By Kyle Kandetzki – Sports Editor The Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team has fallen from once being the last unbeaten team in the CAA, to a 5-5 squad that is falling fast. Hofstra has suffered from poor defense and inconsistent shooting to drop them all the way into a tie for 5th place in the conference. They will get their second matchup with the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens on Wednesday, a team that has been expected to struggle, but only sit one game behind the Pride in the CAA standings.
LAST TIME: Hofstra was flourishing last time they played Delaware on January 5th, beating them easily 71-58 to give them their fourth win in a row. Hofstra didn’t put in their best effort, shooting 40%, while both teams struggled to hit threes (Hofstra: 22%, Delaware: 28%). Green led the team with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, Rokas Gustys put up his only double-figure scoring performance this year with 11 points, and had what was probably his last memorable game, too (16 boards, 5 blocks).
The guards were the best option for Delaware as Kory Holden, Chivarsky Corbett and Kyle Anderson combined for 37 points.
HOW THEY’VE PLAYED SINCE THEN: Though Delaware is still far from competing for a place in the CAA Championship game, the team has strung together 4 wins in their 8 games since their last matchup against Hofstra. Two of the wins came against last place College of Charleston, a team that has completely plummeted this year. But their other two victories came versus teams Hofstra has lost to. Delaware hung on to defeat Towson in overtime 67-64, but most notably pulled out a huge upset against first place William and Mary, 84-80.
KEY PLAYERS: Kyle Anderson has been the go-to consistent weapon that has allowed Delaware to surpass expectations so far. Anderson has scored in double figures in all but one game since last playing Hofstra, including two 20+-point nights. He has also shot 10-for-19 from beyond the arc over the last three games.
Kory Holden has emerged as one of the best freshmen in the CAA, capturing a few CAA Rookie of the Week awards along the way. Holden has calmed down a bit in recent games (5-for-20 over the last two), but has always been the driving force in big wins for this Blue Hen team. Holden put up 24 in both upset wins over William & Mary and Towson, while also improving his passing to 5 assists per game.
Fellow guard Cazmon Hayes has stepped up to become a reliable scorer since his last game vs. Hofstra. Hayes has put up 10+ points in six of his last seven games. Hayes can completely fade away at times though, as he had zero points in an OT loss to UNC-W, while also disappearing from the rebounding stats in a loss to Elon (he averages 3.7 per game).
TEAM OUTLOOK: Though they have scorers that have done well, Delaware still only average about 65 PPG. In matchups where offense is more apparent (i.e. 94-82 loss v. Elon), and the defense fades to the background (like many Hofstra games), Delaware tends to lose because they cannot outshoot their opponent (39% team FG). If the Pride can at least keep their guards from having an all-out assault on the hoop, they should look much better than they have recently.
UDel’s forwards have not been the best this year, with Marvin King-Davis being the only offensive option under the hoop (10.5 PPG, 5 RPG). With the Blue Hen forwards only scoring 11 points combined vs. the Pride last time (including Maurice Jeffers going 0-for-4), they should not be much of a threat tonight, especially since Moussa Kone has played consistently good defense recently.
HOFSTRA OUTLOOK: Not to be harsh, but if Hofstra loses this game, all hope seems to have been lost in this season. Delaware isn’t as bad as they were when they opened their season by losing ten in a row, but they still are not a good team. A win here would not solve all of Hofstra’s problems, but it could hopefully boost this freefalling team’s confidence.
Defense in the backcourt will be key, as guards have been getting easy passes down low, and clear paths to the hoop this entire losing streak. In turn, when this team can’t simply get two stops in a row, it seems to wear them out offensively, too. Hofstra’s strength early on in the season wasn’t lockdown defense, but defense that was good enough to let the offense score so many points in a row that Hofstra would pull out to a huge lead in the blink of an eye. Just a semi-consistent defense is all Hofstra needs to let their shooters have a chance to take over the game.
Unfortunately, in hindsight, this is a trap game with how Hofstra has been lately. Holden and Anderson can be huge, and if the defense doesn’t come through, they have a chance to pull out a win. Despite their struggles, Hofstra definitely still has the upper hand in this game, but they also were heavily favored again Towson and JMU, and that didn’t turn out so well.
Projected lineup: PRIDE Green (17.5 PPG, 6.3 APG, last 2 games: 10-for-36) Bernardi (12.3 PPG, 0-for-4 v. Towson) Robinson (4.5 PPG, 1-for-8 in first start of the season) Tanksley (17.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG) Kone (7.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG)
FIGHTIN’ BLUE HENS Anderson (15.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 40% FG) Holden (12.9 PPG, 4.9 APG) Hayes (11.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG) Jeffers (5.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG) King-Davis (10.5 PPG, 5 RPG)
NEXT: vs. Elon 2/7