We have CAA action as Hofstra (7-6 SU, 5-7 ATS) takes on Delaware (8-5 SU, 6-6 ATS) on Thursday night to open up conference play for both teams.
Last season, Hofstra won both games and has covered three straight overall. But the Blue Hens got the last laugh as they won the CAA Tournament.
Hofstra was coming off a 21-11 season and 13-5 in the CAA so a 7-6 overall record was not the start that they were expecting with three starters returning, including the CAA Player of the Year in Aaron Estrada. Hofstra (140th in KenPom) ended non-conference play with a 96-48 win over Old Westbury, a Division III team. The Pride were led by Jaquan Carlos, who had eight points, 13 assists and seven steals.
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Dunking and draining threes on our way into the holiday break!#PrideOfLI pic.twitter.com/v07fCGCLXB
— Hofstra Men's Basketball (@HofstraMBB) December 23, 2022
However, the Pride wound up losing four straight Division I games and that's all that matters. Their last Division I game took place against Quinnipiac (72-70) on November 27. Part of the problem was the fact that Estrada (21.6ppg, 1.5spg, 3.9apg, 5.3rpg) had missed three games due to an ankle injury. He returned to the lineup against USF and poured in 21 points on Dec. 19.
Overall, Hofstra is averaging 72.3 points per game on 45.3% shooting and 36.4% from long range. Their biggest problem has been rebounding, where they rank 345th in the nation in rebounding margin at -6.5. Defensively, they are allowing 72 points per game on 43.5% shooting (33.9% 3pt). They also rank 226th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency according to KenPom.