2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team

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2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball
NJIT Highlanders wordmark.svg
ConferenceAmerica East Conference
2020–21 record7–12 (6–10 America East)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Jeff Rafferty
  • Kim Waiters
  • Joe Gutowski
  • Danny Manuel
Home arenaWellness and Events Center
Seasons
2020–21 America East Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
UMBC 10 – 4   .714 14 – 6   .700
Vermont 10 – 4   .714 10 – 5   .667
New Hampshire 9 – 6   .600 10 – 9   .526
Hartford † 8 – 6   .571 15 – 9   .625
Albany 6 – 6   .500 7 – 9   .438
UMass Lowell 7 – 8   .467 11 – 12   .478
Stony Brook 7 – 9   .438 9 – 14   .391
NJIT 6 – 10   .375 7 – 12   .368
Binghamton 4 – 10   .286 4 – 14   .222
Maine 2 – 6   .250 2 – 7   .222
Maine suspended its season on February 13, 2021
† 2021 AmEast Tournament winner

The 2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team represented the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by fifth-year head coach Brian Kennedy, played their home games at the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey as first-year members of the America East Conference. In a season limited by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they finished the season 7–12, 6–10 in America East play to finish in eighth place. They lost to Albany in the first round of the America East Tournament.

Previous season[]

The Highlanders finished the 2019–20 season 9–21, 6–10 in ASUN play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ASUN Tournament to Liberty.[1]

This was the final season the Highlanders were a member of the ASUN. On June 14, 2020, it was announced that they would become a full member of the America East Conference beginning July 1.[2]

Roster[]

2020–21 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Adetokunbo Bakare 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr St. Benedict's Prep Newark, NJ
G 1 Dylan O'Hearn 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Carolina Basketball Academy
Western Oklahoma State CC 		Westland, MI
F 2 San Antonio Brinson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr South Kent School Thomson, GA
F 3 Miles Coleman 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr William T. Dwyer HS
Indian River State College 		West Palm Beach, FL
G 4 Zach Cooks 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Berkmar HS Lawrenceville, GA
G 5 Diego Willis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Canarias Basketball Academy Hermosillo, Mexico
F 13 Jason Murphy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Fr St. Frances Academy Owings Mills, MD
F 21 Souleymane Diakite 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Saint Benedict's Prep Bamako, Mali
G 23 Antwuan Butler 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Cardinal O'Hara HS
Austin Peay 		Philadelphia, PA
G 24 Mekhi Gray 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Putnam Science Academy Montrose, NY
F 32 Xavier Mayo 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So The Hill School Beacon, NY
F 33 Kjell de Graaf 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Canarias Basketball Academy Rotterdam, Netherlands
F 35 Da'mir Faison 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Hazleton Area HS Philadelphia, PA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 2, 2020

Schedule and results[]

On November 25, 2020, NJIT paused activities following positive Covid-19 tests and canceled all non-conference games that the school had not yet announced.[3]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
December 19, 2020*
4:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Temple L 60–72  0–1
 Liacouras Center 
Philadelphia, PA
December 23, 2021*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Rider W 81–66  1–1
 Alumni Gymnasium 
Lawrenceville, NJ
America East regular season
December 27, 2020
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Vermont L 78–92  1–2
(0–1) 		Patrick Gym 
Burlington, VT
December 28, 2020
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Vermont W 81–80 2OT 2–2
(1–1) 		Patrick Gym 
Burlington, VT
January 2, 2021
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		at UMass Lowell W 73–67  3–2
(2–1) 		Costello Athletic Center 
Lowell, MA
January 3, 2021
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		at UMass Lowell L 60–74  3–3
(2–2) 		Costello Athletic Center 
Lowell, MA
January 9, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Maine W 63–54  4–3
(3–2) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
January 10, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		Maine L 41–45  4–4
(3–3) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
January 16, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Albany L 75–83  4–5
(3–4) 		SEFCU Arena 
Albany, NY
January 17, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Albany L 71–83  4–6
(3–5) 		SEFCU Arena 
Albany, NY
January 23, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Stony Brook W 74–65  5–6
(4–5) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
January 24, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Stony Brook L 44–56  5–7
(4–6) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
January 31, 2021
12:00 pm, ESPN3 		UMBC W 69–65  6–7
(5–6) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
February 1, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		UMBC L 71–75  6–8
(5–7) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
February 13, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Hartford W 67–57  7–8
(6–7) 		Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion 
West Hartford, CT
February 14, 2021
 ESPN3 		at Hartford L 61–75  7–9
(6–8) 		Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion 
West Hartford, CT
February 20, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN3 		Binghamton L 63–76  7–10
(6–9) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
February 21, 2021
3:00 pm, ESPN3 		Binghamton L 58–72  7–11
(6–10) 		Wellness and Events Center 
Newark, NJ
America East Tournament
February 27, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		(8) (5) Albany
First round 		L 66–76  7–12
 Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion 
West Hartford, CT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Source[4]

References[]

  1. ^ "NJIT vs. Liberty - Game Recap - March 3, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  2. ^ "NJIT Welcomed as 10th America East Member Institution".
  3. ^ https://www.njithighlanders.com/news/2020/11/25/njit-mens-basketball-pauses-team-activitiesaspx
  4. ^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
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