Basketball preview: NJIT at Temple
NJIT (5-7) at Temple (7-4)
When: Saturday, 2 p.m. Liacouras Center (10,200).
Television: ESPN3
Coaches: NJIT, Brian Kennedy (1st season, 5-7); Temple, Fran Dunphy (11th season, 221-124; overall, 531-287).
Series: First meeting.
Points per game: NJIT, 75.8 ppg.;Temple, 74.2 ppg.
Opponents points per game: NJIT, 75.2 ppg.; Temple, 72.0 ppg.
Up next: NJIT hosts Dean College (MA) on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. Temple hosts Yale on Dec. 22 at 7.
NJIT
Nov. 11 Sarah Lawrence, 100-38
Nov. 14 at Utah State, 84-93
Nov. 17 at Lafayette 83-84 OT
Nov. 19 Colgate, 74-68
Nov. 22 Georgia State, 53-74*
Nov. 23 Idaho State, 71-67*
Nov. 26 at Purdue, 68-79
Nov. 30 St. Francis, 83-70
Dec. 3 at UMass Lowell, 75-74
Dec. 6 at Minnesota, 68-74
Dec. 10 at Kent State, 71-87
Dec. 14 at Iona, 80-94
*Cancun Challenge in Riviera Maya, Mexico
TEMPLE
Nov. 11 La Salle, 97-92 OT
Nov. 14 New Hampshire, 52-57
Nov. 17 at UMass, 67-70
Nov. 20 Manhattan, 88-67
Nov. 24 89-86 Florida State*
Nov. 25 81-77 West Virginia*
Nov. 30 at St. Joseph's, 78-72
Dec. 3 Penn, 70-62
Dec. 7 George Washington, 63-66
Dec. 10 DePaul, 74-65**
Dec. 13 at Villanova, 57-78
*NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn
**Played in Miami
TEMPLE
Probable Starters
G Josh Brown, 6-3, Sr., 7.2 ppg., 1.8 apg.
G Shizz Alston Jr., 6-4, So. 12.5 ppg, 4.4 apg.
G Daniel Dingle, 6-7, r-Sr., 11.4 ppg., 4.6 rpg.
F Obi Enechionyia, 6-10, Jr. 17.6 ppg., 7.4 rpg., 2. bpg.
C Ernest Aflakpui, 6-10, So., 4.6 ppg., 5.5 rpg.
Key reserves
G Quinton Rose, 6-8, Fr., 10.7 ppg., 3.5 rpg.
G Alani Moore, 5-10, Fr., 7.9 ppg., 2.1 apg.
F Mark Williams, 6-8, Sr., 3.9 ppg., 2.2 rpg.
NJIT
Probable Starters
G Damon Lynn, 5-11, Sr., 22.5 ppg., 4.2 apg.
G Osa Izevbuwa, 6-3, Sr., 7.3 ppg., 2.1 rpg.
G Rob Ukawuba, 6-3, Sr., 9.3 ppg., 3.8 rpg.
F Tim Coleman, 6-5, Sr., 12.8 ppg., 6.9 rpg.
F Abdul Lewis, 6-9, r-So., 6.7 ppg., 6.8 rpg.
Key reserves
G/F Anthony Tarke, 6-6, Fr., 6.6 ppg., 4.4 rpg.
G/F Chris Jenkins, 6-4, Jr., 5.2 ppg., 1.1 rpg.
About NJIT: Leading scorer Damon Lynn scored a team-high 28 points in Wednesday's loss at Iona...Lynn is the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,990 points...Senior forward Tim Coleman had 15 points and 12 rebounds and became the school's all-time leading rebounder, now with 628...He also set a school record with his 13th career double-double...Iona shot 10 for 25 from beyond the arc (40 percent)...Lynn made seven three pointers and now has 401 for his career, which is tied for 12th on the NCAA all-time list...The Highlanders are shooting .323 from three-point range and .706 from the foul line...NJIT competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference...The Highlanders have nine New Jersey players on the roster.
About Temple: In the loss to Villanova, Temple shot 3 of 6 from the foul line, while the winners were 18 of 20...The Owls committed 18 turnovers...Obi Enechionyia was held to a season-low eight points, while Shizz Alston had a team-high 12 points...Daniel Dingle was the only other Temple double figure scorer with 11...The loss left Temple as runner-up in the Big Five with a 3-1 mark...Alston has 48 assists and 11 turnovers and his 4.4 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the American Athletic Conference and is seventh nationally...The Owls are shooting .388 from three-point range and .708 from the foul line...Temple will add three players to its Ring of Honor: Jay Norman ('58), Bill "Pickles" Kennedy ('60), and Bruce Drysdale ('62)...Josh Brown, who missed the first six games while recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, is averaging 9.0 points and 25.6 minutes in his last three games.