Game 16		NJIT (8-7, 3-2 AE) vs. Vermont (11-4, 3-0 AE)
Date		Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Arena		Wellness and Events Center
Location | Time		Newark, NJ | 7pm
ESPN+ ($$$)		Watch Live
Live Stats		In-game statistics (free)
Series		Vermont Leads 5-1
Game Notes		NJIT Notes | UVM Notes

NEWARK, NJ--The NJIT men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts first place Vermont in America East Conference play.

Game Information
Tipoff is slated for 7pm at the Wellness and Events Center on the NJIT campus in Newark. The game will also be streamed via ESPN+, with Matt Provence and Rob Kennedy on the call.

NJIT Attendance Policy
Please note that NJIT has updated its attendance policy, which can be access here.

All-Time Series
The Highlanders are 1-5 all-time against the Catamounts in a series that dates back to the 2007-08 season. NJIT's lone win came last December, when San Antonio Brinson's put-back at the buzzer in double overtime put the Highlanders ahead for good, 81-80. Dylan O'Hearn had 26 for NJIT in that game while Souleymane Diakite had his best game in a Highlanders uniform, scoring 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. 

NJIT vs. the America East
NJIT is 24-36 in America East Conference play. The Highlanders are in their second season as a member of the conference and went 15-23 against AE teams before joining the league in the summer of 2020. Last season, the Highlanders finished 6-10 in AE action. 

QUICK HITS
*    Wednesday's game is the 16th of the 2021-22 season -- which marks NJIT's 16th participating in Division I, second as a member of the America East and fifth in the Wellness & Events Center (WEC).
*    NJIT and Vermont split last season's series in Burlington, with the Highlanders winning a wild, 
81-80 affair in 2OT on Monday, December 28, 2020. San Antonio Brinson was in the right place at the right time as he put back an air-ball at the buzzer to give NJIT the upset victory. Brinson's shot was featured on SportsCenter's Top 10. Souleymane Diakite had his best game as a Highlander in that one, recording a double-double with a career-high 20 points and 12 boards.
*    Tonight's game features the top three leading scorers in the America East. 2020-21 AE Player of the Year Ryan Davis leads the league with 17.4 ppg, while NJIT's Miles Coleman (16.2 ppg) and Dylan O"Hearn (15.3 ppg) rank second ans third, respecitvely. 
*    Coleman has five games with 20 points or more this season, including his new career-high of 30 at UML. 
*    O'Hearn scored a D1 program-record 42 points in a 2OT win at Lafayette on 12/5. Thirty-six of those points came after halftime and he scored all 15 of NJIT's points after regulation.
*    While, O'Hearn was the hero of that win, plenty of other Highlanders deserve credit. Antwuan "Booty" Butler calmly drained two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to tie the game and force OT. Kjell de Graff and Mekhi Gray both played 35+ minutes for season-highs and were +22 and +21 respectively. 
*    Butler currently leads the AE in a/to ratio (2.4) and is coming off a game where he had seven assists to go along with just one turnover in 38 minutes. The seven assists were the most by a Highlander since Zach Cooks had seven on 2/13/19 at FGCU.

BACK TO BACK
Miles Coming earned his second-straight America East Player of the Week honor this week, following a pair of quality performances in NJIT's 2-0 week. The senior began the week with a career-high 30 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists in a win at UMass Lowell and followed it up with a 19-point, five-rebound performance in Saturday's win at Binghamton.

O'Hearn's Big Day
Senior Dylan O'Hearn erupted for a new Division I program-record 42 points on Sunday, December 5, as NJIT came back from a late, double-digit deficit to win in 2OT. O'Hearn scored 36 of his points at halftime and tallied all 15 of NJIT's points after regulation. The Windsor, ON, native's 42-point game is tied for the second-highest scoring effort in Division I this season as Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis narrowly has the first place spot with a 43-point game. O'Hearn was named the CollegeInsider.Com Lou Henson National Player of the Week (Top mid-major player) and America East Player of the Week.

#ProtectTheWEC
NJIT is in its fifth campaign in the state-of-the-art Wellness and Events Center (WEC) . In four-plus seasons playing in the WEC, the Highlanders are 33-27 in this three story, 220,000-square-foot building that features a 3,500-seat basketball arena and a take a three-game home winning streak into Friday's matchup with Army West Point. 

America East Conference
NJIT will begin its second season in the America East and will play a schedule of 18 conference games against the other nine schools.  The Highlanders became the 10th full member of the America East on July 1, 2020.

The Highlanders were predicted to finish eighth out of the 10 league teams in the preseason coaches poll.

Next Up
The Highlanders will return back to the friendly confines of the WEC on Saturday when they welcome Binghamton to Newark. NJIT will look for the season sweep of the Bearcats at 7pm. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

Stay Connected 
Stay up to date during the NJIT Men's Basketball season by following @NJITHoops on Twitter and Instagram and liking the NJIT Men's Basketball page on Facebook.