@NJITHOOPS 2019-20 GAME NOTES GAME 7: RUTGERS UNIVERSITY HIGHLANDERS BASKETBALL 2019-20 G7: NJIT (2-4) at Rutgers (4-1) Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019 • 7:00pm • Rutgers Athletic Center • Piscataway, NJ • BTN 2019-20 Record|ASUN:......2-4 | 0-0 2019-20 Record|B1G:..........4-1| 0-0 2018-19 Record|ASUN:...22-13 | 8-8 2018-19 Record|B1G:... 14-17| 7-13 2018-19 ASUN Finish..................5th 2018-19 B1G Finish...................12th KenPom:......................................193 KenPom:.....................................84 All-Time Record vs. B1G..........1-4 NJIT All-Time vs. RU....................0-6 Head Coach:...............Brian Kennedy Head Coach...................Steve Pikiell Record at NJIT (4th):............... 49-53 Record at RU (4th):...............96-113 Career Record (4th):................49-53 Career Record (15th):..............48-54 CIT SEMIFINALISTS 2015, 2016 • MEMBER OF THE ASUN CONFERENCE SINCE 2015 2019-20 SCHEDULE BROADCAST INFORMATION: RECORDS NOVEMBER Video: BTN Wayne Randazzo (pXp) & Christy Winters-Scott(color) Overall 2-4 6 at Colgate L, 80-75 Audio: WOR 710 AM/SiriusXM 372 Jerry Recco (pXp) & Joe Boylan (color) Home 1-1 9 at Providence L, 76-47 HIGHLIGHTS: Away 1-2 Neutral 0-0 13 at Cornell W, 59-58 * Tonight’s game is NJIT’s seventh of the 2019-20 season -- which marks its 14th participating 16 WAGNER W, 88-69 ASUN 0-0 in Division I, fifth as a member of the ASUN and third in the Wellness & Events Center Home 0-0 20 BINGHAMTON L, 77-75 (WEC). Away 0-0 23 at Brown L, 79-63 * NJIT earned its first victory of the season on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at Cornell, but it was any- Non-Conference 2-4 26 at Rutgers 7PM thing but easy. The Highlanders trailed by 20 early in the second half, only to erase the deficit Home 1-1 with the help of a pair of 11-0 runs. Shyquan Gibbs’ contest bucket with 0:00.5 on the clock Away 1-3 DECEMBER was the difference, as NJIT won 59-58. Neutral 0-0 4 at Army West Point 7pm * The Highlanders made it two in a row with a convincing 88-69 victory in their home opener Current streak L2 7 at Central Florida 12pm against Wagner on Saturday at the WEC. Five NJIT players finished in double figures, while four Long. W streak W2 11 UMASS-LOWELL 7pm freshmen found the scoring column, including Xavier Mayo and Caleb Matthews who earned Long. L streak L2 Leading at Half 1-1 14 at St. Francis (NY) 2pm their first-career points. Trailing at Half 1-3 22 KEAN 2pm * Zach Cooks has led the Highlanders in scoring in each of their six games. The junior captain broke the single-game program scoring record last Wed. with 35 points and followed it up with Tied at Half 0-0 29 at UConn 1pm Overtime 0-0 a 30-point performance on Saturday at Brown. Cooks leads the ASUN in scoring and entered Travel Days 0-0 JANUARY the week fifth in the nation (25.5 ppg). Day 1-2 4 LIBERTY* 4pm * Today’s game is the second of a season-long, four-game road trip for NJIT. The Highlanders Night (6 PM on) 1-2 9 at Jacksonville* 7pm wil go three weeks between home games (11/20 - 12/11). Ranked Teams 0-0 11 at North Florida* 5pm * The Highlanders recorded the first ASUN Championship win in program history in the Power Conf. 0-1 16 LIPSCOMB* 12pm quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament last season, defeating FGCU on the road, 83-78. The win All-Time 165-245 18 KENNESAW STATE* 4pm was also NJIT’s first win in “Dunk City.” Division I 136-245 23 at Stetson* 7pm * The Highlanders non-conference schedule is highlighted by trips to Providence, Rutgers, Non Division I 29-0 25 at Florida Gulf Coast* 7pm UCF and UConn. 