We can't lose to a school that graduates unkempt rebels like GARE!
Have we considered moving the entire Hofstra campus to Philadelphia? Or at least playing all the Flying Dutchmen basketball games there?
We may have to ponder that if the Dutchmen lose tonight, when they make a rare return to New York State but remain in the Ivy League by visiting Columbia. I’ve always said we’re the Ivy League of Long Island.
As will hopefully become the routine following all games this year (not just CAA clashes) now that the three-games-in-three-days flurry of the Cathedral Classic behind us, I ran down the boilerplate material from Sunday’s win over Pennsylvania in last night’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from that defeat as well as a preview of the Lions. Hey that’s sort of our nickname too. Enjoy!
THIS IS TITLE TOWN
The Cathedral Classic championship #Alliteration is the first in-season championship for the Dutchmen since 2023, when they won the Gulf Coast Showcase, and the sixth of the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-present). Unlike the first five in-season tournament titles of the DD Era, the Gulf Coast Showcase title did not precede a trip to the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. So we’re due!
1998 Holiday Festival (invited to the NIT)
1999 Holiday Festival (won the America East’s automatic bid to the NCAAs)
2000 Florida International Tip-Off Classic (won the America East’s automatic bid to the NCAAs)
2006 Holiday Festival (invited to the NIT)
2019 Boca Raton Classic (won the CAA’s automatic bid to the NCAAs, won the national championship prove me wrong children)
2023 Gulf Coast Showcase
HONOR ROLL
Cruz Davis and Preston Edmead were each named to the Cathedral Classic all-tournament team. Davis averaged 18.3 points per game over the weekend while going 6-of-13 from 3-point land and adding 6.0 assists per game. Edmead averaged 14.7 points and 6.0 assists per game and also converted two four-point plays during a 78-58 win over Merrimack on Saturday, including one in which he was fouled by his brother Malik. Quirky!
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Freshman Preston Edmead was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the third time in four weeks after he *checks notes* averaged 14.7 points and 6.0 assists per game in the three games at the Cathedral Classic. Edmead’s three Rookie of the Week honors are the most by a Hofstra player since Amar’e Marshall won it four times during the 2022-23 season.
SECOND HALF SURGE
The Dutchmen beat Pennsylvania 77-60 after trailing 33-31 at the half. It was the first time the Dutchmen have overcome a halftime deficit to win by double digits since Jan. 4, when they beat Northeastern 55-37 after trailing 19-18 NO NO NANETTE BIAS at the half. The Dutchmen are now 2-3 this season when trailing at the half. They overcame a seven-point halftime deficit in an 83-77 win over Bucknell on Nov. 14.
1010101010 WINS (again)
Five players reached double figures for the Dutchmen on Sunday, when starters Cruz Davis (18 points), German Plotnikov (12 points), Preston Edmead (11 points), Victory Onuetu (10 points) and Biggie Patterson (10 points) combined for an impressively balanced scoring attack. The Dutchmen are 3-1 this season when five players score in double figures and 14-2 under Speedy Claxton when at least five players score in double figures.
COLLECTING THEIR FREEBIES
The Dutchmen were a robust 17-of-18 from the free throw line Sunday. They opened the game with 16 consecutive free throws before Preston Edmead missed the team’s penultimate attempt with 1:37 left. *Joey Tribbiani voice* So close! The performance from the line was the best for the Dutchmen since last Dec. 29, when they were a perfect 17-of-17 in a 75-69 overtime loss to Quinnipiac.
CRUZ-IN
Cruz Davis continued his impressive season Sunday, when he scored 18 points and added five assists and two steals. Davis has scored in double figures in all eight games this season, the longest streak by a Hofstra player since Jean Aranguren scored in double figures in 15 straight games from Dec. 9 through Feb. 8. The eight straight double-figure scoring efforts also tie a carer high for Davis set previously from Jan. 20 through Feb. 13. Davis has scored in double figures in 29 of the 40 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 17-12 when Davis scores in double figures.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov keyed the Dutchmen’s second-half comeback Sunday, when he scored 10 of his 12 points after intermission. Plotnikov has scored at least 10 points in five of the Dutchmen’s eight games this season after doing so seven times in 31 games last season.
