The Hofstra University men’s basketball team opened their season with a razor-thin 82-78 loss against The University of Central Florida. Despite four of the five starters for the Knights scoring double figures, the Pride came up just four points short.
“Overall proud of the effort,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “I think we lost the game by giving way too many offensive rebounds and we fouled way too much.”
The Pride’s defense had its hands full against UCF. Despite ranking first defensively in the Coastal Athletic Association last season, the Knights’ offense ran rampant, generating success from all areas of the floor. The four starters who reached double figures in the match combined for 62 of the Knights’ 82 points. UCF also put on a three-point shooting clinic, knocking down 40% of their attempts from deep – a seven-percent increase from their average last season. Senior guard Riley Kugel led the charge as the game’s top scorer with 19 points, including five threes.
Early season rust may have plagued the Pride, as costly mistakes throughout the game stacked up. Hofstra was destroyed on the glass, allowing the Knights to grab 16 offensive rebounds that led to numerous second-chance opportunities, further destroying any momentum the Pride tried to build. UCF didn’t squander the opportunities, scoring a back-breaking 18 second-chance points, doubling Hofstra’s total of nine.
The fine line between playing lockdown defense and committing costly fouls was blurred for the Pride all night, as they sent the Knights to the free-throw line a staggering 36 times.
“This was a game I thought we should have won,” Claxton said. “We were right there. Even down to the very last offensive rebound from the free throw line, we could’ve got the ball back down with 12 seconds left, and who knows what would’ve happened.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Hofstra, as their new-look offense showed promising signs of growth from last season. The roster looked radically different, with only four returning players seeing action in the opener. As expected, junior guard Cruz Davis led the Pride with 17 points with a solid 41% shooting from the field.
Two of Hofstra’s biggest offseason additions made an immediate impact in their debuts. Freshman guard Preston Edmead turned heads with a strong first performance, scoring 16 points, while junior forward Victory Onuetu maximized his 15 minutes off the bench, adding eight points on 4-6 shooting.
“We’re going to go as far as [Davis and Edmead] go,” Claxton said. “I’m not surprised with how they played; they’re more than capable of having an even better game. I thought [Davis] stunk at the start of the game, then picked it up. [Edmead] was in foul trouble; it kind of held him back from getting going, and then he got it going in the second half.”
The Pride looked forward to their first win on the road against Iona University on Friday, Nov. 7, at the Hynes Athletics Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