30 NORTH ALABAMA* 7pm PROBABLE STARTERS FEBRUARY # Name PO YR HT WT Notes 6 NORTH FLORIDA* 7pm 2 San Antonio Brinson F Jr. 6-8 200 • Double-double vs. Binghamton (Career-high 22 points, 11 rebounds) • 10 Points in win vs. Wagner 8 JACKSONVILLE* 4pm 4 Zach Cooks CC G Jr. 5-9 155 • Back-to-back 30+ pt games including program-record 35 vs. Bing. 13 at Lipscomb* 6:30pm (ct) • One of four unanimous Preseason All-ASUN selections 15 at Liberty* 7pm • Leading scorer in all six games; leads ASUN in scoring (25.5 ppg) 20 STETSON* 7pm • Played all 40 minutes in season opener 22 Florida Gulf Coast* 4pm 11 Shyquan Gibbs CC G Sr. 6-1 150 • Played in 100th career game last Wed. vs. Binghamton 27 at North Alabama* 7pm (ct) • Scored 14 points at Colgate (12 in second half) 29 at Kennesaw State* 4:30pm /SHY-qwan/ • 10 points vs. Wagner, didn’t miss a shot 14 Reilly Walsh CC G Gr. 6-3 180 • Career-high 21 points in last season’s opening night victory vs. Colgate MARCH • Suffered season-ending injury in third game of 2018-19 season ASUN CHAMPIONSHIP • Finished undergrad degree with perfect 4.0 GPA; now pursuing MBA 3 Quarterfinals TBA 21 Souleymane Diakite F So. 6-9 210 • First career start at Colgate -- 32 min (career-high), 8 points, 9 boards 5 Semifinals TBA /SOO-lee-mahn dee-ah-KEY-tay/ • First career double-double (10pt, 13rb) at Cornell CC 8 Finals TBA Co-Captains REST OF ROTATION HOME GAMES IN CAPS # Name PO YR HT WT Notes *ASUN Conference Game 0 Levar Williams G Fr. 6-0 185 • Played 10+ minutes in first four games of the season • USA Today First Team All-State (MA) last season 5 Diego Willis G So. 6-3 175 • Career-high 13 points on 4-of-6 3FG vs. Wagner • Scored five points off the bench at Colgate, added five more at Brown. 10 Caleb Matthews G Fr. 6-4 175 • Drained first-career 3FG vs. Wagner 22 Byron Breland III G Fr. 6-3 180 • New England Prep School Player of the Year in 2018-19 /Bree-land/ • Seven points off the bench vs. Wagner 32 Xaiver Mayo F Fr. 6-7 230 • Earned All-MAPL honors at The Hill School (PA) • Scored first four points of career vs. Wagner. MBB CONTACT: 33 Kjell de Graaf F Fr. 6-10 210 • Appeared in 26 of 35 games last season, starting both CIT contests Myles Rudnick • Career-high nine points at Lipscomb (2/24/19) 201.602.2181 | [email protected] • 6-for-6 from the foul line at Cornell @MylesRudnick 2019-20 HIGHLANDERS #SACRIFICE @NJITHOOPS 2019-20 GAME NOTES GAME 7: RUTGERS UNIVERSITY 2018-19 ASUN STANDINGS: Conference Overall Standings Rec Win % PF PA Rec Win % PF PA H A N L10 Strk Lipscomb 14-2 .875 82.7 68.6 29-7 .806 83.6 69.9 14-3 14-4 1-0 8-2 W 4 Liberty 14-2 .875 69.9 59.9 29-7 .806 73.7 61.4 16-1 11-3 2-3 8-2 L 1 North Florida 9-7 .563 75.6 74.2 16-17 .485 75.3 76.7 10-3 5-13 1-1 7-3 L 1 LIBERTY IS PRESEASON FAVORITE; FGCU 9-7 .563 69.5 68.7 14-18 .438 71.2 73.8 10-4 4-12 0-2 6-4 L 1 HOMESLEY & AMINU COLLECT NJIT 8-8 .500 67.5 66.3 22-13 .629 70.6 68.6 11-5 11-8 0-0 4-6 L 1 INDIVIDUAL HONORS North Alabama 7-9 .438 68.9 73.6 10-22 .313 67.0 73.7 8-4 2-18 0-0 2-8 L 2 Jacksonville 5-11 .313 73.9 74.8 12-20 .375 74.5 75.1 5-8 6-11 1-1 3-7 L 5 ATLANTA, Ga. - Liberty is favored to capture the 2019- Stetson 3-13 .188 67.6 76.7 7-24 .226 69.4 78.4 7-8 0-16 0-0 3-7 L 2 20 ASUN Conference Men’s Basketball title after being Kennesaw State 3-13 .188 64.1 77.1 6-26 .188 63.4 76.7 6-8 0-16 0-2 2-8 L 1 selected to the top spot in both the Coaches & Media Polls. Liberty, the 2019 ASUN Championship title winners 2019-20 ASUN OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: and Co-Regular Season champions, returns four-of- 1 FGCU 6 128-326 39.3 44-133 33.1 65-94 69.1 9.5 24.5 34.0 12.8 19.2 6.8 4.0 17.7 60.8 five starters and its top-two scorers from last season’s squad which advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second 2 Jacksonville 7 167-391 42.7 50-155 32.3 90-139 64.7 9.1 28.9 38.0 12.6 14.6 4.6 3.0 15.3 67.7 Round after defeating Mississippi State in its opener. 3 Kennesaw State 5 92-283 32.5 17-80 21.3 63-94 67.0 11.6 23.8 35.4 8.8 17.6 5.2 2.0 16.6 52.8 North Florida was selected second while FGCU secured 4 Liberty 8 186-403 46.2 62-166 37.3 117-166 70.5 7.9 27.0 34.9 12.5 9.9 5.8 2.8 14.4 68.9 the third spot to round out the top three in both polls. NJIT and Lipscomb, an NIT Final participant last season, 5 Lipscomb 6 155-355 43.7 36-129 27.9 74-110 67.3 9.3 27.8 37.2 11.2 14.7 5.2 3.8 14.3 70.0 were ranked in the fourth and fifth slots with the High- 6 NJIT 6 144-345 41.7 39-124 31.5 80-114 70.2 9.2 23.0 32.2 10.0 10.3 5.2 2.3 17.7 67.8 landers placing fourth in the Coaches Poll and the Bisons 7 North Alabama 6 147-345 42.6 41-124 33.1 75-118 63.6 10.7 22.8 33.5 11.8 15.7 7.5 3.2 23.5 68.3 claiming the No.