NJIT @ West Virginia preview

After playing a pair of uncomfortably close games en route to the Advocare International championship, No. 19 West Virginia will be hoping for a little calm as it returns home to face NJIT. The Mountaineers overcame a 16-point second-half deficit in the title game, upending Missouri 83-79 to extend their overall winning streak to six.

The Mountaineers couldn't figure out how to keep up with the Tigers, so head coach Bob Huggins threw out the playbook and had his players free-wheel it - and miraculously, it worked. "We tried a lot of stuff," Huggins said after the narrow victory. "We played 1-3-1 for a little bit, then we tried to push up and that didn't work. So I just said, let's just go out and do what we do. Let's go out and play as hard as we possibly can and let the chips fall where they may." West Virginia gets a brief reprieve before facing Virginia in what should be its toughest test since a season-opening 88-65 loss to Texas A&M in Germany. NJIT has reeled off three straight wins, most recently a 73-69 win over LIU Brooklyn.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T Sportsnet

ABOUT NJIT (4-2): The Highlanders have been all over the place offensively through six games, with 116- and 96-point efforts in victories and fewer than 55 points in each of their two losses. Forward Abdul Lewis has been NJIT's top all-around player, ranking second on the team in scoring at 11 points per game while adding 11.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists; he led the way with 23 points and 18 rebounds against LIU Brooklyn to help the Highlanders get off to the best start in school history. Diandre Wilson paces NJIT at 11.5 ppg and was the only other player to reach double figures with 16 points against the Blackbirds.

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (6-1): Jevon Carter was the hero in the Advocare International championship game, knocking down the go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining en route to a virtuoso 29-point performance; he leads five players averaging double figures in scoring at 18.1 ppg. Senior guard Daxter Miles Jr. is next in the pecking order at 15.9 ppg but struggled mightily from beyond the arc in the four-game tournament, connecting on just 2-of-15 3-point attempts. Mali native Sagaba Konate contributes 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds but had just two points and one rebound before fouling out versus Missouri.

TIP-INS

1. The Mountaineers are tied for sixth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (16.3).

2. West Virginia comes into the game with 92 steals; only Stephen F. Austin (98) has more among Division I teams.

3. NJIT averages 22.7 fouls per game, tied for 328th out of 351 Division I schools.

PREDICTION: West Virginia 89, NJIT 68