Preview: Hofstra men's basketball hits the road against Hampton

Following a successful pair of home games to welcome students back on campus, the Hofstra University men’s basketball team looks to further improve their record as they hit the road to play the Hampton University Pirates for a Coastal Athletics Association (CAA) matchup on Thursday, Feb. 8.

The Pride’s 13-10 overall record and 6-4 CAA record places them in sixth in the CAA standings. The Pirates hold the last-place spot in the CAA standings with a 5-18 overall record and a 0-10 record against conference opponents.

There is a small sample size of games between Hofstra and Hampton since the have Pirates only played in the CAA for the 2022-2023 season, so far. However, the Pride are already off to smooth sailing over the Pirates, as Hofstra holds a 3-0 record against Hampton.

The most recent matchup between Hofstra and Hampton came from a home matchup on Jan. 18 of this year. Trailing in the first half 42-27, an offensive surge from Hofstra, allowed them to defeat Hampton 86-77. Darlinstone “Dstone” Dubar led the Pride with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four assists and was one of five players to score in double-digits. Tyler Thomas trailed Dubar with 13 points and eight rebounds, Jaquan Carlos put up 13 points, Bryce Washington scored 11 points and German Plotnikov scored 10 points and made six rebounds.

Hofstra enters the game after winning five of their last six games. The Pride narrowly defeated Towson University 59-56 for Hofstra’s homecoming game on Saturday, Feb. 3. Thomas led the Pride with 23 points, including four 3-pointers, as well as seven steals and nine assists. Dubar was the only other player with double-digit points, racking up 14 points for the Pride, while Carlos tied Thomas with seven rebounds of his own.

As part of the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic, an invitational tournament for historically black colleges and universities, Hampton narrowly defeated non-conference foe Howard 63-61 on Saturday, Feb. 3. While four players scored double-digits against the Pride on Jan. 18, the Pirates’ offense was propelled solely by Jerry Deng with 21 points and Jordan Nesbitt with 17 points. Defensively, Ja’Von Benson led the team with eight rebounds.

While Hampton has yet to win their first CAA matchup of the season, the Pirates maintain statistical lines similar to that of the Pride. Hampton scores 75.1 points per game with a 44.4% shooting rate, making 37.0 rebounds and 13.6 assists per game. Hofstra scores 74.5 points per game, has a 46.4% field goal success rate and averages 33.5 rebounds and 15.6 assists per game.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Hampton University Convocation Center in Hampton, Virginia. FloHoops will stream the game while WRHU’s Hofstra Alternative Web Channel will produce an audio-only broadcast.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Evan Bernstein