May the road trip go smoother and to more locales than the gang's.
From the best winless team in the nation per KenPom.com on Monday to the 12th-best one-win team in the nation this morning per KenPom.com. We’ll take it!
The Flying Dutchmen will look to even their record this evening, when they begin their Pennsylvania residency by visiting long-ago ECC rival Bucknell. As will hopefully become the routine following all games this year (not just CAA clashes), I ran down the boilerplate material from Monday’s win over Molloy in a Thursday night Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from that defeat as well as a preview of the Bison. Enjoy!
EXHALE
The win over Molloy marked the Dutchmen’s 27th straight victory against a non-division I foe. The Dutchmen haven’t lost to a non-Division I foe since a 70-54 loss to Florida Southern during the 1988-89 season.
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM
The Dutchmen improved to 1-2 Monday. It’s the first time they’ve opened 1-2 with a win in the third game since the 2012-13 season. Oh no, not that.
A NEARLY WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN
The Dutchmen trailed just once Monday, when Molloy held a 3-2 lead for 40 seconds before German Plotnikov drained the 3-pointer for the season’s first Keith Hernandez. It was the first time the Dutchmen have trailed exactly once in a game since a 75-71 overtime win over Massachusetts last Nov. 16, when the Minutemen took their lone lead at 62-61 with 55 seconds left in regulation. Pretty quirky to only trail once and have it happen in the 40th minute.
1010101010 WINS (again)
Five players scored in double figures Monday for the Dutchmen. Starters Cruz Davis (24 points), German Plotnikov (15 points), Preston Edmead (12 points) and Biggie Patterson (11 points) all scored at least 10 points along with reserve Victory Onuetu (10 points). It was the second straight game in which five players scored in double figures, though the victory ended a two-game losing streak for the Dutchmen in such games. The Dutchmen hadn’t won a game in which give players scored in double figures since Jan, 23, when Jean Aranguren, Cruz Davis, Khalil Farmer, German Plotnikov and Silas Sunday all reached at least 10 points in a 93-68 win over Delaware. And THAT game marked the start of the Dutchmen’s previous instance of consecutive games with five double-digit scorers, a streak that ended two days later with the infamous 69-67 overtime loss to Campbell. Super quirky! After all that, the Dutchmen are now 12-2 under Speedy Claxton when at least five players score in double figures.
DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE FUN
Cruz Davis (24 points, 10 rebounds) and Victory Onuetu (10 points, 12 rebounds) each recorded a double-double Monday, It was the first time two Hofstra players had double-doubles in the same game since Jan. 30, when Jean Aranguren (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Michael Graham (15 points, 13 rebounds) pulled off the feat in a 74-63 win over Not Twitter Guy.
MESSED AROUND AND ALMOST GOT A TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Cruz Davis flirted with the second triple-double in program history Monday, when he finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. It was the closest a Hofstra player has come to a triple-double since Nov. 8, 2024, when Jean Aranguren had 18 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a 90-76 win over Iona. Davis is the sixth Hofstra player to finish with at least eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a game since Dec. 28, 2014, when Juan’ya Green (15 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) posted the only triple-double in school history in an 88-66 win over Long Island University at Barclays Center. All six of those games have happened since the 2020-21 season.
Cruz Davis: 28 points/10 rebounds/8 assists vs. Molloy, 11/10/25
Jean Aranguren: 18 points/9 rebounds/9 assists vs. Iona, 11/8/24
Jaquan Carlos: 11 points/9 rebounds/10 assists vs. Stony Brook, 2/1/24
Jaquan Carlos: 10 points/9 rebounds/9 assists vs. Northeastern, 2/8/23
Aaron Estrada: 22 points/10 rebounds/8 assists vs. Arkansas, 12/18/21
Caleb Burgess: 11 points/9 rebounds/8 assists vs. Delaware, 3/7/21
CRUZ-IN
Cruz Davis added to a pair of impressive stats Monday, when he finished with (as you may know by now) 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. It marked the fifth time Davis has collected at least 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a game. His four such games last season were the most by a Hofstra player in a single season since none other than Speedy Claxton also had four 10/7/7 games during his senior season in 1999-2000. In addition, Davis has scored in double figures in 24 of the 35 games in which he’s played for Hofstra after reaching double figures just five times over 28 games in his first two seasons at Iona and St. John’s. The Dutchmen are 14-11 when Davis scores in double figures.
