Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Houston Baptist at NJIT

by Ray Floriani

NEWARK, NJ - In a Great Western Conference meeting, Houston Baptist edged NJIT , the conference’s Eastern most school, 62-58 at the Prudential Center on Thursday.

In a 70 possession game (Houston Baptist 71 NJIT 68), the Efficiency and Factors:

			FTM
	ORtg	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Houston Bapt.	87	37	38	24	18
NJIT	85	46	11	36	27

Each media time out we were supplied with a box score. Did a run down of the time of the media time out, the score and offensive efficiency. For instance at 15:47 NJIT had an OE of 86 while Houston Baptist was 33.

Time	Scoring	O. Eff.
15:47	6-2 NJIT	86-33 NJIT
11:56	12-4 NJIT	86-31 NJIT
5:56	24-15 NJIT	100-58 NJIT
3:43	26-20 NJIT	90-65 NJIT
Half	31-22 NJIT	91-63 NJIT
14:58	37-34 HB	84-79 HB
11:07	41-39 HB	80-78 HB
7:20	45-44 HB	82-82
3:39	54-53 NJIT	87-83 NJIT
0:00	62-58 HB	87-85 HB

The appreciable damage was the first four minutes of the second half. Houston Baptist was the aggressor, shooting 4 of 6, forcing turnovers and going on a momentum altering 11-4 run.

Both team’s efficiencies were relatively close. NJIT certainly defended and rebounded well enough to win. Coach Jim Engles attributed the loss to a ‘lack of focus’ at key times. That was certainly evident in the 27% turnover rate. The foul line also hurt. The visiting Huskies went to the line more but also took advantage. They were 21 of 23 from the charity stripe while NJIT was 6 of 15. NJIT actually shot better from three 8 of 17 for 47% than they did from the line (40%).

In the stretch NJIT could not make he necessary stops. Andrew Gonzalez, a 6-6 forward and one of the conference’s marquee players did most of the damage with a game high 31 points. Ironically Gonzalez had the only two misses fro the line for his team but he did go 14 of 16 from the stripe. Isaiah Wilkerson led NJIT with 19 points.

Houston Baptist improved to 6-2 in the GWC (7-19 overall) while NJIT is 2-3 in conference and 7-15 on the season.

At the Rock

Prior to the men’s game the women of the respective schools had the opportunity to play at the Rock. Houston Baptist entered the game with 3 wins and a -30 efficiency margin so the outcome was not too surprising. NJIT rolled 72-46 in a 78 possession game.

			FTM
	ORtg	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Houston Bapt.	59	31	30	28	37
NJIT	94	45	43	39	29

NJIT jumped out to a 43-18 halftime lead and was never seriously threatened. Houston Baptist did not break down their conference stats on the game notes so I computed the overall numbers from 22 games. The Huskies entered with an offensive efficiency of 72 and a turnover rate of 32%. The efficiency was a little lower than normal and the TO rate, thanks to 29 turnovers, higher than their normally excessive average.

Jessica Gerald led NJIT with 22 points in 22 minutes as coach Margaret McKeon gave every one of her ten players at least 12 minutes of playing time. Houston Baptist had one double figure scorer, sophomore guard Taniqua Hollis with 10 points. Houston Baptist is now 3-20 and 1-7 in the GWC. NJIT is 9-12 and a challenging 4-1 in the conference.

In blowouts of this magnitude, NJIT led by 39 with just under 15 minutes left, the style of play often degenerates. Not so in NJIT’s case as they assisted on 64% (14 of 22) of their field goals. That added up to less one on one and more ball movement even with the outcome not in doubt.

Hospitality. From AD Lenny Kaplan on down the keynote at NJIT is hospitality. And that extends to the fans as well as media. On Thursday the NJIT staff took it a step farther. For the media pre-game meal in the press room they invited the NJIT cheer leading squad (pictured) to enjoy a bill of fare that included chicken parm and penne pasta. Bon apatite ladies.

A league of their own. Both coaches in the NJIT program are extremely happy with their respective teams now playing in a conference.

“It’s great because our kids follow the conference and will go online and check the other team’s results. They knew they had to be ready tonight with a big game (Texas-Pan American) on Saturday. - Women’s coach Margaret McKeon

“Being in a conference is great because now your players have a pre-conference part of their schedule. Once conference play and post season comes around that’s like two new seasons to look forward to.” - Men’s coach Jim Engles

The Pregame Meal

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: NJIT Notches #2

by Ray Floriani

NEWARK, NJ – That’s two in the books and it’s not even December. NJIT earned its second win of the season with a thrilling 56-51 decision over Wagner at the Fleischer Athletic Center.

A 72 Possession Contest:

	Off.
	Eff.
Wagner	71
NJIT	78

The four factors...

	eFG%	FTA/FGA	OReb%	TO%
Wagner	33	16	32	24
NJIT	37	27	29	24

The factors are very close with a noticeable difference being free throw production and eFG in NJIT’s favor. Highlander coach Jim Engles stressed in pre-game to contest the perimeter, even if it meant sacrificing something in the paint. Wagner’s Michael Orock (22 pts 14 rebounds) was effective inside but the Seahawks of the NEC could manage only 3 of 22 (14%) from beyond the arc.

The turnover rate was high for NJIT but not a difference as Wagner had similar problems in that category. Actually the turnovers, a consistently sore spot for the Highlanders last year, have been cut down. Through the first 3 games the NJIT TO rate was 16%. The 17 turnovers committed by NJIT on this night were not a huge concern for Engles. Simply it was a hard fought game where, "nothing came easy for anyone..." per Wagner coach Mike Deane.

