PRIDE BEFORE BAL L
Hofstra vows to compete with UK
JOE MIHALICH knew Kentucky was coming to town. The date was set more than a year ago. But when the Hofstra coach finally started preparing this week for John Calipari’s latest crop of All-Americans, the soaring, sprinting images were more spectacular than he had imagined. Mihalich has watched the Wildcats win a national championship, and he had seen the school produce an assembly line of future NBA stars, but he isn’t sure the Kentucky coach ever had put together a more talented group.
“Holy cow, this might be his best team ever,” Mihalich said. “They’re so good. They’ve got no weaknesses.”
Preparation at the mid-major level rarely is so disheartening. Prior to a loss against St. Bonaventure, Hofstra (6-4) had won four straight games, beating the likes of South Dakota, Medaille College, Columbia and Florida Atlantic.
Now, No. 6 Kentucky (8-1) — the top-ranked team in the nation before a recent loss to UCLA — comes to New York City for the second time this season in a rare de facto road game against a smaller school, facing the Pride in a nationally televised game Sunday afternoon at Barclays Center, in what originally was scheduled to be the first sporting event at the renovated Nassau Coliseum.
It is Hofstra’s first game against a ranked team in three years, and perhaps the most anticipated regular-season contest in school history.
“I’m so glad it’s finally here,” Mihalich said. “It’s been talked about forever. It’s all anyone has wanted to talk about. It’s an incredible thing and it’s an exciting thing. It’s the chance of a lifetime.
“Our guys are going to be prepared for this reason: They want to play this game. They’re fearless. They all want to be out there.”
Eli Pemberton, Hofstra’s leading scorer, already has shared a court with several of Kentucky’s top stars. Playing in summer leagues during high school, Pemberton matched up with guards Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox, while also battling Isaiah Briscoe and Wenyen Gabriel.
Pemberton remembers besting Monk. He remembers watching Fox struggle. He remembers leaving the court a winner against Gabriel.
Pemberton remembers their extraordinary talent, but also remembers how different they looked when they weren’t wearing Kentucky blue.
“Clearly, they’ve gotten better since I played against them, but I’m not gonna think of them any differently,” Pemberton said. “Just because they’ve got the name Kentucky, you can’t be scared by the name on the front of a shirt. We have a name on the front of our shirt, too. Theirs has more clout, but it’s just a name. They’re more gifted, granted, than some of us, but they’re human beings. They bleed just like we do.
“Why can’t we beat them? Anything can happen.”
Hofstra junior Rokas Gustys, who leads the nation with 13.8 rebounds per game, recalled what it was like — during his days playing at famed Oak Hill Academy — to be considered an unstoppable juggernaut like Kentucky.
“I’ve been on the other side of it and have been on teams where everyone knows that you’re gonna beat them, but you have bad nights,” Gustys said. “Maybe we’re going to make all our shots and not have any turnovers. You never know what’s going to happen. Look at UConn [losing to Wagner].”
If Kentucky forgets about its massive athletic advantage and settles for outside shots, Gustys sees an opening against a team that ranks 261st in the nation in 3-point percentage (32.2).
“We can really challenge their shooters and see if they can make shots from outside the lane,” Gustys said. “They try to go inside and we’re going to try and limit them and make them shoot it.”
If Kentucky is amped for this weekend, it’s only because of the trip to New York. Immediately after facing the heavy underdogs from Long Island, the Wildcats play two of their most important games of the season — against North Carolina and rival Louisville.
For the Pride, it’s the only opportunity to face a Goliath their players ever may get.
“This is a special game for all of us,” Pemberton said. “Kentucky probably looks at it like it’s just another game and they honestly probably think they’re gonna beat us by 40 and call it a day. They probably think they’re gonna roll over us, but everybody has a positive mindset going into the game. Nobody’s really worried.
“Everybody knows it’s a great opportunity, a once in a lifetime thing that we have right now, so it’s either shock the world or just get rolled over, but we’re not gonna go out like that.”