NEWARK, NJ--Â The NJIT men's basketball team continues its season-long, four-game road trip on Tuesday when it heads down the New Jersey Turnpike to take on Rutgers in Piscataway.
LAST TIME OUT
The NJIT men's basketball team fell behind big early and couldn't claw all the way back as it was defeated 79-63 by host Brown on Saturday at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
NJIT (2-4) junior captain Zach Cooks led all scorers with 30 points, including the 1,000th of his career in the loss. Brown (4-1) was led by Brandon Anderson, who scored 26 points while playing all 40 minutes.Â
Anderson and the Bears shot 51.9% from the field in the win, including 60.0% (9-of-15) from long-range, while holding the Highlanders to 38.9% shooting from the field and 33.3% from deep.
Cooks Off to Hot Start
Through six games, Zach Cooks is averaging 25.5 ppg which ranks tops in the ASUN Conference and fifth nationally. The junior captain had another great week last week, scoring a program-record 35 points against Binghamton on Wednesday and following it up with a 30-point performance at Brown on Saturday. Cooks' fourth point against the Bears was the 1,000th of his career.Â
SportsCenter Top 10 for Number 11
Senior captain Shyquan Gibbs' heroic, last-second basket to beat Cornell was featured as the #5 play on Wednesday evening's SportsCenter Top 10. Reilly Walsh inbounded the ball to Gibbs with 3.6 seconds to play and Gibbs took it towards the basket and finished an incredible shot between two Cornell defenders to put the Highlanders ahead with just :0.5 seconds to play.Â
AT THE LINE
After draining all 12 of their free throw attempts in a one-point win at Cornell, the Highlanders have struggled a bit from the foul line. NJIT is shooting 63.8% (53-83) in its last three games.Â
Brushing Up on the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers is 4-1 on the young season, winning its first three games, before falling to St. Bonaventure on a neutral floor in Toronto, then coming back home to defeat Stephen F. Austin.
The Knights are balanced offensively, with seven players averaging at least 7.0 ppg, led by Geo Baker (12.8), Akwasi Yeboah (10.8) and Ron Harper Jr. (10.0). Myles Johnson is the squad's leading rebounder, averaging 6.2 boards per game.
Rutgers ranks among the top 10 in the nation in blocks and blocks per game, with Johnson's nine blocks leading the way.
All-Time Series
Tuesday marks the seventh meeting all-time between NJIT and Rutgers, with the Scarlet Knights coming away victorious in the previous six outings. Five of the six games took place at the RAC, with the sixth being an NJIT home game at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Last three meetings:
12/7/17: Rutgers 73, NJIT 64 Â -- Piscataway, NJ
12/22/11: Rutgers 77, NJIT 53 Â -- Piscataway, NJ
12/1/10: Rutgers 66, NJIT 54 Â -- Piscataway, NJ
Last Game vs. Rutgers
Corey Sanders scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half to guide Rutgers University past NJIT, 73-64, at the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC) on Thursday, December 7, 2017.
Rutgers (7-3) led 33-32 at halftime and then pulled away from the Highlanders (5-4) during a 20-6 run that began at 16:24 in the second half. The spurt, fueled by six points from sophomore Eugene Omoruyi and five from Sanders, allowed the Rutgers lead swell to game-high, 17-point lead at 61-44 with 8:58 remaining in the game
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Yet, NJIT would not go away.
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The Highlanders scored the next five points and continued to claw their way back into the contest. NJIT trimmed the deficit down to eight points on a jumper by sophomore Anthony Tarke with 2:18 remaining in the game. The Highlanders again drew to within eight points late on a triple by junior Donovan Greer in the final minute, but would pull no closer, ultimately falling by nine.
Up Next
NJIT will have eight days off to prepare for a matchup with Army West Point on Wednesday, December 4, in West Point, NY. Tip-off against the Black Knights is slated for 7pm.
