As a member of a Power Five conference, Pitt doesn’t have much in common with Hofstra.
But both teams will look for the same consistency through 40 minutes Sunday afternoon when Pitt hosts Hofstra in the first meeting between the schools.
Pitt has been off since Tuesday, when the host Panthers rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half before blowing a late lead in an 81-73 loss to Texas A&M. Hofstra last played Wednesday, when the Pride nearly overcame a 16-point deficit in a 72-70 loss to Columbia.
Pitt (5-4), which was picked to finish 14th in the Atlantic Coast Conference, trailed 57-45 with 11:45 to play before going on a 16-0 run to take a 61-57 lead on a 3-pointer by Nojus Indrusaitis with 6:23 to play.
But the Panthers, who overcame a late five-point deficit in a 67-66 win over Ohio State in their previous game on Nov. 28, made just five of their final 14 shots while committing two turnovers. Texas A&M, which missed eight straight field goal attempts during Pitt’s surge, drained its final five shots while making 13 of 13 from the free throw line.
“I’m proud of the way we fought,” Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said. “We put ourselves in a position where we had an opportunity to win a basketball game against a team that I consider to be a good team, but we didn’t do enough to get there.”
Hofstra (5-4) also mounted a second straight second-half comeback Wednesday, when the Pride trailed 54-38 with 15 minutes remaining before pulling within a point in the final minute. Cruz Davis missed the potential game-tying 3-pointer with six seconds remaining.
Hofstra, which was picked to finish eighth in the Coastal Athletic Association, trailed Penn by two at halftime of its previous game on Nov. 30 before scoring 46 points in the second half to earn a 77-60 victory.
“We’re resilient,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton, who scored 2,015 points as a player at the Long Island school and led the then-Flying Dutchmen to the 2000 NCAA tournament. “There’s no giving up in these guys, no matter how down we are.”
Cameron Corhen leads Pitt with 14.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Damarco Minor (11.7 ppg), Barry Dunning Jr. (11.2 ppg) and Brandin Cummings (10.3 ppg) also average double figures for the Panthers.
Davis leads Hofstra with 19.6 points per game. Preston Edmead is averaging 15.0 points and 5.3 assists per game. Biggie Patterson is averaging 10.3 points per game while Victory Onuetu has a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game.
–Field level media
