@NJITHOOPS 2018-19 GAME NOTES GAME 24: LIBERTY HIGHLANDERS BASKETBALL 2018-19 GAME 24: NJIT (18-5; 6-2 ASUN) vs. LIBERTY (18-5; 7-1 ASUN) Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 • 7 PM ET • Vines Center • Lynchburg, Va. • ESPN+ 2018-19 Record|ASUN:.....18-5 | 6-2 2018-19 Record|ASUN:....18-5 | 7-1 2017-18 Record|ASUN:...14-16 | 7-7 2017-18 Record |BIG SO: 22-15 | 9-9 ASUN Ranks (Preseason):....3rd(6th) ASUN Ranks (Preseason):...2nd(3rd) NCAA NET:...................................160 NCAA NET:...................................56 All-Time vs. ASUN:..................24-26 NJIT All-Time vs. LIB....................0-0 Head Coach:...............Brian Kennedy Head Coach:..............Ritchie McKay Record at NJIT (3rd):............... 43-41 Record at LIB (6th):...............113-78 Career Record (3rd):................43-41 Career Record (6th):............278-239 CIT SEMIFINALISTS 2015, 2016 • MEMBER OF THE ASUN CONFERENCE SINCE 2015 2018-19 SCHEDULE BROADCAST INFORMATION: RECORDS NOVEMBER (7-1) Video: ESPN+ Overall 18-5 6 COLGATE W, 81-78 OT Audio: n/a Home 9-2 9 at Binghamton W, 74-57 HIGHLIGHTS: Away 9-3 11 BROWN W, 63-60 Neutral 0-0 * NJIT has won five in a row for the first time since 2016 and hopes to make it six against ASUN 6-2 14 KEAN UNIVERSITY (NJ) W, 73-40 ASUN newcomers, Liberty, on Saturday. This will be the first meeting between the teams. Home 4-1 17 CORNELL L, 86-73 * The Highlanders earned their sixth ASUN win on Wednesday, defeating FGCU, 66-54. Away 2-1 20 at Wagner W, 71-60 Zach Cooks finished with a team-high 17 points and three steals. San Antonio Brinson Non-Conference 12-3 24 at LIU Brooklyn W, 77-70 followed with 13 points and seven boards. Home 5-1 28 at Drexel W, 70-67 * NJIT is 9-3 on the road this season, one of just three teams nationwide with nine or more Away 7-2 Neutral 0-0 DECEMBER (5-2) road wins. NJIT’s nine road wins is a program record at the Division I level, breaking the previous record of eight road wins in 2015-16. Current streak W5 1 at UMass Lowell L, 94-71 Long. W streak W5 4 ARMY WEST POINT W, 77-72 * Abdul Lewis was named ASUN Co-Player of the Week alongside Lipscomb’s Garrison Long. L streak L2 8 ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN W, 82-60 Mathews. Lewis finished the week with 53 points (17.7 ppg) and 38 rebounds (12.7 rpg) in Leading at Half 14-0 three games. The senior has recorded double-doubles in three of his last five games. 11 at Fordham W, 53-50 Trailing at Half 3-5 Tied at Half 1-0 15 at Fairleigh Dickinson W, 90-80 * Zach Cooks currently ranks 4th in the nation in steals (62), 11th in the nation in steals per game (2.7) and 16th in points per game among D-1 underclassmen (18.7). Overtime 2-0 29 at HOUSTON L, 80-59 Travel Days 5-0 31 at Duquesne W, 78-67 * NJIT has won 11 of their last 14 games. All-time, NJIT, which joined the ASUN Day 7-4 Conference in 2015-16, is 24-26 against ASUN opponents. At 18-5 overall, NJIT is off to its Night (6 PM on) 10-1 JANUARY (6-2) best start since 1994-95 (28-2 and advanced to the NCAA Division-III Elite Eight). Ranked Teams 0-1 5 KENNESAW STATE* W, 72-52 * With 18 wins, NJIT has tied its Division-I program record for regular season wins (2014-15). Power Conf. 0-1 12 at North Alabama* L, 61-55 * NJIT has appeared in “Others Receiving Votes” in the AP Top-25 three times -- the first All-Time 159-233 16 LIPSCOMB* L, 70-52 times in program history that NJIT has been recognized in the poll (Dec. 10-24). Division I 130-233 19 JACKSONVILLE* W, 77-74 Non Division I 29-0 * NJIT has sported a 113-97 (.538) record since third-year head coach Brian Kennedy joined 21 at North Florida* W, 76-72 the staff as a top assistant to Jim Engles in 2012-13. 24 at Stetson* W, 82-59 27 NORTH ALABAMA* W, 76-70 OT PROBABLE STARTERS 30 FLORIDA GULF COAST* W, 66-54 # Name PO YR HT WT Notes 0 Abdul Lewis F Sr. 6-10 225 • Avg’g 15.0 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 3.6 apg in L5 games; three dbl-dbls FEBRUARY (0-0) Preseason All-ASUN • 20 career dbl-dbls (NJIT record); eclipsed 1,000 NCAA points vs. KSU 2nd-Team All-ASUN 2 at Liberty* 7 p.m. • NJIT single-game record 21 rebs vs Jacksonville (5th most in D-I) 9 at Kennesaw State* 4:30 p.m. • 2017-18: Led ASUN in rpg (8.8; 47th in D-I) & o-rpg (3.2; 29th in D-I) 2 San Antonio Brinson F So. 6-8 200 • Avg’g 6.