Because when I think of a school nicknamed Aggies, I think of Farm Aid and John Cougar Mellencamp or just John Mellencamp and his Indiana Hoosiers won the national championship in football this week and I DEFINITELY didn't post this because I think things are crumbling down for the Flying Dutchmen!
From the terrible twos to the even more terrible threes? Let’s hope not! The Flying Dutchmen will look to snap their first losing streak in more than two months tonight, when they begin a southern swing by visiting North Carolina A&T.
As will hopefully become the routine once again the rest of the season, I ran down the boilerplate material from Saturday afternoon’s loss to ELO (complete with explanation of that school’s new name!) in last night’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from that loss as well as a preview of the Aggies. Enjoy!
WE’RE STREAKING (in the other way)
The Dutchmen, who fell to Stony Brook 76-71 last Thursday (sigh), have lost two straight games for the first time since Nov. 3-7, when they opened the season with losses to Central Florida and Iona. This is the longest into a season the Dutchmen have gone before suffering a second set of back-to-back losses since the 2021-22 campaign, when they lost three in a row from Nov. 19-22 and then dropped two straight from Jan. 29-Feb. 3.
DRY JANUARY
With last Saturday afternoon’s loss, the Dutchmen fell to 3-2 this month and dropped to 11-11 in January over the last three years. They’ve lost consecutive games in January once in each of the last three years. They were 19-6 in January from 2021 through 2023, a span in which they had just one losing streak (a three-game skid from Jan. 7-15, 2021, in the midst of the condensed pandemic season).
THE DEFENSE RESTED
The Dutchmen struggled on defense Saturday, when they gave up 89 points — the most points they’ve surrendered in a game this season and the most points they’ve surrendered since Dec. 12, 2023, when then-no. 21 Duke beat the Dutchmen, 89-68.
STAYING SINGLE (DIGITS)
The Dutchmen never led by more than seven nor trailed by more than eight last Saturday. This is the sixth 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, beating Quinnipiac 74-66 on Dec 21 and defeating Monmouth, 67-64, in overtime on Jan. 10.
CRUZ-IN
Cruz Davis continued his impressive season Saturday afternoon, when he scored 33 points, including 28 in the second half. The 30-point game was the third of the season for Davis, the most by a Hofstra player since Tyler Thomas had five 30-point efforts during the 2023-24 season. Davis has scored in double figures in all 19 games this season — a career-long streak and the longest streak by a Hofstra player since 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 40 of the 51 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 25-15 when Davis scores in double figures.
SECOND-HALF CRUZ
This is starting to become a thing. Cruz Davis, who scored all 18 of his points in the second half of last Thursday’s 76-71 loss to Stony Brook, scored 28 of his 33 points in the second half Saturday afternoon. The 28 points are the most in the second half by a Hofstra player since Tyler Thomas scored 33 of his 40 points in the second half of a 97-92 overtime win over High Point in the Gulf Coast Showcase championship game on Nov. 22, 2023. Thomas, who finished with 40 points, didn’t score in the overtime. Isn’t it ironic? No, it’s coincidence.
DECADY DANCE
Joshua DeCady bounced back in an impressive way Saturday from a rough game against Stony Brook fewer than 48 hours earlier. DeCady scored a career-high 21 points Saturday while going a career-best 4-of-8 from 3-point land and 7-of-10 from the free throw line. The 21 points easily broke DeCady’s previous high of 15 points, set twice, most recently in an 86-72 win over Campbell on Dec. 29. Not only did the four 3-pointers set a career-high, they were one fewer than he had in his entire CAREER before Saturday. He entered Saturday shooting just 5-of-33 (15.2 percent) from beyond the arc in his first 43 games. The seven free throws made were three more than his previous best, set twice, most recently in an 82-78 loss to Central Florida on Nov. 3. All that after DeCady scored three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field and 0-of-2 from the line while playing just 14 minutes and sitting most of the second half in the 76-71 loss to Stony Brook.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
Silas Sunday continued to fare well filling whatever role asked of him Saturday, when, with Victory Onuetu limited to fewer than five minutes by foul trouble, Sunday scored eight points while setting career-highs with 15 rebounds over 31 minutes. The 15 rebounds and 31 minutes broke previous single-game bests of 11 rebound and 29 minutes, set twice before in the same games — a 60-42 loss to Temple on Dec. 15, 2024 and a 67-64 overtime win over Monmouth on Jan. 10. Quirky! The eight-point effort also maintained a trend of solid offensive games for Sunday, who has scored at least eight points seven times in 19 games this season after doing so just six times in his first 65 games with the Dutchmen over the previous two seasons.
