Is this season reality or just a glorious Charlie-esque dream on the beach for the Flying Dutchmen?
From thrice as nice to fantastic four? The Flying Dutchmen, officially off to their best CAA start of the decade, will look to extend the good times this afternoon, when they host resurgent Monmouth.
As will hopefully become the routine once again the rest of the season, I ran down the boilerplate material from Thursday afternoon’s win over Towson in last night’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from that victory as well as a preview of the Hawks. Enjoy!
THRICE AS NICE
The Dutchmen are 3-0 in CAA play for the first time since 2018-19, when they enjoyed a program-best 9-0 start, and the fifth time since joining the CAA in 2001-02. The Dutchmen, who are joined in the unbeaten ranks by UNC Wilmington (4-0) and Charleston (3-0), are amongst multiple teams starting 3-0 for just the second time. The Dutchmen raced out to a 5-0 start in 2006-07, when Old Dominion started 3-0, Drexel opened 4-0 and VCU surged to an 11-0 start.
SEVEN AND STREAKING
The Dutchmen earned their seventh straight win Thursday. This is the Dutchmen’s longest winning streak since they won 12 in a row from Jan. 19 through Mar. 5, 2023. Per Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov, this is also the 33rd winning streak of seven games or longer in program history.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
Joshua DeCady and Preston Edmead combined to limit the all-CAA combo of Tyler Tejada and Dylan Williamson to just 26 points on 8-of-39 shooting Thursday afternoon. That’s 20.5 percent shooting from the field from a duo who are combining for 31.1 points per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the field. And they were averaging 42.4 percent from the field entering Thursday. Edmead was particularly effective on Williamson, who shot 2-of-19. Per StatHead, that’s the fewest field goals by a Division I player hoisting at least 19 attempts since last Jan. 24, when Long Island University’s Malachi Davis was 2-of-21 in a 74-64 loss to Saint Francis (PA).
CRUZ-IN
Once again, this is getting repetitive, but we’re not complaining. Cruz Davis continued his impressive season Thursday afternoon, when he finished with 32 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Davis has scored in double figures in all 16 games this season — a career-long streak and the longest streak by a Hofstra player since Tyler Thomas ended his collegiate career by scoring in double figures in 25 straight games from Dec. 9, 2023 through Mar. 11, 2024. Davis has scored in double figures in 37 of the 48 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 24-13 when Davis scores in double figures.
CRUZ COOKS UP A THIRTY-BURGER
As you may have gathered by now, Cruz Davis scored 32 points in Thursday’s win. It was the second 30-point effort of the season for Davis, who scored a career-high 36 points in the 80-73 upset win over Pittsburgh on Dec. 7. Davis is the 17th Hofstra player to record at least two 30-point games since the start of the 1991-92 season and the first since Tyler Thomas (five 30-point games) and Darlinstone Dubar (two 30-point games) closed out their careers with the Dutchmen in 2023-24. Not too shabby.
CRUZ COLLECTS HIS FREEBIES
Cruz Davis cleaned up at the free throw line Thursday afternoon, when he was 13-of-14. The 13 free throws were the most for a Hofstra player since Jean Aranguren went 14-of-19 from the line in a 77-68 loss to Northeastern on Feb. 6. Davis, who was perfect from the line until missing his penultimate attempt with 50 seconds left, also finished with the best single-game free throw percentage (minimum 14 attempts) since Justin Wright-Foreman went a perfect 15-of-15 from the line in an 83-76 loss to UNC Wilmington on Feb. 18, 2017.
PRESTO!
Preston Edmead continued the most impressive freshman season by a Hofstra player this decade Thursday afternoon, when he scored 18 points while pulling down a career-high seven rebounds and adding two assists. Edmead has scored in double figures in 13 games this season, the most double-figure scoring efforts by a Hofstra freshman since Eli Pemberton scored in double figures 21 times in 31 games in 2016-17. Edmead’s 231 points (14.4 ppg) through 16 games are two more than Antoine Agudio had through 16 games during his freshman season in 2004-05 and the exact same number Speedy Claxton had through 16 games during his freshman season in 1996-97. Again, pretty good company.
