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North Alabama (8-14, 5-2 A-Sun) at NJIT (16-5, 4-2 A-Sun) – 4:00 PM EST (ESPN+)
After a weeklong hiatus, the Under The Radar Game of the Day returns to Newark, New Jersey where the Highlanders of NJIT will play host to the North Alabama Lions. The Lions are one of two transitional programs making their debut in Division I this year (the other being Cal Baptist). As expected, they got off to a rough 3-13 start with all of their wins coming against non-D1 programs. But since they’ve started conference play, their first win came against perennial league power Florida Gulf Coast and have won 5 of 7 games since that checkpoint (including a 61-55 in their first meeting with NJIT). Jamari Blackmon leads the Lions with 15.5 points a game and 2.7 assists per game.
NJIT is also in the midst of their best start to a season since back-to-back semifinal appearances in the CIT a couple of years ago. The Highlanders have won nine true road games so far this season – their best win was at Duquesne back in December. After a brief two-game losing streak to North Alabama and Lipscomb earlier this month, the Highlanders have now won three straight games after beating Jacksonville at home and sweeping a road trip at North Florida and Stetson. Zack Cooks leads NJIT with 18.6 points a game and 4.8 rebounds a game; Abdul Lewis also averages 12.1 points a game and 9.7 rebounds a game as well.