Saw too much of this at our house after Christmas.
We made it to the start of CAA play, folks — and frankly, in much better shape than any of us could have expected almost two months ago. Maybe I was on to something with that whole the Dutchmen as the Cleveland baseball team in Major League thing.
The Dutchmen ended an impressive non-conference season in encouraging fashion last Sunday, when they mounted a late run to outlast our pal Tom Pecora and Quinnipiac, 74-66. The real thing starts tonight, when the Dutchmen host Campbell.
Between holiday planning, my wife’s birthday and the two of us getting the flu on Friday (good times!), last week got away from me, so I’m going old-school today with a jam-packed I’ll Be Quirky that includes the usual postgame boilerplate along with the news and notes from the Quinnipiac win as well as a preview of Campbell. Enjoy!
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Cruz Davis opened the afternoon by collecting the Dutchmen’s first 12 points before he scored the first five points of a game-ending 16-5 run as the Dutchmen continued to show a knack for finishing. Davis had 18 points as the Dutchmen took a trio of seven-point leads in the first half, the last at 27-20 with 8:03 left. But the Dutchmen went 0-for-10 with four turnovers while being outscored 11-0 over the next 7:04. Davis and Joshua DeCady combined to score the final four points of the half as the Dutchmen tied the game at 31-31 at intermission. The teams weren’t separated by more than four points throughout the first 18-plus minutes of the second half, during which there were six ties and seven lead changes. Tai Turnage’s 3-pointer gave Quinnipiac its biggest lead of the half at 61-58 with 5:29 left, but Amarri Monroe missed a 3-pointer following a turnover by Davis, who began the Dutchmen’s comeback by hitting a layup with 4:46 remaining. Keith McKnight missed a pair of free throws for the Bobcats and then fouled Davis as he hit the go-ahead layup (spoiler alert). Davis finished off the nostalgic 3-point play, after which Preston Edmead drained a jumper off his own steal. McKnight’s layup with 2:16 left pulled Quinnipiac within 65-63, but German Plotnikov hit another big 3-pointer, this one just as the shot clock expired, and the Dutchmen iced the win by going 6-of-6 from the line. Davis added four rebounds and three assists while Edmead scored all 18 of his points in the second half while finishing with four assists and one steal. Plotnikov had 12 points and seven rebounds and Biggie Patterson (11 points, five rebounds) also did some shopping at the five-and-dime. Victory Onuetu had 11 rebounds and four blocks. DeCady added seven rebounds in 15 minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Quinnipiac, 12/21)
3: Cruz Davis
2: Preston Edmead
1: German Plotnikov
SEASON STANDINGS
Cruz Davis 31
Preston Edmead 19
Biggie Patterson 9
German Plotnikov 6
Victory Onuetu 6
Silas Sunday 3
Jaeden Roberts 2
Joshua DeCady 2
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
YES! You’d think 74-66 is a fairly common score, but a unique win over a Hofstra basketball legend requires a unicorn score! Surprisingly, the Dutchmen finished within one point of a 74-66 win just three times prior to last Sunday. They earned a 75-66 win over West Chester State during the 1953-54 season and a 73-66 victory over Philadelphia Textile during the 1963-64 campaign before beating Delaware 74-67 on Jan. 26, 2002.
This is the Dutchmen’s second unicorn score victory of the season and their 62nd unicorn score victory since the start of the 2018-19 season, when we first started tracking unicorn scores. This is also the deepest the Dutchmen have gone into a season before recording a unicorn score since they didn’t record ANY unicorn scores during the 2020-21 season.
2025-26: Two unicorn scores
2024-25: Seven unicorn scores
2023-24: Seven unicorn scores
2022-23: 12 unicorn scores
2021-22: 11 unicorn scores
2020-21: Zero unicorn scores (really)
2019-20: 13 unicorn scores
2018-19: 10 unicorn scores
The term unicorn score was coined by Mets superfan, historian and blogger Greg Prince to describe a score by which the Mets had never previously won. You may also know it as a “Scorigami,” a term popularized in the NFL.
WHO HAD THE KEITH HERNANDEZ?
Cruz Davis snapped the four-way tie atop the Keith Hernandez standings by converting the go-ahead nostalgic 3-point play with 3:54 left to give the Dutchmen a 63-61 lead. It’s the first time a Keith Hernandez has been recorded via the nostalgic 3-point play since Jean Aranguren did it Jan. 11 in a 66-63 win over UNC Wilmington. A 3-pointer has been involved in each of the Keith Hernandezes achieved via a field goal this season. Quirky! The Keith Hernandez was the sixth all-time for Davis, which vaults him into sole possession on the all-time list (or at least since the start of the 2022-23 season).
