It’s been a rough few days for Mo Cassara and Hofstra.
Just one day after news came down that Shaquille Stokes, Jimmy Hall, Dallas Anglin and Kentrell Washington were arrested and suspended from the team for allegedly stealing $20,000 worth of electronics in a dorm robbery spree, Hofstra was blown out by Larry Brown-coached Southern Methodist, 73-47 Saturday.
“It’s been a difficult few days,” said Cassara, Hofstra’s head coach. “Obviously the ball didn’t go in the hoop for us as much as we like. There’s nobody that feels worse about it or [is more] disappointed than me.”
Hofstra came out of the gate sluggish, allowing SMU to score the first 10 points. It was not until a Stephen Nwaukoni jumper with 15:13 left to play in the half that the Pride finally got on the board.
“If you just make that first basket, the pressure just comes off,” Cassara said. “We just weren’t able to withstand what we needed to do. It was a challenge. We missed a lot of easy shots.”
The Mustangs continued to pour on the punishment and jumped out to an early 19-point lead that would balloon to 26 before the night was over thanks to Nick Russell (20 points) and Jalen Jones (14 points, 12 rebounds).
“Obviously we didn’t play our best today, but that’s a very good basketball team,” Cassara said. “Some of our guys who have played pretty well didn’t play well.”
Due to the suspensions, Cassara was forced to use a shortened bench and had to thrust Taran Buie (10 points), Jordan Allen (four points) and Nwaukoni into the starting lineup. The trio had just three previous starts combined.
“Obviously we had a lot of new guys in new positions,” Cassara said. “Darren Payen, we were planning on redshirting him, he hasn’t played a minute, but he went out there and did some good things. The plan has to adjust a bit.”
Without Stokes and Hall, who were averaging 22.7 points per game combined, the Pride (3-5) managed just 47 points, their lowest total since they scored 43 points against Georgia State last February.
Brown, whose Mustangs improved to 8-1, was in a light mood after the game, joking with Knicks head coach Mike Woodson. But he said he spoke to Cassara before the game and mentioned how much the loss of four players would affect the team.
“You can’t lose four quality players in one day and expect to have success,” Brown said. “[Cassara] can coach. They were a team that we really had a lot of respect for, and that hasn’t changed.”
As difficult as it seems following four suspensions, a lack of scholarships, a short roster and a 26-point loss, Cassara tried to stay positive. The third-year coach will add walk-ons just to fill out his roster and cannot sign any scholarship players.
“All I can do is work as hard as I can every day,” Cassara said. “Our guys are resilient, my staff is resilient and we are just going to keep working as hard as we can. We have some good pieces, and we’re going to keep building on it.”