Hofstra went from up 10 to down 9 to win at the buzzer.  For the second consecutive season, a Hofstra opponent had the ball in a tie game, could have held for the final shot, and shot and missed too soon.  Northeastern’s Vasa Pusica missed a 3 with 4 seconds left.  Hofstra’s jacquil Taylor knocked the rebound to Justin Wright-Foreman, who crossed midcourt but was well behind the 3-point line when his shot hit the backboard and went in to win and give him 42 points.  It was the most points by a Hofstra player at home in Division I and the most points by a Hofstra player at home since at least 1963.  For games that long ago, there aren’t records of where the game was.

You can look at the links I posted in the first blog post, but I think this blog is a waste of time, and I don’t know if anybody reads it.  On Twitter I can notified when somebody likes my tweet and/or retweets it.  I might blog here occasionally, but I don’t think I will blog after every game.

https://gohofstra.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-mbb-wright-foreman-named-national-player-of-the-week.aspx?path=mbball is what Hofstra got from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).  Since the award started in 2009-2010, he’s the first Hofstra player and second CAA player to get it after College of Charleston’s Willis Hall.

Justin Wright-Foreman scored 34.  He made 11 of 17 field goals and made 5 threes for the second consecutive game.  He won CAA Player of the Week.  Desure Buie had 10 assists.  Hofstra continued to avoid turnovers with only 9.

Hofstra has off until they host Northeastern on Saturday.  After losing by 45 at Hofstra, Delaware won at Northeastern 82-80 in double overtime.

Hofstra hosted Delaware won by 45 after being favored by 10.5.  Hofstra led 48-18 at halftime, which would have been enough to win without scoring in the second half.  Justin Wright-Foreman scored 29 in 29 minutes.  Hofstra used all 12 players, and substitute Jalen Ray led in minuted with 30.  Eli Pemberton scored 17 in his return after missing one game due to injury.  Wright-Foreman made 5 of 6 threes, but Pemberton missed both of his.  Pemberton made 15 threes in his first 7 games, but in his last 6 games he has made 1 and 0 three times each.  Tareq Coburn was Hofstra’s third and final double-digit scorer with 12.  Desure Buie had 9 points and 5 assists.  Forwards Jacquil Taylor and Dan Dwyer shoot well, but rarely shoot.  Taylor made 1 of 2 field goals and scored 2 in 20 minutes.  He had 12 rebounds, which made him the only double-digit rebounder on either team.  Dan Dwyer did not attempt a shot in 11 minutes, and he had only 1 rebound.  Taylor averages 5.6 points with a field goal percentage of .654, and Dwyer averages 3.2 points with a field goal percentage of .609.  Delaware’s Eric Carter was averaging 19.5 points and 10.2 rebounds.  He committed his third foul with fewer than 11 minutes played, and he finished with 7 points and 8 rebounds.  Nobody scored in double-digits for Delaware, with Matt Veretto leading them with 9.  Ryan Allen and Kevin Anderson scored 8 each, but Allen made 3 of 10 field goals and Anderson made 1 of 9.  Ithiel Horton led all players with 30 minutes, and he missed all 10 of his field goals and didn’t score.  While Ray and Horton both played 30 minutes, Horton played 30:14 and Ray played 29:34.

Hofstra made 15 of 19 free throws (.789), had only 10 turnovers (which didn’t lead to any Delaware points), and had Delaware make 5 of 24 threes (.208).  Hofstra leads the CAA and is third of 353 Division I teams in free throw percentage at .793, has the second fewest turnovers per game in the CAA at 11.8, leads the CAA in opponents’ three-point field goal percentage at .308.  If a team makes free throws, doesn’t commit turnovers, and doesn’t let opponents make threes, it should be able to hold onto leads.

In a game between the bottom two CAA teams in some rankings, Elon led by 3 at halftime hosting Towson, before Towson had a big second half to win 77-60.  Steven Santa Ana and Sheldon Eberhardt returned from injuries for Elon.  Northeastern, who was picked first in the CAA in the preseason poll, won 93-83 hosting Drexel.  William & Mary, who was picked fourth, won 79-74 hosting James Madison.  College of Charleston, who was picked second, plays their first CAA game at UNC Wilmington tonight.  With travel partners, Hofstra and Northeastern switch opponents, with Hofstra hosting Drexel tomorrow and Northeastern hosting Delaware.  Hofstra and Northeastern will have played equally difficult CAA schedules after every weekend.

Hofstra’s big margin of victory makes them the best CAA team in the Sagarin in 88th and in KenPom in 90th.  In the NET rankings made by the NCAA, College of Charleston leads in 65th and Hofstra is 85th.