis and Anthony Tarke both scored 27 points while Zach Cooks added 12 points off the bench.

All-time, NJIT, which joined the ASUN Conference in 2015-16, is 19-25 against ASUN Conference opponents.

NJIT, which finished non-conference play with its best record in since becoming Division I in 2006, is 6-1 at home this season.

Since Jan. 8, 2011, NJIT has posted an impressive 136-118 (.535) overall record in its last 254 games after the Highlanders started their D-I era at 18-114 (.136).

The Highlanders have a current NCAA Net Ranking of 162 (as of January 13) and have appeared in "Others Receiving Votes" in the Associated Press Top-25 three weeks this season (Dec. 10-24) -- the first times in program history that NJIT has been recognized in the poll.

ASUN Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll

After winning last year's ASUN Conference men's basketball championship title, Lipscomb was picked to repeat by the league's head coaches in the 2018-19. The Bisons garnered seven of nine first-place votes among the head coaches in the league, while also being selected first in the media poll.

Coincidentally, both polls featured identical rankings.

NJIT was selected sixth in the nine-member conference in both the ASUN Preseason Coaches and Media Polls as Kennesaw State was picked seventh behind the Highlanders with 26 points.

Lewis, an ASUN Conference second-team honoree last season was named to the 2018 ASUN Preseason All-Conference Team.

Lipscomb Bisons

Lipscomb will play its only game of the week on Wednesday against NJIT, entering the contest with a 12-4 (3-0) record, good enough for second in the ASUN behind Liberty.

The Bisons have opened 2019 with three-straight wins, with their last defeat coming on December 20, 2018 at Clemson.

Guard Garrison Mathews (18.5 ppg) and forward Rob Marberry (16.3 ppg) are both top five ASUN scorers.

As a team, Lipscomb tops the ASUN in scoring offense (85.5), rebounding margin (+3.4), assists (17.4), steals (8.0) and turnover margin (+3.31).

Casey Alexander, a former assistant basketball coach at Belmont and Stetson with more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, is in the midst of his fifth season as head coach of Lipscomb.

Alexander is 4-1 against NJIT all-time, including an ASUN tournament victory in 2016. The Bison's head coach led the program to its first ASUN Conference championship in 2018.

Next Up

NJIT will stay home for its second consecutive home game at the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, N.J., where they will take on Jacksonville on Saturday, January 16 at 4 p.m. (ESPN+).