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 12 blks; 15pts, 15rebs at Duquesne 13 at Florida Gulf Coast* 7 p.m. * Ended ’17-18 with career highs in pts (15) & reb (9) in ASUN QF vs. UNF 16 NORTH FLORIDA* 4 p.m. 4 Zach Cooks G So. 5-9 155 • Scored 19+ in 12 of L19, inc. c-h 27 pts vs, Army 20 STETSON* 7 p.m. ASUN All-Freshmen • Third in ASUN at 18.7 ppg (17th among D-1 underclassmen) 23 at Jacksonville* 6 p.m. ASUN POW, 11/26 • Leads ASUN at 2.7 spg (11th in D-I); 4th in D-I w/ 62 stl 25 at Lipscomb* 6:30 p.m. (CT) • 2017-18: Ranked 3rd in 3FG% (.432), 6th in spg (1.6); 5th FR scorer (8.5) 11 Shyquan Gibbs CC G Jr. 6-1 150 • Avg’g 8.1 ppg, 2.3 apg, .420 FG pct; car-high 25 pts vs. Cornell MARCH (0-0) /SHY-qwan/ ASUN All-Academic • Has started 66 consecutive games since his first as a FR, 1/14/17 vs. UNF 1 LIBERTY* 7 p.m. • Ranks 5th in ASUN in asst-to-TO ratio (2.0); finished 7th in ’17-18 (2.0) ASUN CHAMPIONSHIPS 15 Diandre Wilson G Sr. 6-2 170 • Avg’g 11.0 ppg (17th in ASUN), .399 FG pct 4 ASUN Quarterfinals TBD /dee-ON-dray/ ASUN POW, 11/12 • Has 2, GW FG this season (11/6, 11/11); Led NJIT in pts 2x (11/9, 11/11) 7 ASUN Semifinals TBD 1,772 career points • Avg’g 16.6 ppg in 4-year college career between Mott CC (2)& NJIT (2) CCCo-Captains 10 ASUN Finals TBD REST OF ROTATION HOME GAMES IN CAPS # Name PO YR HT WT Notes *ASUN Conference Game 5 Diego Willis G Fr. 6-3 175 • Drained season-high 3 three pointers for 9 pts vs Lipscomb (1/16) • 2017-18: 18.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg at Canarias Basketball Academy (Spain) 21 Souleymane Diakate F Fr. 6-9 210 • Nearly a double-double w/ 11 points, 9 boards @ BU (firsts in NCAA) /SOO-lee-mahn dee-ah-KEY-tay/ • 2017-18: St. Benedict's Prep (originally signed NIL to Oklahoma St.) 23 Shawndale Jones G So. 6-3 85 • Season-high 12 pts with 2 reb, 2 ast, stl, blk off bench at Binghamton /shawn-DELL/ • 2017-18: ASUN’s 6th-leading FR scorer (6.4)... Last 4 G: 7.3 ppg (9-16 FG) 32 Donovan Greer G Sr. 6-3 165 • C-h 14 points on 5-5 FG at Stetson; Game-tying 3ptr w/ :05 vs. UNA MBB CONTACT: • 2017-18: Ranked 4th in 3FG% in ASUN conference play at .438 (14-32) CHRIS ORIHUELA 33 Kjell de Graaf /kell/ F Fr. 6-10 210 • 2017-18: 14.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg at Canarias Basketball Academy (Spain) 973.713.0656 | [email protected] 34 Mohamed Bendary F Sr. 6-9 235 • Avg’g 4.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 12 blks...Owns career .658 FG% (156-237) /ben-DARR-ee/ • In 4 G w/ Lewis DNP: Averaged 8.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg in 22.8 mpg (16-22 FG) @NJITHoops 2018-19 HIGHLANDERS #EVERYDAY @NJITHOOPS 2018-19 GAME NOTES GAME 24: LIBERTY ASUN STANDINGS: Conference Overall Standings Rec Win % PF PA Rec Win % PF PA H A N L10 Strk Lipscomb 8-0 1.000 83.1 65.6 17-4 .810 84.8 68.4 9-1 8-3 0-0 9-1 W 8 Liberty 7-1 .875 69.1 57.4 18-5 .783 75.4 59.9 10-1 7-2 1-2 8-2 L 1 NJIT 6-2 .750 69.5 64.0 18-5 .783 71.7 66.7 9-2 9-3 0-0 7-3 W 5 LIPSCOMB IS PRESEASON FAVORITE; North Alabama 5-3 .625 67.0 72.0 8-15 .348 65.7 73.1 7-1 1-14 0-0 5-5 L 1 MATHEWS & HORCHLER COLLECT Jacksonville 3-5 .375 74.5 73.9 10-13 .435 75.7 75.0 4-5 5-7 1-1 3-7 W 1 FGCU 3-5 .375 70.9 73.5 8-15 .348 72.0 76.8 5-3 3-10 0-2 3-7 L 1 INDIVIDUAL HONORS North Florida 3-6 .333 77.4 76.9 9-15 .375 76.4 79.1 6-2 2-12 1-1 4-6 L 5 ATLANTA, GA -- After its 2018 ASUN Confer- Kennesaw State 1-6 .143 61.6 74.6 4-18 .182 62.0 75.4 4-6 0-10 0-2 2-8 W 1 ence Championship title and first-ever trip Stetson 0-8 .000 63.6 80.6 4-19 .174 68.7 80.3 4-7 0-12 0-0 1-9 L 8 to the NCAA Tournament, Lipscomb secured the top spot in both the preseason coaches & ASUN OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: media polls.