Men's Basketball Welcomes NJIT For Saturday Matinee Matchup

Saturday, November 23

4:30 pm

Brown University

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Photo by: David Silverman Photography

Men's Basketball Welcomes NJIT For Saturday Matinee Matchup

11/22/2019 8:51:00 AM | Men's Basketball

MBB Notes: vs. NJIT 11-23-19

Providence, R.I. - The 3-1 Brown men's basketball team returns home to face NJIT on Saturday, November 23, in a 4:30 pm tip-off at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Follow all the action on ESPN+ with Nick Coit and Mike Rubin '00 on the call, and on WPRV-AM 790 with Scott Cordischi and Russ Tyler '71 calling the action.

The Bears:  Brown (3-1) had its first setback of the season, falling to Sacred Heart on the road, 84-63. Jaylan Gainey '22 had a big night for the Bears with a career high 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field that included six dunks and three blocked shots.

The Highlanders:  NJIT's Zach Cooks set a single-game school record with 35 points in the Highlanders 77-75 loss at home to Binghamton on Wednesday evening. The Highlanders (2-3 overall) have earned wins over Cornell (59-58) and Wagner (88-69), with losses to Colgate (80-75) and Providence (76-47).

The Brown-NJIT Series Record: Brown and NJIT have met three times with the Highlanders holding a 2-1 series advantage. Last year, Brown dropped a 63-60 decision to the Highlanders in a game that came down to the final possession.  The Bears earned a 70-69 win over NJIT on 1/2/3/18 in Providence with Brandon Anderson scoring 12 points and handing out six assists.

Brandon Anderson – Ivy League's Top Scorer: Senior guard Brandon Anderson (Mahwah, NJ) leads the Ivy League and ranks 11^th in the nation in scoring with 23.8 points per game. Anderson was named the Ivy League Player of the Week for the second time after scoring 28 points in Brown's win over Quinnipiac on 10-of-20 shooting from the field, while matching his career best with four treys. He exploded for a career high 32 points in Brown's win over Canisius and went over the 1,000 point career mark. Anderson connected on 8-of-16 field goals and connected on a career high four treys (4-of-9) against the Golden Griffins. He now has 1,057 career points, 25^th  best in Brown basketball history. His 339 career free throws rank 10^thin the Brown record book. Anderson opened the season with a splash against Bryant, scoring a game high 23 points, including the game-winning basket with 12 seconds remaining, and making four steals against the Bulldogs.  Last year, Anderson ranked sixth in the Ivy League in free throw percentage (.758) and eighth in the league with 1.3 steals per game.
Brandon Anderson In The Brown record Book
Career Points:   1,057 (25^th)
Career Free throws: 339 (10^th)
Career assists: 232
Career Steals: 121

Brown Basketball: 1,000 Point Career Scorers
1.     2,041     Earl Hunt (1999-03)
2.     1,668     Arnie Berman (1969-72)
3.     1,618     Sean McGonagill (2010-14)
4.     1,597     Jason Forte (2001-05)
5.     1,367    Steven Spieth (2013-17)
6. 1,361   Peter Sullivan (2007-11)
7.     1,344     Alai Nuualiitia (1999-03)
8.     1,331     Mike Cingiser (1959-62)
9.     1,328     Marcus Thompson (1985-89)
10.   1,319     Joe Tebo (1955-58)
11. 1,306     Damon Huffman (2004-08)
12. 1,294     Rick Lloyd (1988-92)
13.   1,288     Brian Saunders (1974-77)
14. 1,241     Phil Brown (1972-75)
        1,241     Peter Moss (1977-80)
16. 1,190     Chuck Savage (1988-92)
17.   1,181     Cedric Kuakumensah (2012-16)
18.   1,166     Tavon Blackmon (2013-17)
19. 1,165     Mike Waitkus (1982-86)
20.   1,147     Lou Murgo (1951-55)
21.   1,134     Matt Mullery (2006-10)
22.   1,133     Russ Tyler (1968-1971)
23. 1,100     Mark McAndrew (2004-08)
24. 1,079     Ira James (1979-1982)
25.   1,057     Brandon Anderson (2016-present)
26. 1,046     Gerry Alaimo (1955-58)
27.   1,067     Obi Okolie (2015-19)
28.   1,033     Matt Sullivan (2009-13)
29.   1,031     Eric Blackiston (1992-96)
30.   1,011     Brian Lloyd (1992-96)
31.   1,009     Woody Grimshaw (1944-47)