German Plotnikov go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Molloy, 11/10/25 (18:47 left 1H)
Preston Edmead go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Bucknell, 11/14/25 (13:30 left 2H)
Biggie Patterson tie-breaking free throw vs. La Salle, 11/28/25 (1:35 left 2H)
Preston Edmead tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Merrimack, 11/29/25 (15:25 left 1H)
Biggie Patterson tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Pennsylvania, 11/30/25 (18:03 left 2H)
Cruz Davis tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Pittsburgh, 12/7/25 (8:38 left 1H)
Cruz Davis tie-breaking free throw vs. Old Westbury, 12/10/25 (19:50 left 1H)
German Plotnikov go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Syracuse, 12/13/25 (:31.9 left 2H)
Cruz Davis nostalgic 3-point play vs. Quinnipiac, 12/21/25 (3:54 left 2H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Cruz Davis 3
German Plotnikov 2
Biggie Patterson 2
Preston Edmead 2
ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since the 2022-23 season)
Tyler Thomas 16
Darlinstone Dubar 14
Cruz Davis 6
German Plotnikov 5
Jean Aranguren 5
Aaron Estrada 4
Michael Graham 3
Warren Williams 3
Biggie Patterson 2
Preston Edmead 2
Silas Sunday 2
Jacco Fritz 2
Jaquan Carlos 2
Eric Parnell 1
KiJan Robinson 1
Bryce Washington 1
The Keith Hernandez is bestowed upon the player who scores the points that put the Dutchmen ahead for good in a victory. The stat pays homage to Hernandez, the World Series-winning Cardinals and Mets first baseman who had a record 129 game-winning RBIs when the stat was inexplicably discontinued after the 1988 season.
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER THIRTEEN GAMES
The Dutchmen improved to 9-4 with last Sunday’s win. This ties the 2025-26 team for the 17th-best record in school history through 13 games. This is the first time the Dutchmen have opened 9-4 since 2019-20 and the 13th time overall in program history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 13 games:
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 6-7
1976-77: 9-4
1999-2000: 8-5
2000-01: 9-4
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 9-4
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 8-5
2004-05: 10-3
2005-06: 10-3
2006-07: 9-4
2015-16: 9-4
2018-19: 10-3 (most recent 10-3 start, win in 13th game marked seventh win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 7-6
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 9-4
1961-62: 12-1
1962-63: 9-4
1963-64: 12-1 (most recent 12-1 start)
Some other notable 13-game starts:
2024-25: 8-5 (most recent 8-5 start)
2023-24: 7-6 (most recent 7-6 start)
2013-14: 4-9 (most recent 4-9 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2012-13: 3-10 (most recent 3-10 start, final loss in eight-game losing streak)
2011-12: 6-7 (most recent 6-7 start)
2002-03: 2-11 (most recent 2-11 start)
2001-02: 6-7 (Tom Pecora’s first team, under .500 for good)
1996-97: 5-8 (most recent 5-8 start)
1994-95: 2-11 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-12 (VBK’s last team, most recent 1-12 start)
1991-92: 7-6 (over .500 for good)
1986-87: 7-6 (last time over .500)
1966-67: 7-6 (last time over .500)
1959-60: 12-1 (Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in 13th game was second win of season-ending 13-game winning streak)
1955-56: 12-1 (suffered first loss in 13th game)
Hofstra has never been 13-0, 11-2 or 0-13 through 13 games.
Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43.
This feature is inspired by Greg Prince, who measures how the current Mets compare, record-wise, to previous teams through the same point in the season.
NUMBER TEN THROUGH ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX
With last Sunday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 90-56 (.616) as head coach. That’s the fourth-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 146 games at the helm.
Butch van Breda Kolff I 109-37 (.747, 146th game was the 20th game of his sixth season in 1960-61)
Frank Reilly 105-41 (.719, 146th game was the 17th game of his sixth season in 1952-53)
Paul Lynner 92-54 (.630, 146th game was the 11th game of his sixth season in 1967-68)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 90-56 (.616, 146th game was the 13th game of his fifth season in 2025-26)
Tom Pecora 76-70 (.521, 146th game was the 26th game of his sixth season in 2005-06)
Joe Mihalich 76-70 (.521, 146th game was the 13th game of his fifth season in 2017-18)
Dick Berg 73-73 (.500, 146th game was the seventh game of his sixth season in 1985-86)
Roger Gaeckler 72-74 (.493, 146th game was the 14th game of his sixth season in 1977-78)
Jay Wright 72-74 (.493, 146th game was the first game of his sixth season in 1998-99)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 71-75 (.486, 146th game was the fifth game of his sixth season in 1993-94)
Speedy Claxton beats Tom Pecora in his 146th game while Pecora wins his 146th game to move into a tie for fifth place all-time with Joe Mihalich, on whose staff Claxton served when Mihalich lost his 146th game at the helm. Time is a flat circle. In other news, perpetual slacker Jay Wright loses his 146th game at the helm, which is the first game of Claxton’s junior season. And back on Dec. 11, 1993, with my first semester as a Hofstra student drawing to a close, I finally experience a win by the Flying Dutchmen Butch van Breda Kolff’s final team earns its first win of the season with a 52-51 victory over Yale in the first round of the Holiday Festival. This means the title game against St. John’s was the first time I talked myself into the Dutchmen being able to upset a powerful foe!