PRESTON VS. SPEEDY
Speaking of which…Preston Edmead’s first 16 games as a true freshman point guard have been just as impressive as Speedy Claxton’s first 16 games as a true freshman point guard way back in 1996-97.
Speedy Claxton: 14.4 points per game/2.9 assists per game/4.6 rebounds per game
Preston Edmead: 14.4 ppg/4.4 apg/2.3 rpg
Pretty quirky and neat!
PRESTON ON THE REBOUND
Preston Edmead set a career-high with seven rebounds Thursday afternoon. Edmead has at least six rebounds in each of the last two games after collecting six rebounds in a game just once in his first 14 games.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov had his most productive game of the season Thursday afternoon, when he finished with 17 points while going 3-of-8 from 3-point land. The 17 points were the most for Plotnikov since he collected a career-high 23 points in a 77-55 win over North Carolina A&T last Mar. 7 while the three 3-pointers tied a season-high set twice previously against Division II Molloy on Nov. 10 and matched Dec. 13 against Syracuse. Plotnikov has scored in double figures seven times this season, which matches his career-high total set in each of the previous two seasons.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
Silas Sunday had another solid game Thursday afternoon, when he scored two points and tied a season-high with nine rebounds before fouling out in 20 minutes. Sunday hit his first field goal attempt with 12:26 left in the first half before missing his second and final attempt with 14:01 remaining in the game. That miss snapped a streak of nine straight made field goals for Sunday dating back to the 74-66 win over Quinnipiac on Dec. 21. Wow! Spanning two years! The nine rebounds were the most for Sunday since he had nine boards Dec. 3 in the 72-70 loss to Columbia. Sunday has scored in all 16 games this season, six more than his previous career-long streak set from Jan. 9-Feb. 8, 2025.
VICTORY!
Junior newcomer Victory Onuetu continued to offer intrigue Thursday afternoon, when he finished with four points and seven rebounds before fouling out in 19 minutes. Onuetu has collected at least seven rebounds five of the last six games and 10 times in 16 games overall this season.
DECADY’S DOMINANT DEFENSE
Alliteration! Joshua DeCady had a classic much better than the boxscore game Thursday afternoon, when he finished with three points on 1-of-4 shooting along with two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. DeCady clamped down on reigning CAA Player of the Year Tyler Tejada, who scored 22 points but was 6-of-20 from the field. The offensive contributions were timely for DeCady, who hit his first jumper of the game 1:22 into the first half after going 0-for-7 from the field in last Saturday’s 70-67 win over Drexel. In addition, both of DeCady’s assists resulted in 3-pointers for German Plotnikov. The two assists tied a season- and career-high for DeCady, who also had two assists last Saturday. The Dutchmen are 7-0 since DeCady moved into the starting lineup Dec. 7. He has scored in 13 of 16 games this season after scoring in 14 of 25 games last season.
JAEDEN JUMPS INTO ACTION
Freshman Jaeden Roberts played in his seventh straight game Thursday afternoon, when he had two points and one rebound over three minutes. Roberts collected his basket during the decisive 13-3 run that ended the first half. The three minutes were the fewest for Roberts since he logged two minutes at the end of a 77-60 win over Pennsylvania on Nov. 30. Roberts has 53 points while averaging 11.4 minutes per game over the last seven games — all Hofstra wins — after scoring just five points in three appearances spanning 11 minutes over the first nine games of the season.
ALEX’S BLOCK PARTY
With Victory Onuetu and Silas Sunday both fouling out Thursday, graduate student Alex Tsynkevich played the final 52 seconds, when he pulled down a rebound and recorded a block. The block was the first at the Division I level for Tsynkevich, who played 26 games for Alcorn State during the 2023-24 season.