Joshua Howard Inside:  Senior forward Joshua Howard (Charlotte, NC) had nine points and five rebounds vs. Sacred Heart and  scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds in Brown's win over Quinnipiac. Howard scored seven points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field vs. Canisius. Last year, Howard scored in double figures 11 times, including a season high 16 points vs. Cornell, and tossed in 15 points against UAB in the first round of the CBI, hitting 5-of-9 field goals, including 3-of-5 treys. Howard is  Brown's third leading returning scorer with 8.0 points per game last year, despite missing several games due to injury.

Tamenang Choh – 18 Nationally In Rebounding:The Bears are built around Second Team All-Ivy junior forward Tamenang Choh (Lowell, MA), who leads the Ivy League and ranks 18^thnationally  with 11.3 rebounds per game. Choh is averaging 13.3 points per game, had posted three straight double-doubles to open the season.  He netted 11 points and pulled down 14 rebounds vs. Quinnipiac. He had 10 points and 11 rebounds in Brown's win over Canisius, and opened the season in classic Choh fashion against Bryant, scoring 20 points, pulling down 13 rebounds and handing out four assists. He had 12 points and eight rebounds vs. Sacred Heart. Choh started all 32 games last year and led the conference in rebounding with 8.6 per game, including 9.5 rebounds per game in league games.  As a sophomore, Choh  ranked 12^th in the Ivy League in scoring (12.5 ppg.), fourth in assists (3.4 apg), sixth in steals (1.3 per game), 10^th in blocked shots (0.8 per game) and 10^th in free throw percentage (.656). He posted 11 double-doubles and just missed a triple-double against UAB in the first round of the CBI with 10 points, 11 rebounds and a career high eight assists.

Hunsaker In The Backcourt:Senior guard Zach Hunsaker (North Salt Lake City, UT), a Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-American selection, was one of only four players to compete in all 32 games in 2018-19. Hunsaker netted 10 points and pulled down four rebounds vs. Sacred Heart. He turned in a clutch performance vs. Quinnipiac, knocking down the game winning trey with 7.2 seconds remaining to break a tied game. He finished with 12 points, seven assists and four steals against the Bobcats. Hunsaker tossed in 15 points and grabbed four rebounds in Brown's win over Canisius. He opened the season with six points vs. Bryant. Hunsaker is the fourth player in Brown history to be selected a three-year team captain. He averaged 6.0 points as a junior after averaging 9.7 ppg his sophomore season. A savvy player with a great feel for the game, Hunsaker will be counted on for additional scoring this season.

DeWolf Inside:  Junior forward Matt DeWolf (Barrington, RI) got off to a strong start to the 2019-20 season with 10 points against Bryant on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.  DeWolf had seven points and seven rebounds vs. Canisius and added six points vs. Quinnipiac. He started 24-of-27 games played for the Bears last season before being sidelined due to a late season injury. A solid pivot man, DeWolf scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in Brown's win over Harvard. He pulled down a career high 13 rebounds against Dartmouth as a freshman. He posted back-to-back eight rebound performances against Providence and UMass Lowell.

Hunsaker and Choh Named Brown Basketball Captains:   Brown men's basketball head coach Mike Martin has named senior Zach Hunsaker and junior Tamenang Choh co-captains of the 2019-20 Brown basketball team.  Hunsaker is the fourth player in Brown history to be selected a three-year team captain.

Newcomers:Martin has brought in a talented recruiting class with six newcomers arriving on College Hill. Brown's incoming class includes: 6-4 freshman guard Perry Cowan (Chicago, IL), who scored his first career points with a trey vs. Canisius, 6-4 freshman guard Dan Friday(Detroit, MI), who had five rebounds in his collegiate debut vs. Quinnipiac,  6-6 freshman forward Carsten Kogelnik (Bethesda, MD) and 6-4 freshman guard/forward Josh Watts (Bethesda, MD), along with 6-5 junior transfer guard Noah Merren (Providence, RI), who will be eligible in the 2020-21 season.

