For all the momentum that the Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team has been carrying as of late, many pundits believe they could be running into a buzzsaw on Saturday as they hit the road to face the 18th-ranked College of Charleston Cougars. Saturday’s contest will be the first meeting between the two schools since Charleston eliminated the Pride from the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) tournament in March in a 92-76 rout. However, this Charleston team will be nothing like the squad that Hofstra saw last year, as Pat Kelsey’s revamped and retooled roster features four new starters and a new leading scorer this season. Both of these teams are off to a red hot start in conference play this season, accumulating a combined 16-2 record against CAA opponents.
After an unceremonious semifinal exit in last year’s CAA Tournament, the Cougars have quickly asserted themselves as the class of the conference this time around. Charleston ranks atop the league in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and currently stands as the only CAA team to rank inside the AP Top 25 this season. The year opened with a heart-pounding loss to the then top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, but what followed was a nation-leading 20 game win streak that includes wins over tournament hopefuls Such as Virginia Tech, Richmond, and Davidson. The Cougars boast no definitive star player, but have overwhelmed teams with their immense depth and multitude of different lineups. All five starters currently hold scoring averages in double figures, and nine different players play at least 15 minutes per game. Senior guard Ryan Larson has become the Swiss army knife that every successful team needs, averaging 10 points, five rebounds, and four assists while logging just 28 minutes per game. Offensively, the Cougars are essentially a mirror image of Hofstra, as both teams will often put four guards on the floor and attempt to create space on the perimeter with ball screens and pin downs. Charleston plays at the highest tempo in the CAA by a wide margin, averaging just 14 seconds per possession before putting a shot up.
If there was ever a time for the Pride to be colliding with one of the top teams in the nation, that time is now. Hofstra is off to a 7-2 start in conference play, as the team is arguably playing their best basketball of the season right now. Hofstra has ranked atop the CAA in field goal percentage since conference play began, largely due to the efforts of superstar guard Aaron Estrada, who is fresh off a 40-point performance against the Elon Phoenix on Thursday. Estrada leads the conference in scoring with 21.1 points per game, and has shot an efficient 54.4% from the field against CAA opponents. Estrada has been the heart and soul of the Pride all season, and will need to play his best basketball on Saturday in order to remain effective against Charleston’s smothering man-to-man defense.
Tip off from TD Arena is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday. The game will air on FloHoops and WRHU (88.7 FM) will have an audio-only broadcast available on the HAWC.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Lee S. Weissman