VICTORY!
Junior newcomer Victory Onuetu once again offered intrigue in a small sample size Monday, when he finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, one assist and one block over 23 minutes off the bench. Onuetu is the first Hofstra reserve to record a double-double since Michael Graham, who came off the bench for the only time last season on Jan. 11 and had 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 66-63 win over UNC Wilmington. Onuetu is also the first Hofstra reserve to score at least 10 points off the bench in consecutive games since Khalil Farmer had 11 points apiece against Delaware and Campbell on Jan 23-25.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov bounced back from his quiet performance against Iona on Monday, when he finished with 15 points, one rebound and three blocks. The three blocks tied a career-high set previously in a 60-42 loss to Temple last Dec. 15. Plotnikov went 3-for-8 from 3-point land and has drained at least three 3-pointers in four of his last seven games dating back to last season after doing so just three times in the first 91 games of his Hofstra career. In addition, Plotnikov has scored in double figures in six of his last nine games after doing so just 13 times in his first 89 games.
PRESTO!
Freshman guard Preston Edmead continued the impressive start to his career Monday, when he finished with 12 points, six assists, two steals and one rebound. Edmead is the first Hofstra freshman to score in double figures in each of his first three games since Eli Pemberton, who had 20 points against Coppin State, 23 points against Sacred Heart and 15 points against Manhattan from Nov. 11-18, 2016. Pemberton opened his career with five straight double-digit scoring efforts. Edmead is also the first Hofstra freshman to start his first three games since David Green started the first four games of the 2020-21 season. Green, by the way, IS STILL PLAYING COLLEGE BALL! He’s at Tulsa this year.
BIGGIE COMES UP, WELL, BIG
Biggie Patterson fared well in limited action Monday, when he drained a career-high three 3-pointers on his way to finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds in just 17 minutes. Patterson hit two 3-pointers in a game three times last season for Iona. He’s scored 27 points combined in the last two games, his most in a two-game span since he had 29 points against Saint Peter’s and Colgate last Dec. 8-22.
WHERE THERE’S A WILLS THERE’S A WAY
AJ Wills nearly made it six Hofstra players in double figures Monday, when he finished with eight points while adding two assists, two steals and one rebounds while serving as the backup point guard to Preston Edmead. The eight points were the most for Wills since Feb. 22, when he had eight points for Wyoming against San Jose State.
CRAZY EIGHTS FOR REAVES
Graduate student Joshua Aaron Reaves enjoyed a prolific game off the bench Monday, when he finished with five points and a career-high eight rebounds over 15 minutes. Reaves collected seven rebounds in a game twice for Mount St. Mary’s, first against Long Island University on Feb. 12, 2021 and then again against Iona on Feb. 25, 2024. The five points were the most for Reaves since Feb. 8, when he finished with eight points for Illinois-Chicago in a 79-67 loss to Southern Illinois.
NO JOSH-IN
Joshua DeCady again saw extensive action off the bench Monday, when he had six points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 19 minutes. DeCady has played at least 19 minutes in each of the first three games after playing more than 10 minutes in consecutive games just twice as a freshman last season.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
With the Dutchmen cruising to victory Monday, senior Silas Sunday saw his streak #Alliteration of double-digit scoring efforts end at two when he finished with two points, three rebounds and one assist in 14 minutes. All four figures represented season lows for Sunday, who has started all three games after drawing just two starts combined in his first two seasons at Hofstra combined.
JAEDEN JOINS THE PARTY
Freshman Jaeden Roberts made a quirky bit of history Monday, when he scored two points while playing six minutes in his Hofstra debut. Roberts’ Dad, Roger, redshirted during his freshman season in 1996-97 — which was also the freshman season for Speedy Claxton — but never played for the Dutchmen. So the son of Speedy’s teammate has now scored for Speedy as a coach. We are all very old.
TSYNKEVICH DEBUTS…
Graduate student Alex Tsynkevich made his Hofstra debut Monday, when he missed a pair of free throws and pulled down two rebounds in four minutes. The action was the first at the Division I level for Tsynkevich since Mar. 7, 2024, when he had a rebound in six scoreless minutes for Alcorn State against Mississippi Valley State. Tsynkevich spent last season at Division II Kentucky Wesleyan.
