NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT men's basketball team returns to the Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center on Thursday night for a matchup against Vermont. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with Nick DeLuca and Barry "Slice" Rohrssen describing the action on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
Five Highlanders scored in double figures, led by
Tariq Francis matching his season-high with 27 points, but the NJIT men's basketball could not temper UMBC's hot perimeter shooting in a 95-91 loss on Saturday afternoon. Francis was his stellar self, adding seven rebounds, six assists and four 3-point makes to his 27 points.
Quentin Duncan was strong off the bench for NJIT, scoring 18 points and nailing four 3-pointers.
Tim Moore Jr. finished with 16 points on the day while
Ari Fulton and
Jordan Rogers each added 10 points.
NJIT shot the ball efficiently all day to the clip of 51.6 percent. That hot-shooting started early, with the Highlanders connecting on four of their first six shots. The Retrievers stretched their lead to as large as 12 in the second half, 70-58, but NJIT would not go down easily. Three-pointers from Duncan and Moore kept the Highlanders within striking distance, while UMBC fouled Francis and Duncan on three-point attempts to allow NJIT to score with the clock stopped. NJIT got within a pair of multiple occasions over the final few minutes, but UMBC kept having a response for every NJIT bucket to hold on for the victory.
What Sophomore Slump?
Tariq Francis put on a show during his first season as a Highlander in 2023-24, and has continued that level of play during his sophomore campaign. The Pittsburgh native leads the America East with his 18.8 points per game overall and ranks second in the league with 19.0 ppg during conference play.
This comes after posting one of the finest seasons of any freshman in the country. Francis was named America East Rookie of the Year and Met Basketball Writers Rookie of the Year after averaging a team-high 14.8 points overall. His scoring average soared to 18.7 points during America East games last year, ranking him fifth in the league and tops among all true freshmen in the nation in conference scoring.
The Rim Reaper
One of just two graduate students on the roster,
Tim Moore Jr. has found his stride midway through his lone season in University Heights. The transfer from Benedict College is averaging 13.3 points and shooting 52 percent overall on the season, but his play turned a corner in mid-December. The Houston native is averaging 15.8 pts, 7.9 reb, 53.8% FG over his last 17 games dating back to a 20-point outing at Delaware State. In his 10 games prior, Moore averaged just 9.1 pts and 5.6 rebounds.
NJIT vs. UMBC: All-Time Series
Vermont owns a 13-2 record all-time against NJIT, including the Catamounts staving off a late rally in a 68-44 win in Burlington back on Jan. 23. NJIT trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half but chipped the deficit down to as little as two in the final minute. The last two meetings in Newark have been decided by a combined four points, the latter of which was a 63-61 win for NJIT on Feb. 8, 2024 in which
Tariq Francis scored a career-high 31 points.
Highlander Highlights
- NJIT dropped a high-scoring affair at UMBC on Saturday, 95-91.
- Tariq Francis tied his season-high with 27 points and connected on four 3-pointers.
- Quentin Duncan was named America East Co-Rookie of the Week after scoring 18 points and knocking down each of his four 3-point attempts. It is his second Rookie of the Week honor fron the league this season.
- The Highlanders shot 52% from the floor and 58% from behind the three-point arc, both season-highs.
- Tim Moore Jr. finished one off his career-high with 28 points along with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks last Saturday against Binghamton.
- Moore leads America East with 41 dunks so far this season.
- In America East play, Moore is ninth in the league in scoring (15.9), fourth in rebounding (8.0), ninth in field goal percentage (53%) and sixth in blocks (1.3).
- Tariq Francis leads America East in scoring (18.8), third in three-pointers made per game (2.3) and fourth in assists (3.7) and free throw percentage (84.6%).
- Francis has hit at least one three-pointer in 42 consecutive games. His last game without a make from behind the arc was Dec. 9, 2023 at Wake Forest.
- NJIT is second in America East and is 38th in the nation in three-point defense (.306).
- NJIT trounced UMass Lowell, 83-62, on Jan. 30 at home for the Highlanders' largest America East victory since joining the league prior to the 2020-21 season.
- Tim Moore Jr. had a career night, finishing with 24 points, including his 1000th career point, as well as a career-high 15 rebounds.
- Robinson finished with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds at Vermont on Jan. 23, the first NJIT player in its Division I era (since 2006) to post such a stat line.
- Ari Fulton was named America East Rookie of the Week on Jan. 20 after averaging a double-double with 10.5 points and 11.0 rebounds during NJIT's 1-1 week.
- Sebastian Robinson set NJIT's D-1 era program record for assists in a single game, dishing out 15 dimes in the win over Medgar Evers.
- NJIT boasts a young roster, with 12 of its 14 members (86%) being either freshmen or sophomores, ranking the Highlanders fourth in the nation in that category.
- Only two players on NJIT's active roster entered this season with previous Division I experience (Francis, Robinson).
Next Up
The Highlanders will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday at 2 p.m. prior to their matchup against UAlbany.
Stay up to date on all things NJIT Men's Basketball throughout the season by following @NJITHoops on X/Twitter and Instagram.