PRESTO!
Preston Edmead experienced a rare hiccup Saturday afternoon, when he scored nine points on 3-of-9 shooting while adding four assists and two rebounds. The nine-point performance ended a streak of seven straight double-digit scoring efforts by Edmead, which was the longest streak of double-digit scoring efforts by a Hofstra freshman since Charles Jenkins scored in double figures in the final 15 games of first season in 2007-08. That’s both some really good company and a really long time ago. Edmead’s 16 double-figure scoring efforts are the most by a Hofstra freshman since Eli Pemberton scored in double figures 21 times in 31 games in 2016-17. Edmead’s 286 points (15.1 ppg) through 19 games are three more than Antoine Agudio had through 19 games during his freshman season in 2004-05 and fur more than Speedy Claxton had through 19 games during his freshman season in 1996-97. Once again, pretty good company.
PRESTON VS. SPEEDY
Speaking of which…Preston Edmead’s first 19 games as a true freshman point guard have been just as impressive as Speedy Claxton’s first 19 games as a true freshman point guard way back in 1996-97.
Speedy Claxton: 14.8 points per game/2.9 assists per game/4.8 rebounds per game
Preston Edmead: 15.1 ppg/4.2 apg/2.8 rpg
Pretty quirky and neat!
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov had another quiet game offensively Saturday afternoon, when he finished with six points on 2-of-5 shooting — including 2-of-4 from 3-point land — while adding three rebounds, one assist and one steal over 33 minutes. Plotnikov has 21 points on 6-of-28 shooting — including 6-of-21 from beyond the arc and 0-of-7 from inside the arc — over the last three games after scoring a season-high 17 points in the 78-67 win over Towson on Jan. 8. He has scored in a career-high 28 straight games dating back to last Feb. 8.
JAEDEN JUMPS INTO ACTION
Freshman Jaeden Roberts, who didn’t play against Stony Brook last Thursday, returned to the rotation Saturday, when he had five points and three assists over 14 minutes. The only reserve to play more than Roberts was center Silas Sunday, who logged 31 minutes. Roberts has 60 points while averaging 12.1 minutes per game over the last nine games in which he’s played after scoring just five points in three appearances spanning 11 minutes over the first nine games of the season. In a quirky bit of, uhh, quirkiness, Saturday was the first time this season Roberts has appeared in a loss. The Dutchmen won each of his first 11 appearances.
WHERE THERE’S A WILLS THERE’S A WAY
A.J. Wills was once again a late-game Microwave GOOGLE IT CRAIN Saturday, when he finished with three points and one assist over eight minutes. Wills was scoreless over four first-half minutes before he drained a 3-pointer on his only shot of the second half to pull the Dutchmen within 78-76 with 3:02 left. Wills has 23 points over the last four games in which he’s played, including 16 in the second half or overtime, after scoring just 28 points in his 10 appearances.
VICTORY VANQUISHED
Had to change up the headline after Victory Onuetu’s bizarre game Saturday, when he was scoreless with two rebounds and one steal before fouling out in fewer than five minutes. Onuetu picked up two fouls in the first 2:06 (before yours truly even took his seat) and sat the rest of the first half before getting two more fouls in the first 91 seconds of the second half. He re-entered with seven minutes left but fouled out just 1:02 later. The four-plus minutes were obviously the fewest Onuetu has logged this season and the fewest for a Hofstra player before fouling out since Joshua DeCady fouled out in four minutes during a 90-76 win over Iona on Nov. 8, 2024. Onuetu is also one of eight Division I players this season to foul out in five minutes or fewer and the only starter to do so, Quirky! Also quirky: Two players fouled out in five minutes or fewer in MAAC action Monday, when Iona’s Khalil Badru and Sacred Heart’s Fallou Gueve made their quick exits.
