What To Watch For: South Florida at Hofstra
TAMPA, Fla., (Nov. 30, 2023) – South Florida begins a two-game road trip, its first games away from home this season, against Hofstra tonight in Hempstead, NY. The game marks the conclusion of a home-and-home series that began last December in Tampa.
USF plays at UMass on Sat. Dec. 2.
The Bulls haven’t played since they lost to Maine, 70-59, on Nov. 22 at Yuengling Center. Hofstra, who has won three-straight games, also hasn’t played since Nov. 22 when it posted a 97-92 overtime win over High Point.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Hofstra:
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Hofstra:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (2-2) at Hofstra (4-2)
Date: Thursday, Nov. 30
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Hempstead, NY| David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex
Watch: FloHoops (paid streaming service)
Radio: Bulls Unlimited (TuneIn)
History: This will be the fourth all-time meeting between South Florida and Hofstra with the Bulls capturing the previous three. The most recent meeting was a 77-70 USF victory on Dec. 19, 2022 at Yuengling Center.
The Opponent: Hofstra is coming off a 2022-23 campaign in which the Pride went 25-10 overall (16-2 CAA), captured the regular season Colonial Athletic Association title, and advanced to the second round of the NIT. Hofstra was picked fourth in the Coastal Athletic Association preseason poll.
Graduate student guard Tyler Thomas is an aggressive 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard who is having a first team all-CAA type of season thus far. He is wired to score (averages 25 ppg) and hunts shots. Over half of his attempts are threes. Thomas will run to spots in transition. Hofstra runs him off pin downs and stagger screens. He is not a blow-by guy off the bounce, will straight line drive into a hesitation and spin. Thomas has attempted more than twice as many threes as any other Hofstra player and he has made 43.5 percent of his three-point attempts.
I really liked Darlinstone Dubar last season and continue to like the 6-foot-8, 211-pounder. He is a space 4-man with good size, an aggressive scorer and a physical driver. Dunbar can push it in transition, uses ball screens well, will go through your chest to score and is a good rebounder. Dubar is less effective when he is forced to drive left but you have to be ready for him to spin back, he loves to spin. Dubar was 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) beyond the arc in his last three games.
Canisius grad transfer Jacco Fritz is a 6-foot-10, 215-pound skilled forward who Hofstra uses in the post. Fritz has great hands, is mobile and is comfortable finishing with either hand around the basket. He is not a physical post, more of a finesse guy inside. Teammates will pass it to him when he rolls to the basket after setting a ball screen. He likes to operate off the left block. Fritz will dribble into the paint for a right handed jump hook, but if he is cut off he will spin back and lay it in with his left. You must locate him in transition, he is often the trailer and will set a drag screen, roll, get a pass and score. Or he will rim run as the trailer and look for an entry pass for a layup or dunk.
Hofstra has aggressive drivers and they use a ball screen on just about every possession. The Pride play unselfishly (50 assists in their last three games). They push it, space the floor in a ‘4-Out’ offense, use back cuts and threes to score. They can also be more of a one-on-one team that seldom makes more than three passes. In its six games, Hofstra has averaged 29.5 three-point attempts. They will test your closeout.
Defensively, Hofstra is almost exclusively man (98.0 percent) but last season they changed defenses to keep you off balance. USF should be prepared for that. We saw them use a matchup 2-3 zone.
KEYS TO A WIN
USF must defend the three-point line, stay disciplined on defense because Hofstra runs a lot of quick hitting sets with different players, don’t allow paint touches because that sets up their drive-and-kicks. Dominate the glass.