The records are incomplete for Jack McDonald’s first stint from 1936 through 1943 as well as the tenure of Jack Smith (1943-46).
Smith finished 27-32 in his three seasons while Mo Cassara finished 38-59 in his three seasons. Three coaches had one-season tenures lasting at Hofstra. McDonald went 18-6 in the lone season of his second stint in 1946-47 while Joe Harrington went 14-14 in 1979-80 and Mike Farrelly went 13-10 in 2020-21.
FIT TO BE TIED
The Dutchmen and Quinnipiac were tied 31-31 at the half last Sunday. This is the first time the Dutchmen have been tied at the half this season and the first time since Mar. 8, when they were tied 28-28 with Monmouth on their way to suffering a 65-60 loss in the second round of the CAA Tournament. The Dutchmen are now 1-0 in games in which they were tied at the half this season (obvs) and 17-11 in such games dating back to the 2002-03 season.
STAYING SINGLE (DIGITS)
The Dutchmen never led by more than nine nor trailed by more than four last Sunday. This is the fourth time this season the Dutchmen and their opponent have been within single digits of each other the entire game. The Dutchmen fell to Central Florida 82-74 in the season opener Nov. 3 and lost to Temple 81-76 on Nov. 19 before beating La Salle 63-58 on Nov. 28.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Freshman Preston Edmead was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season after scoring 18 points — all in the second half — while adding four assists, one rebound and one steal in last Sunday’s win over Quinnipiac. The four Rookie of the Week honors lead the CAA this season and are the most by a Hofstra player since Amar’e Marshall won it four times during the 2022-23 season.
WINNING THE NON-CONFERENCE SEASON
With last Sunday’s win, the Dutchmen finished the non-conference season 9-4. This marks the 12th straight season in which the Dutchmen hit the CAA schedule with a winning record and the 18th time they’ve done so in 24 seasons in the CAA. (League games that were played in the middle of the non-conference schedule were not counted but are listed separately)
2004-05: 8-1 (.889) 1-0 CAA
2018-19: 10-3 (.769)
2005-06: 6-2 (.750) 2-0 CAA
2008-09: 8-3 (.727) 1-0 CAA
2025-26: 9-4 (.692)
2019-20: 9-4 (.692)
2014-15: 9-4 (.692)
2015-16: 8-4 (.667)
2006-07: 7-4 (.636) 1-0 CAA
2024-24: 8-5 (.615)
2021-22: 8-5 (.615)
2016-17: 8-5 (.615)
2017-18: 7-5 (.583)
2009-10: 7-5 (.583) 1-0 CAA
2020-21: 4-3 (.571)
2010-11: 6-5 (.545) 1-0 CAA
2023-23: 7-6 (.538)
2022-23: 7-6 (.538)
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required, click here for options) as well as on MSG Networks if you are in the New York area and/or somehow paid one billion dollars (approx) for the Gotham Sports app. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
HOFSTRA AND THE CAA
As noted earlier, this is Hofstra’s 25th season in the CAA. That’s a quarter-century! The 25-year tenure in the CAA is the longest Hofstra has been in one league in Division I and tied for the third-longest tenure among current CAA members with fellow former North Atlantic Conference/America East members Drexel and Towson (farewell, Delaware) behind only William & Mary (a founding member in 1982-83) and UNC Wilmington (1984-85).
The Flying Dutchmen spent 20 years in the ECC counting the 1992-93 season, when Hofstra played an independent schedule but was still considered a member of the ECC along with Central Connecticut State. In between exiting the ECC and joining the CAA, the Flying Dutchmen spent seven years in the North Atlantic Conference/America East.
WE’RE NUMBER ONE! (by at least one specially selected statistical measure)
The Flying Dutchmen have won 243 regular season league games since joining the CAA, which is the most among the five longest-tenured members of the league. In addition, their .570 winning percentage in CAA games is also tops amongst the six schools that have been in the league since at least 2005-06, when Northeastern joined the CAA.
