NJIT (4-4, 3-3) vs. Albany (1-5, 1-3)
SEFCU Arena, Albany, New York; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Two guards will be on display as Zach Cooks and NJIT will go up against CJ Kelly and Albany. The senior Cooks is averaging 8.8 points over the last five games. Kelly, a junior, has scored 21 percent of the team’s points this season and is averaging 13.8 over his last five games.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Kelly has averaged 13.2 points to lead the charge for the Great Danes. Kellon Taylor is also a top contributor, accounting for nine points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The Highlanders are led by Cooks, who is averaging 12.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and two steals.
CREATING OFFENSE: Kelly has directly created 40 percent of all Albany field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 17 field goals and 12 assists in those games.
COLD SPELL: Albany has lost its last three home games, scoring an average of 63 points while giving up 66.7.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Great Danes have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Highlanders. Albany has an assist on 37 of 72 field goals (51.4 percent) over its previous three outings while NJIT has assists on 25 of 55 field goals (45.5 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: NJIT has committed a turnover on just 15.9 percent of its possessions this season, which is the top percentage among all America East teams. The Highlanders have turned the ball over only 10.9 times per game this season and just 8.7 times per game over their last three games.
___
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25
___
This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
