Coach Speedy Claxton and his Hofstra squad will travel to No. 7 Houston on Friday night and will look for a second statement win of the season after beating Seton Hall last week.
It won’t be an easy task against a Houston program that has consistently been among the nation’s best in the Kelvin Sampson era. The Cougars rank in the top five nationally in both offensive and defensive rating in the kenpom.com stats as they’ve started 2-1, with their loss coming to an Auburn team that also ranks top five in both metrics.
“We have another great opportunity Friday night,” Claxton said. “We’re not going to sneak up on them. I know Sampson is going to have them ready to go out there and compete and play hard, but we’re going to do the same thing.”
Houston’s wins have come in dominant fashion. The Cougars beat Jackson State 97-40 in their season opener and enter Friday’s game after a 91-45 win Wednesday over Louisiana, with the 74-69 loss to then-No. 11 Auburn sandwiched in between. The Cougars again are a deep team, with seven players averaging at least eight points per game. Three different players have led the team in scoring in each of the first three games.
“The thing that we’ve always been good at here is bringing our team along,” Sampson said. “We’re not trying to be the best team in the country on November the 5th, or 10th. Or come out breathing fire and not have a slow start. That’s all part of the process. When you win by (that much), it’s because of defense.”
Houston’s engine to this point has been Milos Uzan, who is averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 6.3 assists per game. Uzan also has been a factor on defense with an average of 2 steals per game. J’Wan Roberts and L.J. Cryer average a team-best 12.3 points per game.
Claxton is looking to take Hofstra (4-1) to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since back-to-back berths in 2000 and 2001, when Jay Wright coached the Pride.
Claxton, the point guard on the 2000 tournament team, has led Hofstra to 20-plus wins in his first three seasons on the sideline. The Pride enter Friday’s game coming off their first loss of the season, 79-61 against Florida State.
Hofstra beat Iona by 14 and UMass in overtime by four, with a 49-48 win over Seton Hall in the middle. They also won their season opener 89-62 over Division III foe SUNY Old Westbury.
Iona transfer Jean Aranguren leads Hofstra in all three major statistical categories, averaging 18 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. He nearly notched a triple-double in Hofstra’s 14-point win over his former team, scoring 18 points while tallying nine rebounds and nine assists.
Claxton and Hofstra aren’t strangers to the environment in Houston, either. The Pride took a then-No. 15 Houston team to overtime in Claxton’s first game as head coach, losing 83-75 in the 2021-22 season.