The talent upgrade is very evident at NJIT. Last year’s point guard, 6-4 sophomore Isaiah Wilkerson is at his more ‘natural’ four spot. He paced NJIT with 17 points 13 boards.

"This was the type game we had a number of times late last season and couldn’t finish…Now we can go out on the court in a game like this and know we have a chance." – NJIT coach Jim Engles.

"We have to get better offensively. We are a young team and even our seniors are young experience wise and in terms of knowing their roles." - Wagner coach Mike Deane

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: A Four Factors Look at NJIT

by Ray Floriani

NEWARK, NJ - I covered the Wagner-NJIT game today and the first thing I did on getting game stats was to figure out NJIT’s four factors. The Highlanders entered the contest 0-11, riding a 44 game losing streak. I wanted to see if the four factors could tell me where they were weak and severe their deficiencies might be. And to see if there were any silver linings. The four factors:

	eFG%	FTRate	OR%	TO%	Eff
NJIT	36	30	30	30	68
Opponents	48	53	33	25	96

*NJIT averages 65 possessions.

Notes : The Highlanders really struggle on offense. The culprits are their turnover rate (about 30%) and their effective field goal percentage (about 36%). Simply, NJIT struggles to make shots on those possessions that do not expire with them giving the ball away. The offensive rebounding difference is not extreme. NJIT has some height and a few players who can penetrate. Still, I’m not surprised the free throw rate has a disparity. Playing catch up every nights necessitates a number of three point attempts, and less chances to get to the charity stripe. Pleasantly surprised by their silver lining, defense. The 96 defensive efficiency is not bad and the 25% opposing TO rate is good. NJIT does defend.

On this afternoon, a 58-48 loss, the Highlanders trailed by a dozen at the half, but managed to take a one point lead with just under 10 minutes to play. Wagner responded with a run and victory number one still has to wait. Say this, the tempo free stats nor any other stats can measure how hard they play. Coach Jim Engles is enthusiastic and upbeat and it carries onto the court. Down ten with a minute to go, NJIT had a player dive across the floor for a loose ball. The effort is there. Now if a few shots would fall.

	eFG%	FTRate	OR%	TO%	Eff
Wagner	51	42	31	20	99
NJIT	46	25	25	22	84

* 69 possessions

"You have to be a coach to appreciate the marvelous job Jim (Enlges) has done. They will win a few games this year. I’m just glad it wasn’t against us."
-- Wagner Coach Mike Deane

Philly Classic Update: Another One Down

The NJIT Highlanders have released a tentative schedule which confirms their date with Penn State, but also projects a match-up with Towson University, another Philly Classic participant, to be played on November 24. The NJIT schedule suggests the Tigers will visit the Highlanders in Newark, which means Towson will take 2 road games before heading into Philadelphia. I suspect that will not happen, and that NJIT will travel twice. As for the first two rounds, the matchups so far are what I projected in my July 30 post.

2008 Philly Classic -- Possible Matchups

The initial scoop by Jeff Goodman, discussed my earlier post, "The 2008 Philly Classic", identified the Philly Hoops Classic field for the 2008 tournament. Goodman announced the field of eight teams would include Hartford, Niagara, NJIT, Monmouth, Penn State, Rhode Island, Towson and Villanova. I speculated that the two 4 team brackets (I call them "Bracket A" and "Bracket B" for now) would be...

Bracket A:		Bracket B:
Hartford		Niagara
Monmouth		Penn State
NJIT		Rhode Island
Towson		Villanova

Some detective work by a Villanova message board poster, a preseason news story at the Providence Journal, and finally an official announcement from PSU, provides enough information for me to tease out a bit more about the tournament and the first two rounds. If the posters over at the Niagara message board and the Rhode Island message board are correct (note the Niagara poster wrote his/her entry about two months before Goodman wrote his piece...), then we can deduce that the brackets will be...

Bracket A:		Bracket B:
Hartford		Penn State
Monmouth		Rhode Island
Niagara		Towson
NJIT		Villanova

We know from last season's Philly Classic that two teams from one bracket (Seton Hall & Virginia) played their round 1 and round 2 games at home, while two teams from the other bracket (Howard & Loyola College) played their round 1 and round 2 games on the road. The other four teams (Drexel, Navy, Penn & Robert Morris) played one game at home and the other on the road. Teams from one bracket played only teams from the other bracket in those first 2 rounds.

Penn State announced that it will host two games (NJIT and then Hartford) and Rhody has leaked that it will play a home game followed by a road game. A Rhody message board poster identified the home opponent as Hartford and the road opponent as Monmouth. Further, the Niagara poster identified Towson (in Niagara) and Villanova (at the Pav) as the Purple Eagles' two opponents -- that means that the Wildcats will get the first two rounds at home and Towson will have a road followed by a home game. If the posters correctly identified the sequence, then Villanova should play their first round game against Monmouth in the Pav, sometime (early?) in the week of 11/16-11/22. The second game (versus Niagara) would have to be played sometime in the window of 11/20 through 11/25. The Palestra rounds (3 & 4, as pointed out by Deal in his comment to my first post...) will be played on Friday 11/28 and Saturday 11/29. With the caveat that the data provided is correct, the preliminary round matchups look like this:

Round #1			Round #2
Home		Visitor	Home		Visitor
Niagara	vs	Towson	Monmouth	vs	Rhode Island
Penn State	vs	NJIT	Penn State	vs	Hartford
Rhode Island	vs	Hartford	Towson	vs	NJIT
Villanova	vs	Monmouth	Villanova	vs	Niagara

Having a confirmed schedule from Penn State, combined with a pretty good idea from Rhody means all that is needed is a third participant's official schedule to confirm the matchups for rounds 1 & 2.