…AND SO DOES WILLIAMS
Redshirt freshman Amir Williams also made his Hofstra debut and recorded one rebound in four minutes. Williams sat out last season as a true freshman.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Freshman Preston Edmead was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the opening week after he collected 34 points and 12 assists in games against Central Florida and Iona. Edmead is the first Hofstra player to win the Rookie of the Week award since Amar’e Marshall earned the last of his four honors for the week ending Dec. 12, 2022. Long time ago! Hofstra’s Rookie of the Week drought was the longest active drought, though Campbell, which joined for the 2023-24 season, has yet to yield a Rookie of the Week winner.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game is slated to be carried live on ESPNPlus, which you have if you have the Disney Bundle, which you have if you have a child under 18. (Alas mine mostly watches Max, Netflix and YouTube, sigh) Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
BUCKNELL AND THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Bucknell, under third-year head coach and former player John Griffin, is 2-1 this season after falling to Princeton, 73-63, on Tuesday night. Tonight’s game ends a three-game streak of the Dutchmen serving as the opponent’s season-opening foe. Quirky!
Bucknell was picked to finish fifth in the 10-team Patriot League after going 18-15 and winning the Patriot League regular season title last year. The Bison lost Patriot League Player of the Year Noah Williamson, who transferred to Alabama after leading Bucknell with 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, but returns eight players.
True freshman Amon Dorries, a native of Germany, leads the Bison with 15.7 points per game and ranks third with 5.0 rebounds per game. The rest of the lineup is made up of returnees. Fourth-year senior Ruot Bijiek is averaging 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Sophomore Jayden Williams is averaging 11.0 points and a team-high 5.0 assists per game. Fellow returnee Achile Spadone, a senior, is averaging 9.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while junior Brandon McCreesh is averaging 6.0 points per game.
The Dutchmen and Bison have one common foe this season. Bucknell visits Pittsburgh on Monday while the Dutchmen will face the Panthers on Dec. 7.
The Dutchmen are 11-20 all-time against Bucknell, which was an East Coast Conference rival long before I made up the league upon arriving at Hofstra. The Dutchmen won the most recent game between the schools Dec. 4, 2021, when they pulled away from the visiting Bison in an 88-69 victory.
That’s also the most recent game between Hofstra and a Patriot League school.
Hofstra is 92-82 all-time against current Patriot League schools, which include five former conference foes (American, Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh in the East Coast Conference and Boston University in the NAC/America East).
At KenPom.com this afternoon, Hofstra is ranked 155th while Bucknell is ranked 258th. KenPom.com predicts a 71-69 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 1-1 against the spread this season.
THE JAY JUG?
Tonight marks the first of three games this season against schools who have a deep connection to Hofstra basketball. Bucknell is the alma mater of Jay Wright, who played three seasons for the Bison and graduated in 1983, just 11 years before he was hired at Hofstra. On Nov. 29, the Dutchmen play La Salle, whose coaching staff features the great Joe Mihalich, who of course coached Hofstra to the national championship (prove me wrong, children!) as well as longtime Hofstra assistant Colin Curtin. And the Dutchmen host Quinnipiac, coached by former Hofstra head coach Tom Pecora, on Dec. 21.
SEND THEIR MAIL TO PEPE SILVIA…OR PENNSYLVANIA
Tonight’s game begins a quirky stretch for the Dutchmen, who play their next five games and six of their next seven contests in Pennsylvania. The Dutchmen visit Temple on Monday before playing La Salle, Merrimack and Penn in the Cathedral Classic at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving weekend from Nov. 28-30. Oh baby, so many potential Always Sunny references! After returning to the Big Apple to visit Columbia on Dec. 3, the Dutchmen then trek to Pittsburgh. The Dutchmen will not play their sixth game in New York State until Dec. 21, when they host Quinnipiac. Quirky!
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Your head coach is also an alum bias! (I somehow missed this in my preseason research, it’s my fault if the Dutchmen lose)
Matt Daley relieved the only unanimous Hall of Famer in his last game bias! (The Bucknell alum became the answer to an all-time great trivia question when he manned the unenviable task of relieving Mariano Rivera on Sept. 26, 2013)
American Pie bias! (Bucknell alum Chris Bender co-produced the theatrical American Pies, which are still funny)
Jay Wright bias! (Stick with the oldie but goodie)
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