NJIT Men's Basketball Off to Historic Start

Written by: Deric Raymond
Published: Tuesday, November 13, 2018
The Highlanders Became the First Team in the Nation to Reach Three Division-I Victories

The NJIT men's basketball team became the nation's first NCAA program to reach three victories against Division-I opponents this season following Sunday's 63-60 win over Brown University. Of the five other teams that remain undefeated with at least three wins, only Missouri State University has joined NJIT in doing so exclusively against Division-I competition. There are 353 programs competing at the NCAA Division-I level.

Additionally, NJIT has started 3-0 for the first time in 13 seasons since transitioning to Division-I in 2006-07. It also marks the Highlanders' first 3-0 start since winning their first four contests in 1996-97 -- the program's final campaign competing at the Division-III level (Division-II from 1997-05).

What has made the start even more impressive is that NJIT has won two of its games against teams that entered with a better Pomeroy College Basketball Rating (Colgate University 205, NJIT 245; Brown 199, NJIT 208) while the other came on the road (at Binghamton University). Kenpom.com is widely consider a leader in advanced analysis of college basketball.

Another amazing fact is that third-year Head Coach Brian Kennedy has orchestrated the 3-0 start without the services of either of NJIT's ASUN All-Conference players from 2017-18. 

The other programs that have started undefeated after at least three games are University of North Texas (4-0; 2 D-I wins), Eastern Michigan University (3-0; 1 D-I win), Northern Kentucky University (3-0; 1 D-I win) and South Dakota State University (3-0; 2 D-I wins).

The Highlanders will look to make it 4-0 when they host Kean University (Division-III) on Wednesday at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) in Newark. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Season ticket packages, mini plans and group outings are available for purchase at www.NJITTix.com. For more information, please call our ticket office via phone at 973-596-5555 or email at tickets@njit.edu.