The NJIT Highlanders (17-14) play the Army Black Knights (19-13) in the first round of the CIT tournament at Fleisher Center. The game begins at 7:30 pm ET on Wednesday, Mar. 16.
The Highlanders were beaten by Stetson 82-67 in the 1 of the Atlantic Sun tournament. Damon Lynn was the team’s high scorer, putting up 24. The Black Knights, meanwhile, are coming off an ugly 60-38 loss to Holy Cross in the 3 of the Patriot League tournament. Kyle Wilson had a good shooting night, leading the team with 12 points.
The Highlanders come into this game 17-14 Straight Up (SU) and 4-3 Against The Spread (ATS). The Highlanders are one of the best in Division I in terms of free throw percentage, shooting a superb .743 from the free throw line.
Across the court, Army has a SU record of 19-13 and an ATS record of 4-5-1. Army has not performed well ATS over its last 10 games, going 0-1 to go with a 6-4 SU record. The Black Knights are an excellent long-range shooting team with 284 three-point shots made (8.0 per game), ranking 33rd in Division I. The Black Knights have controlled the glass with an average of 40.7 rebounds per game, 17th in the country.
With the Highlanders’ last win against the Black Knights, they are even SU as well (3-3).
Predictions: SU Winner – Army, ATS Winner – Army
Notes
The Army Black Knights have a defensive rating of 102.2 (ranked 75th), while the NJIT Highlanders have an offensive rating of 106.8 (ranked 154th).
Army has an average field goal percentage of 43.1%. NJIT is a losing 4-11 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The NJIT Highlanders and the Army Black Knights both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. NJIT is 165th and 112th in the nation for FG% and eFG% respectively, while Army is 221st and 185th in these categories.
NJIT ranks 40th in assists, recording 15.7 per game. Army ranks 59th with 15.2 assists per game.
Ranked 17th in the nation, Army averages 40.7 rebounds per game. NJIT ranks lower at 250th with 34.7 RPG.
The Army Black Knights rank 64th in offensive rebounds. The NJIT Highlanders rank 187th in the nation in defensive rebounds.
On average, NJIT forces a turnover rate of 19.4%. When Army turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a solid 8-4 record.
