By Kyle Kandetzki – Sports Editor The Hofstra Pride men’s basketball teams faces their most important task so far this Thursday when they take on the Northeastern Huskies for the final time in the regular season. The home game is a huge indicator of where this team is going, after winning back-to-back following a losing skid. The Huskies are 3rd in the conference right now, but are still looking like a favorite to gain the CAA’s automatic bid come March. The game will be played at home at the Mack Sports Complex in a 'white out' where fans will receive white shirts for attending. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
LAST TIME: Hofstra’s loss to Northeastern the first time around was rough in more ways than one. A weak Pride defense surrendered a season-worst 91 points, allowing the Huskies to shoot an unprecedented 64% from the field back on January 14th. Hofstra took 28 more shots than Northeastern, but made one less, and also allowed them to take 38 free throws. The entire NU starting five shot above 50%, and scored at least nine, with forward Scott Eatherton scoring 21, and David Walker having 22.
The loss was ultimately a momentum killer that not only ended a six game win streak, but also started a run where Hofstra would lose 5 out of 6 games.
HOW THEY’VE PLAYED SINCE: Northeastern hasn’t had the best run since playing Hofstra, either, going 4-4. NU lost a heavyweight battle to William & Mary by 16, and followed it with another defeat at the hands of a surprising, Damion Lee led Drexel team (Lee had 33). Their last game was another shocking loss to Delaware, who has outperformed their expectations, but still are not a good team.
3 of their 4 wins over this stretch come against teams with records under .500 in conference, with the exception being a 23-point win over James Madison.
KEY PLAYERS: Eatherton will continue to be a force inside, keeping a healthy 14.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 1.3 BPG. Eatherton hasn’t topped his performance vs. Hofstra since, with his best night being a 16-point, 8-board day vs. lowly Elon. Eatherton wasn’t only accurate against the Pride, as he shoots nearly 60% overall.
Joining Scott in the frontcourt is Quincy Ford. Ford’s 10.1 PPG and 5.9 RPG also make him an impressive player inside, but he can fade at times. He has hit only one or two field goals in each of his last four games, making most of his living at the charity stripe. It goes without saying, avoiding racking up fouls on Ford is a necessity.
In a two-guard offense, David Walker and TJ Williams are the most notable players, combining for 22.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 7.4 APG. Neither player has quite topped their efforts vs. Hofstra their pats two games, but Williams has posted double figures in all but one game (best was 17 v. JMU), while Walker is a workhorse, playing 36 minutes per game.
NORTHEASTERN OUTLOOK: The Huskies clearly have the weapons to win a CAA title, but their inconsistencies as of late are cause for concern. But last time out against Hofstra, they beat them in each and every way, and are the clear favorites this time around.
Northeastern doesn’t quite possess a ton of depth, which could work in Hofstra’s favor, but this time around the Huskies will have another forward in Reggie Spencer (5.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG), who didn’t play last time.
The guards are consistent, and accurate on a team that combines to average 47% from the floor. They don’t always usually have 20+-point games like a Juan’ya Green, but they instead join forces to consistently provide a fair amount of points.
The Pride will definitely want and need a Northeastern team that has been losing to bad teams, not the one that could win an NCAA bid. Clearly the Huskies’ defense wasn’t too daunting last time out (83 points is still the most Hofstra has scored in CAA play), so this time Hofstra needs to make stops. They seemed to have trouble putting two together consecutively last time.
HOFSTRA OUTLOOK: As much it is good to see this team winning again, fans shouldn’t be relieved yet. They beat one bad team, and one terrible team, not much of a statement except that they aren’t completely finished yet. A win here would revitalize their postseason hopes, heck, a close loss could too. But a double-digit loss would permanently show to me that this team simply doesn’t have enough to beat the conference’s best.
It is no secret that the reason for Hofstra’s struggles has been their defense. Watching the Pride’s win over Elon showed me that this team still has defensive deficiencies. The backcourt allows their man to breeze by them, while the lane to the basket won’t even be filled, allowing for easy buckets. The paint defense doesn’t quite concern me as much, as the on-ball work of guys like Juan’ya Green and Brian Bernardi has. Lesser guards have been torching them at times, and that can’t happen if you want to beat a team like Northeastern.
Speaking of Bernardi, his play has been a roller coaster that isn’t all that fun to be on. Over his last 7 games, here are his point totals: 4, 23, 6, 23, 3, 14, 6. He quite literally is on-and-off, game by game. There is no doubting his ability to shoot from outside, but it is concerning how much he is fed the ball when he is off his game. Over his last seven, in games where he scores under 9 points he is 4-for-29. That is terrifyingly inefficient. Hopefully he can find a more consistent stroke, but history shows he should be okay on Thursday (if you believe in coincidences)
Green can clearly get on the board in many ways, and that is evident in how he has scored in double figures in each game this season. Though scoring 14+ in all of them, over his last four games, he has shot 16-for-59 (27%), with his mark for the season dropping to 36%, and 29% from behind the arc. The starting guards have struggled to be accurate, so should the forwards be looked to even more?
Or is it time for Dion Nesmith to play even more? Nesmith’s 22 vs. Elon was very impressive, and he did that in 34 minutes, compared to his average of 27 on the season. I don’t think a drastic move like starting Dion should be made, but pulling him off the bench even earlier if Green or Bernardi is struggling might be worth a shot.
PROJECTED LINEUP Pride Green (17.4 PPG, 6.2 APG, 4.5 RPG) Bernardi (12.1 PPG, 1-for-9 v. Elon) Robinson (4.4 PPG, 3 pts v. Elon) Tanksley (17.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, Last 2 games: 53% FG) Kone (7.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 5-for-7 v. Elon)
Huskies Walker (11.9 PPG, 2 RPG) Williams (10.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.5 APG) Stahl (8.2 RPG, 6 RPG) Ford (10.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG) Eatherton (14.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG)
NEXT: @ Drexel 2/15