CLUB TRILLION FOR REAVES
Graduate student Joshua Aaron Reaves appeared twice in the final 1:09 of the first half Thursday afternoon, when he didn’t record a stat. The action was the first for Reaves since Dec. 29, when he played the final 1:04 of the 86-72 win over Campbell.
BANGED-UP BIGGIE
Senior Biggie Patterson didn’t play Thursday afternoon after suffering what appeared to be a knee injury last Saturday, when he collided with Jaeden Roberts underneath the basket in the first half of the 70-67 win over Drexel. Patterson is averaging 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in six games as a reserve — all wins for the Dutchmen — after averaging 10.3 points and 5.1 rebounds over the first nine games, all as a starter.
OVER THE AIR
This afternoon’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.
SCOUTING MONMOUTH
The Hawks, under 15th-year head coach King Rice, are 8-8 this season and 2-1 in CAA play following an 81-70 win over William & Mary on Thursday night. It was the second straight upset victory for Monmouth, which beat Towson 62-48 last Saturday.
The Dutchmen and Hawks had three common opponents during non-league play. The Dutchmen beat La Salle (63-58 on Nov. 28), Syracuse (70-69 on Dec. 13) and Quinnipiac (74-66 on Dec. 21), all of whom defeated Monmouth. In CAA play, both teams beat Towson (obvs) while the Dutchmen beat Campbell, who knocked off the Hawks in the latter’s league opener on Dec. 31. This is the first time this season the Dutchmen and a CAA foe have common opponents in league play.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish tied for eighth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked a CAA-best and season-high 97th at KenPom.com. That’s 65 spots higher than they were to open the season and the highest they’ve been since Dec. 9, 2023, when they were 95th entering the game against Saint Louis. The Hawks, who were picked to finish sixth, are ranked 202nd — the same spot as their preseason ranking but also 40 spots higher than their season-low entering a game against Lehigh on Dec. 21 and 38 spots higher than their ranking prior to the win over Towson.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank second in the CAA in offensive efficiency (113.7 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (105.6 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 66.5 possessions per 40 minutes, the ninth-most in the league. The Hawks rank eighth in the CAA in offensive efficiency (104.8 points per 100 possessions) and fifth in defensive efficiency (108.1 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 66.8 possessions per 40 minutes, the seventh-most in the league.
The Hawks return a whopping nine players from last year’s team. Junior Jason Rivera-Torres, a newcomer who opened his career with one season apiece at Vanderbilt and San Francisco, leads Monmouth with 15.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while ranking second with 3.1 assists per game. Sophomore Justin Ray is averaging 11.8 points per game while freshman Stefanos Spartalis is averaging 11.5 points per game. Senior Jack Collins, a preseason all-CAA second team selection who has spent his entire career at Monmouth, leads the Hawks with 5.4 assists per game and ranks second with 5.5 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts a 75-66 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 11-3 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. MONMOUTH
Hofstra is 8-9 all-time against Monmouth in a series that began in 1983-84. The Hawks took the series lead last season, when they won the lone regular season meeting between the teams by overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit in a 68-62 win at the Arena on Feb. 20 before ending the Dutchmen’s season with a 65-60 victory in the second round of the CAA Tournament on Mar. 8. Monmouth has won three straight games against the Dutchmen dating back to an 81-78 victory in New Jersey on Jan. 27, 2004. That followed a seven-game winning streak in the series for the Dutchmen.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
You ended our season last year bias! (Sad but true)
Jack Collins is older than your school bias! (Not true but it seems that way for any four-year player these days)
Your student newspaper is older than ours bias! (True but in our defense, Hofstra was founded in 1935, two years after The Outlook started publishing)
Charlie and the Waitress had a magical night at the Jersey shore bias! (Or maybe they didn’t, he imagines a lot of things)
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