NJIT GAME NOTES (PDF)


NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT Highlanders (12-12, 5-4 ASUN) return home looking for their third straight win when first place Florida Gulf Coast (18-8, 9-0 ASUN) comes to town for a 7 p.m. tilt at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) in Newark.
 
NJIT is coming off an 81-77 come-from-behind victory at Lipscomb on Saturday, while the Eagles pulled away in the second half en route to an 80-55 win over Jacksonville.
 
The Highlanders have won three of their last four overall and are 10-4 at the WEC this season.
 
This is a matchup of the top two scoring defenses in the ASUN as FGCU allows 68.9 ppg this year to lead the league and NJIT ranks second at 72.3 ppg.
 
The game can be seen live on ESPN3 (all remaining NJIT basketball games can be seen on ESPN3).
 
A simple way to find ESPN3 is on NJIT's official athletics website, http://www.njithighlanders.com. Near the middle of the home page NJIT TV section, click Upcoming Events for a list of scheduled NJIT contests. After finding the event, click the camera icon to the right of the event listing. That brings you to an ESPN3 portal where you can access the desired program.
 
Matt Provence, the voice of the Highlanders, is on play-by-play with expert analysis from Dave Calloway.

 
All-Time Series
 
FGCU leads the all-time series by a 4-1 count after capturing a 68-54 victory on Jan. 13 in Fort Myers.
 
The Highlanders hung with the Eagles for all 40 minutes, but fell short as FGCU held the visitors to just 26 points and 29.0% shooting (9-of-31) from the floor in the second half.
 
Florida Gulf Coast led 36-28 at halftime in the first meeting between the two teams.
 
Freshman guard Zach Cooks paced NJIT with 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from downtown, while classmate Shawndale Jones came through with 11 points of his own.
 
Senior guard Brandon Goodwin had a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way offensively for the Eagles, while junior guard Zach Johnson chipped in 19 points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
In the last meeting in Newark on Feb. 16, 2017, FGCU outscored the Highlanders by a 43-31 margin in the second half as part of an 80-73 victory.

 
From The Eagles Nest
 
In the 80-55 win at Jacksonville on Saturday, the Eagles outscored the Dolphins by a 47-30 margin in the second half after holding an eight point edge at halftime.
 
FGCU shot 54.3% (19-of-35) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
 
Johnson had a game-high 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting to lead the Eagles, while
Goodwin added 24 and junior guard Dinero Mercurius chipped in with 11.
 
Head coach Joe Dooley's squad has now won 11 straight dating back to an 80-60 loss at Rhode Island on Dec. 27.
 
The Eagles are one of 12 teams in the country that are undefeated in league play (Vermont-America East, Cincinnati-AAC, Rhode Island-Atlantic 10, Virginia-ACC, Montana-Big Sky, Purdue-Big Ten, Penn-Ivy League, East Tennessee State-Southern, Louisiana-Sun Belt, Saint Mary's-West Coast, New Mexico State-WAC).
 
FGCU shoots a league best 49.1% from the floor and ranks third in the ASUN in scoring at 79.7 ppg.
 
Along with leading the ASUN in scoring defense, Eagles' opponents are shooting just 41.0% from the floor which is tops in the league. FGCU also ranks second in three point defense, holding foes to 31.1% shooting from beyond the arc.
 
Goodwin leads the Eagles and ranks second in the ASUN in scoring at 17.5 ppg, while Johnson checks in at 14.9 ppg and senior guard Christian Terrell averages 10.8 ppg.
 
Mercurius ranks second in the ASUN in three-point percentage at 46.1%.
 
Dooley is in his fifth season at the helm of the Eagles and has posted a 109-54 mark (.669) to date. The West Orange, N.J., native has posted four straight 20-win seasons to go along with the pair of afore-mentioned NCAA Tournament berths.
 
Prior to coming to FGCU, Dooley spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas and won the 2008 National Championship.
 
Florida Gulf Coast burst onto the national scene as "Dunk City" during the school's run to the 2013 Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed which included upset wins over Georgetown and San Diego State.
 
Terrell was high school teammates with Duke's Grayson Allen at Providence High School in Jacksonville.
 
Freshman guard Darnell Rogers' father, Shawnta, was named the 1999 Atlantic Player of the Year at George Washington and is a member of the GW Hall of Fame.
 
Junior forward Ricky Doyle's father, Richard, played college basketball at UTSA and spent 11 seasons playing professionally in France.
 
Freshman guard Ryan McAdoo's father, Bob, was a five-time NBA All-Star and received the 1973 NBA Rookie of the Year and 1975 MVP Awards. The elder McAdoo spent 14 seasons in the NBA with Buffalo (1972-76), New York (1976-79), Boston (1979), Detroit (1979-81), New Jersey (1981), the Los Angeles Lakers (1981-85) and Philadelphia (1985-86).

 
NJIT Outlook
 
The Highlanders scored the final 14 points of the game in the come-from-behind 81-77 victory at Lipscomb on Saturday.
 
NJIT trailed 77-67 with 3:35 remaining before putting together the remarkable rally.
 
Sophomore forward Anthony Tarke gave the Highlanders the lead for good with a triple to give the visitors a 78-77 advantage.
 
Tarke matched his career-high with 27 points, while junior forward Abdul Lewis also had a career-high 27 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to pace NJIT. Cooks added 12 points off the bench.
 
Lewis, the reigning ASUN Player of the Week, made perhaps the biggest play of the afternoon with a game-saving block on a putback attempt from Lipscomb's Kenny Cooper inside the final 15 seconds.
 
Tarke had previously scored 27 on Jan. 24 at Kennesaw State, while the 27 points for Lewis surpassed his previous career-high of 24 on Jan. 21, 2017 at FGCU.
 
As a team, NJIT is shooting 35.9% from beyond the arc, which ranks second in the ASUN. Cooks is tops on the team and sits fourth in the ASUN at 45.5% from deep.
 
Tarke leads the team in scoring at 15.7 ppg and is one of three Highlanders averaging in double figures: Lewis (11.5 ppg) and junior guard Diandre Wilson (10.6 ppg).
 
The dynamic duo of Lewis and Tarke has been carrying the offensive load as of late for NJIT as Tarke has scored in double figures in six straight games and 21 of 24 this season, while Lewis is averaging 17.0 ppg and 9.2 rpg in his last five contests.


Write-up Courtesy of Joe Fitzhenry