NIT Preview Paw Prints: Hofstra Pride

Cincinnati is traveling to a very successful venue for Hofstra.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Mar 17, 2023 8:48 AM EDT

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Cincinnati Bearcats

CINCINNATI — UC matches up with Hofstra on the road Saturday afternoon as it tries to keep the NIT title hopes alive. Unfortunately, Cincinnati can't host the game due to floor construction inside Fifth Third Arena.

UC enters the game ranked 53rd in KenPom, while Hofstra sits at No. 86.

ESPN's Matchup Predictor has Hofstra winning 57.1% of the time.

Cincinnati has played 271 Division 1 opponents since 1949. Hofstra is the 272nd team on the list, having never played the Pride.

Here's the preview of Cincinnati's second-round NIT matchup.

Flipped Venue

UC fans are understandably upset about losing this home-game opportunity in the NIT. Chad Brendel reported this week that the Fifth Third Arena basketball floor is getting redone before graduation in a little over a month.

There simply isn't enough time to push back the project and still have it ready for graduation, along with all of the summer activities the arena is used for.

It means the fourth seed in this region has to go into the CAA regular season champ's house and get a win. Hofstra is 11-1 at home this season, the only loss? An 81-79 slip-up against North Carolina A&T.

The Mack Sports Complex has treated the Pride very well this season. Fans have averaged roughly half capacity for home games, but a full house hasn't been necessary for the Pride to have major success in 2022-23.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati is just 4-6 on the road (2-3 neutral site record) and will have to play outside Fifth Third Arena for the rest of this tournament run.

Does DeJulius Dial In?

Hofstra has a deadly pair of long-scoring guards that Cincinnati has to keep pace with on Saturday. David DeJulius will have his hands full on both ends in a scenario where he's been cut down as a contributor.

DDJ is a different force inside Fifth Third Arena compared to on the road. His 2022-23 splits paint a daunting story of what might happen on Saturday.

Those numbers are clear: DeJulius goes from an All-AAC player at home to a run-of-the-mill D1 starter on the road in basically every facet except playmaking.

Cincinnati needs the home DeJulius on the road Saturday.

He'll be guarding up in size throughout the game against a team ranked 70th in offensive efficiency and 112th in defensive efficiency. By raw numbers, this is a tough matchup for DeJulius. Hofstra allows the 34th-best two-point percentage nationally (46%), and the 31st-ranked three-point defense allowed (30.1%).

Every game is a potential final moment for UC's greatest player this decade. It'll be interesting to see if he breaks out of his jump-shooting slump to post a big road outing.

Guard Greatness

Hofstra is led by a pair of guards, including CAA Player of the Year Aaron Estrada (20.3 Pts, 5.5 Reb, 4.1 Ast). He's not some volume scorer either.

Estrada is deadly efficient, posting a 36.8% three-point mark on 6.2 attempts and a 56.3% two-point mark. All in all, he ranked fourth among CAA players in Player Efficiency Rating (22.6). That's a crazy good number for any 6-foot-4 player.

He is the top player to stop on every scouting report as he is fourth in the CAA in usage rate as well (29.3% of possessions). Estrada is the Yin to Tyler Thomas's (16.5 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 1.3 Ast) yang.

The fellow guard is shooting a blistering 41.1% from outside on 6.4 triple tries per game. The Scared Heart transfer has now ranked in the top six of his conference-scoring leaderboard in three consecutive seasons.

He is arguably the best pure shooter in the conference—leading the CAA with a 59.9% effective field goal percentage.

Cincinnati battles Hofstra at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Fans can watch on ESPN+.

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

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