PRESTO!
Freshman Preston Edmead kept opening eyes Sunday, when he flirted with a triple-double by scoring 11 points and setting career-highs with eight assists and six rebounds. Edmead, who was 1-of-3 from the field but 9-of-10 from the free throw line, has scored in double figures in seven of his first eight games. His 119 points (14.9 ppg) through eight games are the most by a Hofstra freshman through eight games since Antoine Agudio collected 123 points (15.4 ppg) in 2004-05. Not bad company.
EDMEAD DISHING DIMES
Preston Edmead finished with a career-high eight assists Sunday and has at least five assists in all eight games this season. Edmead’s streak is the longest by a Hofstra player since Caleb Burgess had at least five assists in 10 straight gams from Jan. 17 through Mar. 7. 2021. It’s easy to forget because that was the shortened pandemic season with no fans in attendance, but Burgess had a really solid season that year for the Dutchmen.
PRESTON PROFICIENT AT THE LINE
Preston Edmead did most of his scoring via free throws Sunday, when he was 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. The nine free throws are the most for a Hofstra player since Jean Aranguren was 14-of-18 in a 77-68 loss to Northeastern on Feb. 6.
PRESTON VS. SPEEDY
Preston Edmead’s first eight games as a true freshman point guard have been just as impressive as Speedy Claxton’s first eight games as a true freshman point guard way back in 1996-97.
Speedy Claxton: 15.8 points per game/2.0 assists per game/5.0 rebounds per game
Preston Edmead: 14.9 ppg/5.9 apg/1.5 rpg
Pretty quirky and neat!
VICTORY!
Junior newcomer Victory Onuetu continued to offer intrigue Sunday, when he again flirted with a double-double by finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds while adding two rebounds and two steals over 27 minutes. The playing time was the most extensive for Onuetu since he logged a season-high 29 minutes in his first start against Bucknell on Nov 14. Onuetu has two double-doubles this season and has come within one rebound of a double-double two other times. He had 13 points to go along with nine assists in an 81-73 loss to Iona on Nov. 7.
BIGGIE SHOPS AT THE FIVE-AND-DIME
Biggie Patterson had another solid game Sunday, when he finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Patterson scored all his points during a span of 7:40 bridging the halves, during which the Dutchmen took control by outscoring Pennsylvania 21-7 NICE FOOTBALL SCORE. He has at least 10 points and five rebounds in four games this season after collecting at least 10 points and five reboudns four times in the 15 games he played for Iona last season.
WHERE THERE’S A WILLS THERE’S A WAY
AJ Wills had perhaps his best game of the year Sunday, when he scored five points and added three rebounds and one assist in a season-high 25 minutes. The five points were Wills’ most since he had eight points in a 95-61 win over Division II Molloy on Nov. 10 and his most against a Division I foe since he finished with eight points for Wyoming against San Jose State on Feb. 22. The three rebounds were Wills’ most since he had three rebounds against Fresno State on Jan. 28 while the 25 minutes were the most for Wills since he logged 27 minutes for Wyoming against San Jose State in a Mountain West Conference tournament game on Mar. 12.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
Silas Sunday closed out an impressive weekend on, well, Sunday, when he had four points, six rebounds and one block in 13 minutes. Sunday finished the Cathedral Classic with 20 points, 22 rebounds and six blocks. All three three-game figures are the best of Sunday’s career over a three-game span against Division I foes. He had 22 points in a season-opening three-game span against Central Florida, Iona and Division II Molloy from Nov. 3-10.
DECADY DANCE
Joshua DeCady saw less playing time than usual Sunday, when he had four points and two rebounds over a season-low 11 minutes. DeCady played at least 13 minutes in each of the Dutchmen’s first seven games. He has scored in seven of eight games this season after scoring in 14 of the 25 games in which he played last season.
