NEWARK, NJ-- After playing eight of its first 10 games of the 2020-21 season on the road, the NJIT men's basketball team will return home this weekend to host Stony Brook in a pair of America East contests.
No Spectators Allowed at Wellness and Events Center
No spectators will not be permitted inside the Wellness and Events Center until further notice due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All NJIT games will be streamed on ESPN+ or ESPN3 this season.
Last Time Out
The NJIT men's basketball team was defeated 83-71 by host Albany on Sunday in America East action at the SEFCU Arena.
The victory gave Albany (3-5, 3-3 America East) the weekend series sweep, while NJIT (4-6, 3-5 America East) suffered its third-straight loss.
Get to Know the Seawolves
Coach Geno Ford's team won 20 games last season to earn the two seed in the America East Tournament, but lost it's three best players to the transfer portal and has nearly an entire new squad.
The Seawolves, which were picked to finish fifth in the 10-team conference this season, won their first four conference games, sweeping Binghamton and UMass Lowell. Last weekend, however, Stony Brook was the victim of a sweep by New Hampshire.
SBU has four players averaging at least 10.0 ppg, with none of them averaging more than 12.2 ppg. Frankie Policelli leads the team (12.2 ppg), with Juan Felix Rodriguez at 12.1 ppg. Mohammad Gueye has 37 blocks this season, the most in the America East and among the top 10 in the NCAA.
All-Time Series
This weekend's meetings with Stony Brook will be the seventh and eighth all-time, with the first five being won by the Seawolves and the most recently going to the Highlanders.
Last Three Meetings:
12/28/16: NJIT 64, Stony Brook 61 -- Stony Brook, NY
12/28/15: Stony Brook 83, NJIT 61 -- Newark, NJ
11/28/09: Stony Brook 60, NJIT 46 -- Stony Brook, NY
A New Home for NJIT
The 2020-21 season will feature NJIT's first season as a member of the America East Conference. The Highlanders, who became the 10th full member of the America East effective July 1, 2020, will play a full basketball double round‐robin schedule of 18 conference games against the other nine schools. The schedule format consists of weekend series (Saturday and Sunday) where a team hosts the same opponent on back‐to‐back days for two games.
NJIT departs the ASUN Conference after five seasons as a member (first season 2015-16), which marked the first time that the Highlanders had been a full member of an automatic qualifying NCAA Division I multisport conference.
Wild Win at Vermont Gets NJIT on Sportscenter
NJIT's come-from-behind, 2OT thrilling win at Vermont in late December was featured on ESPN Sportscenter as San Antonio Brinson's putback lifted the Highlanders to their first-ever America East victory.
The game was tied in the final seconds and although Dylan O'Hearn slipped, he was able to get the ball to Diego Willis who threw up a desperation shot. Luckily for NJIT, Brinson was in the right place to put the ball through the hoop with just one tenth of a second remaining to give the Highlanders the victory.
LOU HENSON AWARD WATCH LIST :
Senior captain Zach Cooks was named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List for the second-straight season.The Lou Henson Award is given annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player. The award honors the late Henson, a former Illinois and New Mexico State coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. Henson is the winningest coach in Illinois basketball history with 423 victories. During his 21 seasons (1975-1996), Henson led the Fighting Illini to 16 postseason appearances, including 12 NCAA tournaments and a Final Four appearance in 1989. Overall, 50 players were named to the Preseason Watch List. Cooks was one of just two America East players (Obadiah Noel; UMass Lowell) and one of just two from an NJ squad (Jahlil Jenkins; FDU) named to the watch list.
#PROTECTTHEWEC
NJIT enters its fourth campaign in the state-of-the-art Wellness and Events Center (WEC) . In three-plus seasons playing in the WEC, the Highlanders are 27-2- in this three story, 220,000-square-foot building that features a 3,500-seat basketball arena.
Up Next:
The Highlanders will hit the road once again next weekend for a two-game America East series at Hartford. Game times are slated for 2pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