HOFSTRA: 243-183 (.570)
Northeastern 190-160 (.543)
UNCW: 222-195 (.532)
Drexel: 219-202 (.520)
Towson: 185-239 (.436)
W&M: 181-241 (.429)
In addition, the Dutchmen have won 244 games since start of the 2013-14 season, the first season of the Joe Mihalich/Mike Farrelly/Speedy Claxton era. That’s the second-most wins for any school (just behind Charleston) that’s spent any time in the CAA over the last 12-plus seasons (‘sup James Madison and Delaware).
Charleston 247
HOFSTRA 244
UNC Wilmington 229
Towson 224
Stony Brook 221
Monmouth 204
James Madison 203
Delaware 193
Northeastern 192
William & Mary 192
Campbell 190
Hampton 182
Elon 171
Drexel 170
North Carolina A&T 144
THE DUTCHMEN IN CAA OPENERS
The Dutchmen are 13-11 in the first game of league play since joining the CAA in 2001-02. They fell to William & Mary, 74-56, in the 2024-25 opener on Jan. 2
The Dutchmen are playing Campbell in the CAA opener for the first time, which makes sense since the Camels are just beginning their third season in the league. Campbell is 1-1 in CAA openers with a 76-62 loss to North Carolina A&T on Jan. 4, 2024 and a 57-54 win over Drexel on Jan. 2, 2025.
Tonight marks the first time the Dutchmen are opening CAA play before New Year’s Day since Dec. 29, 2022, when they beat Delaware 87-73. This is also the first time the Dutchmen are opening CAA play on a Monday since way back on Jan. 7, 2013, when they upset RJ Hunter and Georgia State, 52-50. But Ron Hunter was a good enough sport to do this with me afterward!
SCOUTING CAMPBELL
The Camels, under first-year head coach John Andrzejek, are 6-7 this season after ending their non-conference schedule by beating Green Bay, 102-79, last Tuesday. Imagine how lopsided the win would have been if Doug Gottlieb hadn’t quit his sports radio job! This is the first head coaching job for Andrzejek, who was on the staff at Florida when the Gators won the national title in April.
The Dutchmen and Camels had no common opponents in non-conference play.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish tied for eighth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked a CAA-best 106th at KenPom.com. That’s 56 spots higher than they were to open the season. The Camels, who were picked to finish seventh, are ranked 221st, 18 spots lower higher than their preseason ranking but a whopping 29 spots higher than prior to the rout of Green Bay.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank third in the CAA in offensive efficiency (111.3 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (104.7 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 67.7 possessions per 40 minutes, the eighth-most in the league. The Camels rank seventh in the CAA in offensive efficiency (106.5 points per 100 possessions) and eighth in defensive efficiency (111.8 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 71.8 possessions per 40 minutes, the second-most in the league.
The Camels return four players from last year’s team, which quite frankly seems like a lot between the portal and the coaching change. (Flip side: They lost their best player, Colby Duggan, to Charleston)
Graduate student D.J. Smith, who began his career with two seasons at Little Rock and one year apiece at Bowling Green and Robert Morris, leads Campbell with 18.5 points per game. Sophomore Dovydas Butka, who spent last season at Pepperdine, ranks second on the Camels with 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Sophomore Jeremiah Johnson, who played last season at Green Bay, is averaging 12.5 points per game. He is also the reigning CAA Player of the Week after he scored 27 points against Green Bay. Why can’t Green Bay get guys like Jeremiah Johnson? Junior Chris Fields Jr., who played the last two seasons at Norfolk State, is averaging 12.3 points and a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game. Returning senior Cam Gregory, who opened his career with two seasons at Saint Francis (PA) before transferring to Campbell prior to last year, leads the team with 3.0 assists per game.
KenPom.com predicts an 82-71 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 8 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 9-2 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. CAMPBELL
Hofstra is 0-3 against Campbell in a series that began when the Camels joined the CAA during the 2023-24 campaign. The Dutchmen were swept last season, when they squandered an 18-point first half lead in a 69-67 overtime loss at the Arena on Jan. 25 before Campbell rolled to a 75-52 win a week later. The Camels won the first meeting between the teams, 69-68, on Jan. 13, 2024. So the first to 69 always wins! Heh. The three-game losing streak is the longest for Hofstra to open a series against a new conference rival (so i.e. nobody from the ECC or NAC) since the Dutchmen opened 0-8 against UNC Wilmington.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Not the soup we needed at this house over the weekend bias! (An oldie but goodie but also unfortunately relevant)
National champion bias! (Andrzejek got hired before the NCAA Tournament, so that had to be a pretty wild couple weeks)
You’re way too smart to be a college basketball coach bias! (Andrzejek graduated from Columbia with a degree in philosophy in two-and-a-half years. I needed five years and a summer class to graduate with a degree that included a philosophy minor)