THREE-FOR-ALL FOR ROBERTS
Freshman Jaeden Roberts played the final 1:37 Sunday and collected the final points of the game by draining a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left. The 3-pointer was the first for Roberts, who had two points in the 95-61 win over Division II Molloy on Nov. 10. 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 played for Speedy as a coach. We are all very old.
CLUB TRILLION FOR REAVES
Graduate student Joshua Aaron Reaves recorded his second straight Club Trillion — no stats at all other than minutes played — Sunday. Reaves, who sat out last Friday’s 63-58 win over La Salle, entered the Cathedral Classic having played at least 12 minutes in three of the Dutchmen’s previous four games.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game is slated to be carried live on both SNY, if you are on the New York area, as well as 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.
COLUMBIA AND THE IVY LEAGUE
Columbia, under first-year head coach Kevin Hovde, is 7-1 this season after earning its sixth straight win Saturday, when the Lions beat Division III Sarah Lawrence 92-44.
Columbia was picked to finish last in the eight-team Ivy League. But the Lions have been one of the most surprising teams in the nation over the first month of the season, during which they’ve leaped from 247 to 135 at KenPom.com and debuted at 60 on the NET rankings, which are usually nonsense just used to justify why the selection committee gave at-large bids to crappy-ass power five schools instead of deserving mid-majors. But I digress.
Despite the coaching change, Columbia returns a whopping nine players from last year’s team. How many players do they return? The Lions’ top three scorers are all four-year members of the program. Senior Kenny Noland, who has spent his entire career with Columbia, leads the Lions with 17.0 points and 3.1 assists per game. Zinou Eddine Bedri ranks second on the team with 12.8 points and leads the squad with 7.4 rebounds per game, though he’s missed the last three games. Blair Thompson, is third on the Lions with 10.5 points and ranks second with 6.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore Gerard O’Keefe is averaging 9.3 points per game while freshman Miles Franklin is averaging 8.9 points per game.
Per KenPom.com, Pennsylvania ranks 129th nationally in offensive efficiency (109.5 points per 100 possessions) and 153rd in defensive efficiency (106.5 points per 100 possessions) while ranking 219th in tempo (68.2 possessions per 40 minutes).
The Dutchmen and Lions have four common opponents this season. The Dutchmen are slated to play two CAA games against Stony Brook, which will host Columbia next Tuesday, And Columbia will play two Ivy League games against Pennsylvania, whom, as you may know by now, the Dutchmen beat 77-60 in the Cathedral Classic on Sunday afternoon.
The Dutchmen are 11-2 all-time against Columbia. Tonight’s game is the first clash between the schools since Nov. 29, 2016, when the Dutchmen frittered away a 12-point second-half lead before edging Columbia 88-86. The most notable element of that game was sophomore Desure Buie suffering a torn ACL in the last game in which he was still eligible for a redshirt. Buie’s extra year came in awfully handy when he led the Dutchmen to the 2020 national championship. Prove me wrong, children!
Hofstra is 33-18 all-time against Ivy League schools. Today marks the first time the Dutchmen are opposing an Ivy League foe since way back on Sunday! This marks the first time the Dutchmen have played multiple Ivy League schools in the same season since 2004-05, when they beat Dartmouth and Columbia in consecutive games from Dec. 17-22.
At KenPom.com, Hofstra is ranked 133rd while Columbia is ranked 135th. That’s close! KenPom.com predicts a 72-70 loss for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1 1/2-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 6-1 against the spread this season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Gary Cohen bias! (The legendary Mets broadcaster went to Columbia)
Lloyd Carroll bias! (Our good friend and legendary local columnist also went to Columbia, possibly at the same time as GARE)
Marcellus Wiley bias! (The former Dallas Cowboys star defensive end went to Columbia)
You haven’t won the Ivy League since 1968 bias! (The only Ivy school with a longer drought is Dartmouth)
Barack Obama bias! (If only Delaware hadn’t gone off to Conference USA for no good reason, the Dutchmen would be playing the alma mater of the last three presidents this season which is sorta depressing anyway moving on)