Head Coach Mike Martin:Former Brown basketball standout Mike Martin '04, the 31st head men's basketball coach in the program's 114-year history, has the building blocks in place to develop an Ivy Championship team. Last summer, Martin was a member of the United States' coaching staff with Providence coach Ed Cooley for the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, coaching a group of BIG EAST All-Stars to the bronze medal. He was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2018-19 after posting a school record 20 wins (20-12) and guiding the Bears to their first postseason win ever, an 83-78 win over Alabama-Birmingham. His squad ranked 20th out of 353 Division I teams in 3-point defense and featured Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Obi Okolie. Martin took over the reins of the program in 2012-13 and was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award as the nation's outstanding first-year head coach after leading the Bears to a turnaround season with a 13-15 overall record, including a fourth-place finish in the Ivy standings with a 7-7 mark after winning four of its last five games. Martin's 2013-14 team posted a 15-14 overall record and hosted Brown's first-ever postseason game, playing Holy Cross in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament at the Pizzitola Sports Center. In addition, he guided two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Cedric Kuakumensah, the Ivy League's all-time leader in blocked shots. A four-year starter at Brown, Martin was part of the winningest class in Bears' basketball history, posting a 63-45 four-year record from 2000-04. He also helped the Class of 2004 to a school-record 39-17 Ivy League mark during that period -- the best by an Ivy League team, other than Penn and Princeton, since 1970. An Agawam, Mass., native, Martin launched his coaching career at Brown as an assistant coach in 2005-06, and was an assistant coach at Penn from 2006-12.

Gainey Excites In The Paint:  Sophomore forward Jaylan Gainey (Greensboro, NC) has shown tremendous improvement this season and is a force in the paint for the Bears. Gainey exploded for a career high 14 points vs. Sacred Heart, connecting on 7-of-7 field goals with six dunks and a tip-in, while matching his career best with three blocked shots. Last year, Gainey scored five points and blocked a career high three shots against Loyola Marymount in the second round of the College Basketball Invitational.

Mitchell for the Defense:Sophomore David Mitchell (Roxbury, MA) opened the season by scoring a career high 11 points, while matching his career high with eight rebounds against Bryant.  He pulled down six rebounds vs. Canisius. A defensive force for the Bears, Mitchell saw more playing time than any freshman on the Brown team last season, averaging 13.0 minutes per game.  Last year, Mitchell tossed in a season high eight points vs. UMass Lowell, and had a career high eight rebounds vs. Canisius and Penn.

Bears Travel To Spain:Last summer, Brown basketball enjoyed a 10-day training and educational trip to Spain with games against various professional teams throughout the trip, including one game in Madrid and Valencia and two games in Barcelona. The Bears posted a 3-1 record with games against Zentro Basket Madrid, Valencia Basket, Mataro Parc Boet (Barcelona) and FC Barcelona, and toured each of the cities throughout the trip, visiting historical landmarks, including the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.

The Ivy League on ESPN:  Video of all home contests and all Ivy League games, home and away, will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe and view games by purchasing a monthly package for $4.99 or a yearly package for $49.99. ABC6 Sports anchor Nick Coitwill call the play for all Brown home games with Adam Giardino providing the analysis.

Bears On The Air:  Brown's entire schedule, home and away, is being broadcast on WPRV-AM 790 with Scott Cordischi, the voice of Brown basketball and football, calling all the action. Former Brown basketball star Russ Tyler '71(1,133 career points) provides the color analysis. Brown fans can also listen to the broadcast on http://www.790business.com.

Ivy League Tournament:  The 2020 Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament will be held on the campus of Harvard University at the Lavietes Pavilion March 14 and 15. The League's unique tournament format has enhanced the importance of the regular season as seven of the eight squads had an opportunity to earn a berth into the four-team tournament heading into the final week of the regular season.

Next Game:  The Bears have a midweek matchup at UMass Lowell on Tuesday, November 26 at the Costello Athletic Center. Tip-off is 5:00 pm on WPRV AM 790.