Muhammad, who also earned the award on November 19 and 26 and December 17, averaged 15.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists while earning All-Tournament Team accolades for the Gothic Knights as NJCU returned from the holidays with three games in a four-day span.
Muhammad scored 46 points in three games, adding 24 rebounds, six steals, five assists and two blocks. With NJCU struggling for points, he was called upon to take a bulk of the club’s shots, making 20-of-55 (.364) over 108 minutes, as the Knights (4-9) played back-to-back overtime games.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder paced the Knights in points and rebounds in all three games played last week and Muhammad led NJCU in scoring and boards for the second, third and fourth consecutive games. He now has led NJCU in scoring 10 times this season—reaching double figures on the scoreboard in 10 of 13 games to open his career—while pacing NJCU in rebounds for the eighth time.
Muhammad, who earned his second All-Tournament Team nod of the season—also claiming that distinction on November 17 at the Nazareth College Tournament—took home the accolade at the 35th annual Greyhound Starters Classic at Moravian College (Bethlehem, Pa.) on January 2 and 3 with 30 points and 21 rebounds in two games.
He netted his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes, in a 51-46 opening round win over Valley Forge Christian College on January 2. Muhammad scored 12 of his 16 in the second half when he accounted for nearly half of NJCU’s 26 points. He shot 8-of-26 from the field in the game; the 26 field goal attempts were the most by an NJCU player since all-time Gothic Knight great Mark Washington attempted 30 on January 9, 2005 at then #22 Lebanon Valley College.
With the game tied at 37-37 with 10:04 to play, Muhammad took over, scoring 10 of NJCU’s next 14 points, including six in a row that allowed the Knights to push a 45-41 margin to 10 points, 51-41, with 1:20 remaining.
In an 80-72 overtime loss to host Moravian in the tournament finals on January 3, he tallied 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals before fouling out in 40 minutes of action.
On January 5 in a 69-64 overtime home loss to William Paterson University, Muhammad had 16 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists in 34 minutes and netted 10 points in the first half as NJCU grabbed a 31-24 lead at the break.
In 13 games and 13 starts this season, Muhammad is averaging 13.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.4 blocks per game, having tallied 180 points, 78 rebounds (35 offensive, 43 defensive), 20 assists, 19 steals and five blocks in 367 minutes. He is shooting .407 from the field (68-167), 12-of-51 from three-point distance and .640 from the foul stripe (32-50). He leads NJCU in points, points per game, rebounds, and rebounds per game and is the lone player averaging double figures in scoring. His 167 field goal attempts are more than twice that of anyone else on the squad (79, Drew Marley) and he has made 29 more shots than the next closest teammate.
Muhammad, the top scoring freshman in the NJAC by nearly four points per game (10.1, Kevin McGorry, Montclair State University), currently ranks eighth overall in the league in point production through January 7. In other league categories he ranks fifth in offensive rebounding (2.7 per game, first among freshmen) and 12th in rebounding (second among rookies).
