Francis leads NJIT against Bryant after 22-point outing

Fri, Mar 1, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)

NJIT Highlanders (7-20, 3-12 America East) at Bryant Bulldogs (17-12, 9-5 America East)

Smithfield, Rhode Island; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: NJIT visits the Bryant Bulldogs after Tariq Francis scored 22 points in NJIT's 79-60 loss to the UMBC Retrievers.

The Bulldogs have gone 8-3 at home. Bryant averages 14.4 assists per game to lead the America East, paced by Earl Timberlake with 4.0.

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The Highlanders are 3-12 in America East play. NJIT is 2-12 in games decided by 10 points or more.

Bryant averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game, 1.2 more made shots than the 6.9 per game NJIT allows. NJIT has shot at a 39.2% rate from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points fewer than the 39.7% shooting opponents of Bryant have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Sherif Kenney is shooting 43.3% and averaging 18.3 points for the Bulldogs. Timberlake is averaging 17.0 points over the last 10 games for Bryant.

Francis is scoring 14.8 points per game with 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Highlanders. Elijah Buchanan is averaging 10.6 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 34.6% over the past 10 games for NJIT.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bulldogs: 5-5, averaging 72.2 points, 37.8 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 6.4 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.3 points per game.

Highlanders: 3-7, averaging 63.9 points, 34.5 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 6.6 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 37.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.