NEWARK, NJ—NJIT will open the New Year in ASUN Conference play with a home tilt against visiting Kennesaw State on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4pm at NJIT's Wellness and Events Center as part of a doubleheader with the NJIT women, which will host the Owls at 1pm.
NJIT (12-3) closed out the 2018 calendar year with its best non-conference record in program history, in addition, the Highlanders tied Stony Brook with the most road victories in Division-I with seven.
Sophomore
Zach Cooks scored a game-high 22 points and senior
Abdul Lewis set a program record with his 17th career double-double as the Highlanders topped Duquesne University, 78-67, at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh on Monday.
Cooks, the Lawrenceville, GA native, has tallied at least 20 points in eight of the last 11. His 19.5ppg leads the ASUN Conference in scoring, in addition to 39 steals and 38 three-point field goals made.
Lewis recorded 11 points, a game-high 16 rebounds and a career-high-tying six assists. The Newark product had previously handed out six helpers at Temple University on Dec. 17, 2016. In addition to his program-record 17 career double-doubles, Lewis notched two as a freshman at University of South Alabama. He is now four points away from the 1,000-point plateau in his NCAA career.
He currently leads the Highlanders in rebounding at 9.0 rpg and ranks tied for 13th among all active D-I players with 836 career boards.
Sophomore
San Antonio Brinson also recorded a double-double -- the first of his NCAA career -- with 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. His previous best rebounding total was nine – accomplished twice during his freshman season.
Watch Game Live on ESPN+
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Michael Ventola, the voice of the Highlander women, will handle the play-by-play with and color analysis from
Dave Calloway.
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, 4-2.
The Highlanders swept the Owls 2017-18 series, picking up a 66-60 victory on January 24 in Kennesaw and followed up five days later in Newark, with a three-point victory, 74-71.
All-time, NJIT, which joined the ASUN Conference in 2015-16, is 18-24 against ASUN Conference opponents.
NJIT, which played the last four games on the road, is 5-1 at home inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center. On December 8, NJIT picked up an 82-60 home victory over St. Francis Brooklyn.
Since Jan. 8, 2011, NJIT has posted an impressive 135-117 (.534) overall record in its last 252 games after the Highlanders started their D-I era at 18-114 (.136).
The Highlanders have a current NCAA Net Ranking of 141 (as of January 2) and have appeared in "Others Receiving Votes" in the Associated Press Top-25 in each of the last three weeks (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.
Kennesaw State Owls
Kennesaw State continues its three-game road swing, entering Saturday's contest with a 3-12 overall mark.
The Owls are on a two-game skid, most recently falling at Yale, 95-62, on January 2. Senior Kosta Jankovic was responsible for six of the Owls three-pointers, netting a career-high 22 points.
Redshirt junior Tyler Hooker was the third Owl in double-figures against Yale, posting his 13th straight game, with 12 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Hooker sits behind NJIT's Cooks in ASUN scoring at 18.5ppg.
Bryson Lockley sits atop the Owls averaging 6.9 rebounds, which ranks in the top five in the ASUN.
Al Skinner, a former Division I national coach of the year and two-time BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year, enters his fourth season as the Kennesaw State head coach for the 2018-19 season.
The winningest coach in BC history, Skinner spent 13 seasons at The Heights, compiling a 247-165 (.560) record from 1997-2010. He took Boston College to six NCAA Tournaments in a seven-year stretch, leading his 2005-06 team to the Sweet 16. Four of his teams finished the year ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll, including the 2001 and 2007 clubs that concluded those seasons at No. 7.
Next Up
NJIT will break for six days and return to action on January 12 at 3pm (CT) when the Highlanders make its first ASUN Conference road trip of the season to one of the newest members to the ASUN Conference, North Alabama, in Florence, AL.
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