Game 3	NJIT Highlanders (0-2, 0-0 America East) vs. Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds (1-1, 0-0 Patriot League)
Date | Time	Tuesday, November 12, 7 p.m.
Location	Newark, N.J. | Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center
Live Video	ESPN+ (Matt Provence & Barry "Slice: Rohrssen)
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | Loyola Notes
Follow	X/Twitter | Instagram | Live Stats

NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT men's basketball team returns to the Wellness & Events Center on Tuesday night as they welcome in Loyola (Md.). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with Matt Provence and Barry "Slice" Rohrssen on the call.

NJIT vs. Loyola (Md.): All-Time Series
This will be the third time in history that NJIT and Loyola square off, with the previous two meetings coming in the early days of the Highlanders' Division I membership. The Greyhounds have paid one visit to Newark, coming all the way back on Jan. 29, 2008 in NJIT's second season at the DI level. Loyola would claim that matchup as well as the tilt between the two sides the following season in Maryland.

2023-24 Quick Rewind

• NJIT finished the 2023-24 season with a 7-21 record under first year head coach Grant Billmeier.
• Billmeier earned his first win as head coach of NJIT on Nov. 20 with an 81-72 at home over Delaware State.
• Tariq Francis was named America East Rookie of the Year, finishing fifth in America East with 18.7 points per game during conference games.
• Francis and Levi Lawal were each named to the America East All-Rookie Team. Lawal started 14 of 16 games in league play, averaging 7.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest.
• NJIT's three wins in conference play were each exhilarating. The first was when NJIT erased a 22-point halftime deficit in a 75-74 win at UMBC, the program's largest ever comeback win. Less than two weeks later, the Highlanders defeated the America East's top two teams in consecutive games in Vermont and UMass Lowell.
• NJIT's win over Vermont snapped the Catamounts' 23-game America East winning streak, the longest conference winning streak in the nation at the time.

Highlander Highlights

• NJIT dropped its first two matchups of the season, falling at home to Penn last Monday before suffering a setback at Villanova on Friday night.
• Francis and Robinson are the first Highlander teammates to score 20+ points in a game since Francis and Elijah Buchanan did so in the win over UMass Lowell on Feb. 10, 2024.
• NJIT is the lone America East team to have two players score 20+ points in a game so far.
• Grant Billmeier enters his second season as Head Coach of the Highlanders after going 7-21 overall and 3-13 in America East in his first season in University Heights.
• In terms of percentage of underclassmen on the roster, the Highlanders are the second-youngest team in the nation. Of NJIT's 15 players, 13 of them are either freshmen or sophomores.
• Six players return to Newark for their sophomore seasons in 2024-25, led by reigning-America East Rookie of the Year Tariq Francis. All-Rookie honoree Levi Lawal enters his second season as well, alongside Jeffrey Akintolu, Jake Goldberg, Cameron Piggee and Sebasitan Robinson.
• Seven freshmen join NJIT's roster in 2024: Walt Andrews Jr., Malachi Arrington, Quentin Duncan, Ari Fulton, Stefan Jimenez-Vojnic, John Kelly and Jordan Rogers.
• NJIT faces a difficult schedule in 2024-25 which includes three NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, three power conference teams and two NIT qualifiers, including NIT champions Seton Hall.
• NJIT and Loyola will meet for the third time ever, with the Greyhounds taking each of the first two matchups. The two programs last met on Jan. 14, 2009 with Loyola winning on its home floor, 70-62.
• This is the first of three Patriot League opponents the Highlanders will face this season. NJIT will also square off with Bucknell (Nov. 21) as well as Navy (Dec. 7).

Next Up
The Highlanders embark on a seven-game roadtrip on Saturday with a trip to Baltimore to face Morgan State on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Stay up to date on all things NJIT Men's Basketball throughout the season by following @NJITHoops on X/Twitter and Instagram.