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2019–20 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball
2019–20 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball
Conference	Atlantic Sun Conference
Record	9–21 (6–10 ASUN)
Head coach	Brian Kennedy (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Jeff Rafferty; Kim Waiters; Joe Gutowski; Danny Manuel;
Home arena	Wellness and Events Center
	Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 ASUN men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Liberty†	13	–	3	.813	30	–	4	.882
North Florida	13	–	3	.813	21	–	12	.636
Lipscomb	9	–	7	.563	16	–	16	.500
Stetson	9	–	7	.563	16	–	17	.485
North Alabama*	8	–	8	.500	13	–	17	.433
Florida Gulf Coast	7	–	9	.438	10	–	22	.313
Jacksonville	7	–	9	.438	14	–	18	.438
NJIT	6	–	10	.375	9	–	21	.300
Kennesaw State	0	–	16	.000	1	–	28	.034
* Ineligible for the 2020 NCAA tournament due to transition period

† 2020 ASUN Tournament winner

The 2019–20 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team represented the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by fourth-year head coach Brian Kennedy, played their home games at the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. They finished the season 9–21, 6–10 in ASUN play, to finish in eighth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament to Liberty.

This was the final season the Highlanders were a member of the ASUN. On June 14, 2020, it was announced that on they would become a full member of the America East Conference beginning July 1, 2020.^[1]

Previous season

The Highlanders finished the 2018–19 season 22–13 overall, 8–8 in ASUN play, to finish in fifth place. In the ASUN tournament, they defeated Florida Gulf Coast in the quarterfinals,^[2] before losing to Lipscomb in the semifinals.^[3] They received an invitation to the CIT, where they defeated Quinnipiac in the first round,^[4] before losing to Hampton in the quarterfinals.^[5]

Roster

2019–20 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Levar Williams	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Burke HS	Hyde Park, MA
F	1	Taj Price	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Newark East Side HS	Newark, NJ
F	2	San Antonio Brinson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	South Kent School	Thomson, GA
G	4	Zach Cooks	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Jr	Berkmar HS	Lawrenceville, GA
G	5	Diego Willis	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Canarias Basketball Academy	Hermosillo, Mexico
G	10	Caleb Matthews	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Mt. Zion Prep	Smyrna, DE
G	11	Shyquan Gibbs	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Sr	St. Anthony HS	Hillside, NJ
F	13	Jason Murphy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	232 lb (105 kg)	Fr	St. Frances Academy	Owings Mills, MD
G	14	Reilly Walsh	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	GS	St. Peter's Boys HS	Staten Island, NY
F	21	Souleymane Diakite	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Saint Benedict's Prep	Bamako, Mali
G	22	Byron III Breland	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Hamden Hall Country Day School	New Haven, CT
F	32	Xavier Mayo	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	The Hill School	Beacon, NY
F	33	Kjell de Graaf	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Canarias Basketball Academy	Rotterdam, Netherlands
F	35	Da'mir Faison	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Hazleton Area HS	Philadelphia, PA

Head coach

Brian Kennedy (Monmouth)

Assistant coach(es)

Jeff Rafferty (Springfield)
Kim Waiters (Robert Morris)
Joe Gutowski (Roanoke)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 23, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2019* 7:00 p.m.		at Colgate	L 75–80	0–1	Cotterell Court (871) Hamilton, NY
November 9, 2019* 4:30 p.m., FSN		at Providence	L 47–76	0–2	Dunkin' Donuts Center (7,102) Providence, RI
November 13, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Cornell	W 59–58	1–2	Newman Arena (274) Ithaca, NY
November 16, 2019* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Wagner	W 88–69	2–2	Wellness and Events Center (1,255) Newark, NJ
November 20, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Binghamton	L 75–77	2–3	Wellness and Events Center (504) Newark, NJ
November 23, 2019* 4:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Brown	L 63–79	2–4	Pizzitola Sports Center (555) Providence, RI
November 26, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN		at Rutgers	L 58–85	2–5	Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,509) Piscataway, NJ
December 4, 2019* 7:00 p.m.		at Army	L 65–75	2–6	Christl Arena (658) West Point, NY
December 7, 2019* 12:00 p.m., ESPN3		at UCF	L 65–78	2–7	Addition Financial Arena (4,178) Orlando, FL
December 11, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UMass Lowell	L 66–72	2–8	Wellness and Events Center (355) Newark, NJ
December 14, 2019* 2:00 p.m.		at St. Francis Brooklyn	L 71–73	2–9	Generoso Pope Athletic Complex (418) Brooklyn, NY
December 22, 2019* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Kean	W 74–46	3–9	Wellness and Events Center (350) Newark, NJ
December 29, 2019* 1:00 p.m., ESPN3		at UConn	L 47–69	3–10	XL Center (10,507) Hartford, CT
Atlantic Sun Conference regular season
January 4, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Liberty	L 38–65	3–11 (0–1)	Wellness and Events Center (1,004) Newark, NJ
January 9, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Jacksonville	L 52–68	3–12 (0–2)	Swisher Gymnasium (847) Jacksonville, FL
January 11, 2020 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at North Florida	W 78–66	4–12 (1–2)	UNF Arena (1,919) Jacksonville, FL
January 16, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Lipscomb	W 75–57	5–12 (2–2)	Wellness and Events Center (2,016) Newark, NJ
January 18, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Kennesaw State	W 66–48	6–12 (3–2)	Wellness and Events Center (255) Newark, NJ
January 23, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Stetson	L 64–65	6–13 (3–3)	Edmunds Center (680) DeLand, FL
January 25, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Florida Gulf Coast	W 56–54	7–13 (4–3)	Alico Arena (2,843) Fort Myers, FL
January 30, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Alabama	L 74–78	7–14 (4–4)	Wellness and Events Center (328) Newark, NJ
February 6, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Florida	L 75–82	7–15 (4–5)	Wellness and Events Center (256) Newark, NJ
February 8, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Jacksonville	L 54–65	7–16 (4–6)	Wellness and Events Center (607) Newark, NJ
February 13, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Lipscomb	L 63–77	7–17 (4–7)	Allen Arena (1,485) Nashville, TN
February 15, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Liberty	L 49–62	7–18 (4–8)	Vines Center (4,745) Lynchburg, VA
February 20, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Stetson	W 78–69	8–18 (5–8)	Wellness and Events Center (569) Newark, NJ
February 22, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Florida Gulf Coast	L 39–55	8–19 (5–9)	Wellness and Events Center (735) Newark, NJ
February 27, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at North Alabama	L 65–72	8–20 (5–10)	Flowers Hall (812) Florence, AL
February 29, 2020 4:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Kennesaw State	W 76–55	9–20 (6–10)	KSU Convocation Center (1,006) Kennesaw, GA
Atlantic Sun tournament
March 3, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	(8)	at (1) Liberty Quarterfinals	L 49–55	9–21	Vines Center (3,042) Lynchburg, VA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source:^[6]

References

^ "NJIT Welcomed as 10th America East Member Institution". americaeast.com. June 14, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
^ "NJIT ADVANCES: Highlanders Earn First ASUN Tournament Win at Dunk City". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. March 4, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
^ "NJIT's ASUN Championship Run Ends at Lipscomb". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. March 7, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
^ "BOBCATS BOUNCED: NJIT Defeats Quinnipiac in CIT First Round". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. March 18, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
^ "Historic Year Comes To A Close: NJIT's Season Ends in CIT Quarterfinals". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. March 28, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
^ "2019-20 Men's Basketball Schedule". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. Retrieved September 21, 2019.