CLUB TRILLION FOR TSYNKEVICH
Graduate student Alex Tsynkevich, the third member of the Dutchmen’s center rotation, didn’t record a stat while playing four first-half minutes due to Victory Onuetu’s foul trouble. Tsynkevich is the second Hofstra player to post a Club Trillion line in at least four minutes and the first since A.J. Wills did so over four minutes in an 81-73 loss to Iona on Nov. 7. The appearance was the first for Tsynkevich since he played a minute in the 78-67 win over Towson on Jan. 8 and his seventh appearance overall this season.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required, click here for options). Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA A&T
The Aggies, under third-year head coach Monte Ross (hey that name sounds familiar!), are 7-10 overall and 0-6 in CAA play following an 82-61 loss to Hampton on Monday night. North Carolina A&T is the only team in the CAA with fewer than two league wins.
The Dutchmen and Aggies had no common opponents during non-league play. In CAA play, both teams have lost to Stony Brook and ELO.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish tied for eighth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked a CAA-best 109th at KenPom.com even after the consecutive losses to Stony Brook and ELO. That’s 53 spots higher than they were to open the season but 12 spots lower than their season-high entering the Jan. 10 game against Monmouth. The Aggies, who were picked to finish 13th and last, are ranked 311th, last in the CAA but 42 spots higher than their preseason ranking and 10 spots lower than their season-high entering Monday’s game.
Now that we’re one-third of the way through the conference season, we’ll use the conference-only offensive and defensive stats at KenPom.com. And according to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank second in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (117.3 points per 100 possessions) and eighth in defensive efficiency (111.7 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 63.6 possessions per 40 minutes, the 12th-most in league play. The Aggies rank seventh in the CAA in offensive efficiency (107.5 points per 100 possessions) and 12th in defensive efficiency (120.7 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 69.2 possessions per 40 minutes, the fifth-most in league play.
The Aggies return four players from last year’s team, though the only one to see the court this season is junior Bryson Ogletree, who is averaging 5.6 points per game in his second season at North Carolina A&T after transferring from South Plains College, a junior college. Redshirt freshman Lewis Walker, who didn’t play last season at Massachusetts, leads the Aggies with 17.6 points per game and ranks second with 5.2 rebounds per game. Junior Trent Middleton Jr., who opened his career with a season apiece at Ball State and Delaware, is averaging 11.8 points and a team-high 2.9 assists per game. Junior Zamoku Weluche-Ume, who played his first two seasons at George Washington, is averaging 10.9 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game. Redshirt junior Luroen Walker, a transfer from Division II Mount Olive and the brother of Lewis Walker, is averaging 16.6 points per game but has missed the last nine games due to injury.
KenPom.com predicts an 80-71 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 9 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 11-6 against the spread this season after failing to cover in their last three games and four times in the last five contests.
ALL-TIME VS. NORTH CAROLINA A&T
Hofstra is 4-1 all-time against North Carolina A&T. The Dutchmen won both games against the Aggies in back-to-back fashion last season, when Jean Aranguren (20 points, nine rebounds) just missed a double-double in a 70-49 win at the Arena in the regular season finale on Mar. 1 before German Plotnikov scored a career-high 23 points in a wire-to-wire 77-55 victory in the first round of the CAA Tournament on Mar. 7. The series began Nov. 14, 2018, when Justin Wright-Foreman scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures in a 92-72 win at the Arena.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Intraconference transfers going both ways bias! (The Aggies picked up Trent Middleton Jr. from Delaware but lost Jahnathan Lamothe to UNC Wilmington)
Duncan Powell is STILL playing college basketball bias! (The world’s oldest-looking freshman for North Carolina A&T during the 2022-23 season is now the world’s oldest-looking senior for Providence during the 2025-26 season)
Does this count as a game in Pennsylvania bias! (I figure I can go to the Monte Ross was an assistant for four Pennsylvania schools well given the Dutchmen’s success there this season)
Nearly perfect Saint Joseph’s season bias! (Ross was an assistant at Saint Joseph’s when the Hawks went 30-2 and reached the Elite Eight in 2003-04, good Lord, how is that 22 years ago already?)
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