After defeating Princeton University 83-77 to begin their season, the Hofstra men’s basketball team will return home to the David S. Mack Center this evening when they welcome Rick Pitino and the Iona University Gaels. Like Hofstra, Iona won its season opener by taking down the University of Pennsylvania 78-50.

Last season, these two teams squared off in a matchup that saw the Gaels take home an 82-74 win. As they square off once again, Iona’s main goal will be to slow down Hofstra’s Aaron Estrada, who put up 27 points on Monday at Princeton. Estrada, the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) preseason player of the year, averaged 18.5 points per game a year ago but struggled against Iona in the contest last season, shooting just 25% from the field and only scoring 11 points.

As for Iona’s key players, s Quinn Slazinski and Daniss Jenkins each led the way in a strong first win in the 2022-23 season, as the Gaels showed they can go a scoring run very quickly by scoring 21 straight unanswered points against Penn.

Not only will the Pride need to keep up with Iona’s scoring, but they’ll also need to do their fair share of window washing as Iona proved to be dominant on the glass in its opening game of the season, coming down with 44 rebounds as a team. Hofstra.

Head coach Speedy Claxton used a ten-man rotation in the first contest, with seven players playing fifteen minutes or more. The bench looks to play a big role in the contest against Iona, as German Plotnikov and Amar’e Marshall will each look to build on their strong performances against Princeton.

In the all-time series between the two programs, Iona leads 18-14 and has won each of the last two matchups. Hofstra will look to prevent a winning streak on Friday with tip-off set for 7 pm.  

Photo Courtesy of Evan Bernstein/Hofstra Athletics