NEWARK, NJ—The NJIT men's basketball team opens ASUN Conference action on Saturday when it hosts 2018-19 League Champion Liberty in the WEC.
Tip-off is slated for 4pm in the Wellness and Events Center as part of a doubleheader with the NJIT women, tipping off at 1pm against the Flames with both games on ESPN+.
Watch Game Live on ESPN+
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Michael Ventola will handle the play-by-play with and color analysis from
Matt Provence.
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.
Diakite-Diakite
Sophomore
Souleymane Diakite has recorded three-straight double-doubles and his 12-point, 11-rebound, six block performance at UConn earned him ASUN Player of the Week honors. Diakite ia averaging 11.7 ppg, 14.0 rpg and 4.0 bpg during the three-game stretch and currently ranks second in the ASUN in rebounds and first in blocks. Diakite's six blocks at UConn were the most in a single game since
Tim Coleman swatted six shots in 2014.
All-Time Series
Saturday's meeting is the third all-time between the Highlanders and Flames and the squads met twice last year, Liberty's first season in the ASUN.
Last Two Meetings:
3/1/19: Liberty 57, NJIT 51 -- Newark, NJ
2/2/19: Liberty 77, NJIT 57 -- Lynchburg, VA
Last Time Out vs. Liberty
Visiting Liberty defeated NJIT 57-51 on Friday, March 1 -- Senior Day at the WEC in Newark.
Abdul Lewis scored 25 points and grabbed nine boards, but it wasn't enough as the Flames held off the Highlanders to earn a share of the ASUN Regular Season Title on the final day of the regular season.
Scouting the Flames
Liberty, the defending ASUN Champions, was picked to repeat this season.The squad features three 1,000-point scorers led by 2019-20 ASUN Preseason Player of the Year Caleb Homesley.
Scottie James is the team's top player down low. James, who transfered from Bradley following his freshman season, ranks seventh on the all-time rebounding list with 754 boards.
Liberty has the second-best scoring defense in the country, after finishing in the Top 20 in both 2017-18 (19th) and 2018-19 (sixth).
The Flames won their first 14 games of the season and are currently the only team in the nation with 15 victories.
Beanie Giveaway
The first 104 fans to attend each game of the NJIT basketball doubleheader against Liberty on January 4 (women at 1pm; men at 4pm) will receive a FREE NJIT Adidas Beanie.
ASUN Preseason Coaches' Poll
The ASUN Conference announced its official Preseason All-Conference team and Coaches' Polls and the Highlanders were selected to finish fourth out of nine teams the league office. Liberty was picked to repeat as League Champions. NJIT's
Zach Cooks was a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-ASUN team, as were Liberty's Caleb Homesley and Scottie James.
Up Next
NJIT returns to the court for a pair of ASUN games in Jacksonville next week. The Highlanders will first take on Jacksonville on Thursday before squaring off against North Florida on Saturday. The Highlanders' next home game will take place on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 12pm when they host Lipscomb as part of their annual Education Day.
