Shorthanded Hofstra can't over come odds in loss to Purdue

The Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Wednesday, Dec. 7, to play the No. 4 Purdue University Boilermakers. They left the Hoosier state with an 85-66 loss as the Boilermakers extended their unbeaten record to 9-0, beating the Pride.

Hofstra came into the game shorthanded without its leading scorer Aaron Estrada, who missed a game for the first time in his career with the Pride.  In Estrada’s absence, redshirt freshman Amar’e Marshall stepped up by scoring a career and game-high of 24 points. 

“The kid is a scorer, you know he’s not afraid of the bright lights,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “He came out and accepted the challenge; he was the next man up.”

Marshall shot 10-17 from the field and attacked the paint without any regard for Purdue’s 7’4” Zach Edey. Marshall also knocked down three shots from long range and tallied four assists.

Despite the outstanding performance from Marshall, the Boilermakers maintained a double-digit lead for the whole game and made their presence known from the opening tip, jumping out to a 20-2 lead in the first six minutes of the game. The Purdue defense made it hard for the Pride to score. The game entered halftime with Pride down 54-34 following a 7-0 run by the Boilermakers.

Defensively, Hofstra paid much of its attention to Edey down low, which exposed them out on the wings, where they allowed Purdue to knock down 10 3-pointers. 

Edey led the way for the Boilermakers with his second straight first half double-double, scoring 15 points and collecting 11 rebounds, nine of which were in the first 10 minutes.

“He forces the defense to collapse,” Claxton said. “We had to provide so much attention to him and that freed up their shooters, and they were making shots in the first half. He’s the best big man in the country, and he’s hard to prepare for.”

The second half was a much more even contest as the Pride led in scoring 32-31 after the Boilermakers put their reserves into the game. 

The Pride’s defense improved in the second half, holding the Boilermakers to shooting 40% from the field compared to 54% in the first half. 

“I’m proud of my guys,” Claxton said. “We played team basketball.We played Hofstra basketball.”

Despite the improved defense from the Pride, the game was still never in question as the Boilermakers reached their highest lead of the game when they went on an 8-0 run to stretch their lead to 70-46. 

Edey added eight more points to bring his total to 23. The junior also collected seven more rebounds in the half as he almost singlehandedly out-rebounded the undersized Pride. Hofstra was only able to grab 20 rebounds while their opposition nabbed 43.

Even though the Pride was outmatched, Claxton was delighted with the way his team fought.

“That’s the No. 4 team in the country. If we can play like that against them, we can play against anybody,” Claxton said.

The Pride hopes to get Estrada healthy after his recent ankle injury in time for a matchup in the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. If Estrada can’t go, Claxton isn’t worried about his guys stepping up once again.

“We’re more than a one man team,” Claxton said. “We don’t rely on [Estrada]. He’s a great player, but we know other guys can step up and score the ball as well.”

Photo Courtesy of Charles Jischke/Hofstra Athletics