*walks away whistling*
A month ago tonight, the Flying Dutchmen were unbeaten in CAA play. Two weeks ago tonight, they fell under .500 in the league. Tonight, they visit Charleston to start a two-game road swing against the top two squads in the CAA as the hottest team in the circuit with three straight wins by an average of 18.3 points. If you can figure this out, you’re smarter than me. (Line forms to the left)
As will hopefully become the routine once again the rest of the season, I ran down the boilerplate material from Saturday afternoon’s win over Towson 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 Cougars. Enjoy!
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
We’re not quite at the sun will rise, I’ll have lunch and Preston Edmead will win CAA Rookie of the Week honors. But we’re close! Edmead won Rookie of the Week honors for the seventh time last week, when he racked up 36 points, 17 assists, 14 rebounds and just four turnovers in the wins over Northeastern and Towson. Edmead was especially impressive against Northeastern last Thursday, when he flirted with a triple-double by finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in an 80-63 win. He is one of just two freshmen this season to record at least 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a game — BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, the likely no. 1 pick in this June’s NBA Draft, posted a triple-double with 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the Cougars’ 109-81 win over Eastern Washington on Dec. 22 — and the first Hofstra freshman with such a line since Chaz Williams had 20 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in a 75-64 win over Drexel on Feb. 10, 2010. Hey! That’s 16 years and two days ago!
Edmead’s seven Rookie of the Week honors lead the league this season (obvs) and are tied for second-most since 2001-02, when the CAA began awarding the Rookie of the Week. William & Mary’s Omar Prewitt won the award seven ties during the 2014-15 season (ahhh!!!). Edmead is one Rookie of the Week honor shy of tying the school and league record set by Antoine Agudio during the 2004-05 season, when he, duh, won the Rookie of the Year.
(ALMOST) ANOTHER WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN
The Dutchmen trailed just once Saturday afternoon, when Towson took a 4-2 lead with 18:09 left in the first half. The Tigers’ 17-second lead marks the only time in the last three games the Dutchmen have played from behind. That’s the least amount of time the Dutchmen have trailed in a three-game span since Feb. 11-16, 2023, when they authored three straight wire-to-wire wins over Monmouth (86-57), Drexel (66-52) and Hampton (73-43).
ONE POSSESSION OBSESSION
Last Saturday also marked the first time the Dutchmen have trailed just once in a game since a 75-71 overtime win over Massachusetts on Nov. 16, 2024, when the Dutchmen fell behind 62-61 with 55 seconds left in regulation. Trailing only once in an overtime win and its in the final minute of regulation, now THAT’S quirky!
A HOT HALF
The Dutchmen raced out to a 46-20 halftime lead Saturday. It was the second-biggest halftime lead of the season for the Dutchmen, behind the 47-10 lead they took at halftime against Division III Old Westbury on Dec. 10, and their biggest halftime lead against a Division I opponent since Nov. 20, 2023, when the Dutchmen led Buffalo 55-26 at the half in a Gulf Coast Showcase game. The halftime lead Saturday was the biggest for the Dutchmen in a conference game since Mar. 5, 2023, when they led William & Mar 51-14 NICE FOOTBALL SCORE I SUPPOSE in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament.
THIRTY-SOMETHING
The Dutchmen opened up a pair of 31-point leads early in the second half last Saturday. The lead was their biggest of the season against a Division I foe and their biggest against a Division I foe since last Mar. 7, when they led by 32 points in the second half of a 77-55 win over North Carolina A&T in the first round of the CAA Tournament.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
The Dutchmen, led by Preston Edmead and Cruz Davis, did an impressive job again shutting down Towson’s Dylan Williamson, who was held to three points — all on free throws — while going 0-for-8 from the field, Williamson has just seven points against the Dutchmen this season on 2-of-27, including 0-of-9 from 3-point land.
STAYING (within) SINGLE (digits)
Since the Dutchmen won again Saturday, that means this stat remains intact! The Dutchmen (16-9) have yet to lose a game this season by more than eight points. They are one of just 12 Division I schools nationwide without a double-digit loss this season — and one of two in the CAA, where UNC Wilmington (19-3) has yet to lose a game by more than nine points. The Dutchmen and Seahawks are two of just five mid-majors who have yet to suffer a double-digit loss and the CAA is the only mid-major league with two such teams.
HOFSTRA (16-9)
Miami Ohio (24-0)
Saint Louis (23-1)
Stephen F. Austin (22-3)
UNC Wilmington (20-4)
And I guess here are the other teams yet to suffer a double-digit loss:
Arizona (23-1)
Connecticut (23-2)
Duke (22-2)
Michigan (23-1)
Nebraska (21-3)
Houston (22-2)
Florida (18-6)
This is pretty good company for the Dutchmen, UNC Wilmington and the CAA in general. The only other leagues with multiple teams who have yet to suffer a double-digit loss are the Big 10 and Big 12.
Belmont and Clemson fell off the list over the last three nights — but just barely. Belmont lost to Bradley, 95-84, in overtime Monday while Clemson lost to Virginia Tech, 76-66, on Wednesday. And Nebraska stays on the list despite trailing by TWENTY-TWO points Tuesday night, when the Cornhuskers stormed back to take Purdue to overtime and actually led in the extra session before suffering an 80-77 loss.
RUNNING HOT AND COLD AND HOT
There is a very good case to be made no team in the nation has run hotter and colder this season than the Dutchmen. As you no doubt know by now, their eight-game winning streak from Dec. 7 through Jan. 10 was followed by a five-game losing streak from Jan. 15-29 which in turn has been followed by a three-game winning streak that dates back to Jan. 31. Wow! Spanning two months! If my research is correct, the Dutchmen are the only Division I team with a winning streak lasting at least eight games and a losing streak lasting at least five games.
Only two other schools — Northern Iowa and Northern Colorado, hmm, should we add a direction to Hofstra — have a winning streak and a losing streak lasting at least five games each. Ironically, in that its a coincidence, both schools are currently on another potentially lengthy winning streak. Northern Iowa, which won six straight and lost five straight earlier and was the first team this season to fall below .500 in league play after opening 4-0 or better, has won three in a row entering tonight’s game against Belmont (hey, there they are again!). Northern Colorado, which also won six straight and lost five straight earlier, has won four consecutive games entering tonight’s clash against Sacramento State.
BIGGIE’S BIG GAME
Talk about an easy segue into the individual news and notes! Biggie Patterson continued his hot and cold season by running red-hot last Saturday afternoon, when he scored a game-high 20 points off the bench while adding three rebounds in 27 minutes. The 20 points were one shy of Patterson’s career-high, set in a 66-64 loss to Charleston on Jan 29. He had just six points combined in the next two games. Patterson has scored in double figures 11 times in the 21 games in which he’s played but has scored six points or fewer in each of the other 10 games. Now that’s the quirkiness we like around here! Patterson returned to a reserve role Saturday for the first time since Jan, 3 as the Dutchmen improved to 7-0 when he comes off the bench. The Dutchmen are 7-7 when Patterson starts.
MVP OFF THE BENCH
Biggie Patterson became the second Hofstra reserve in the last three games to earn KenPom.com MVP honors Saturday, when he (double checks just to be sure) scored 20 points over 27 minutes. Joshua Aaron Reaves earned KenPom.com MVP honors on Jan. 31, when he had 17 points over 34 minutes off the bench in a 73-57 win over Monmouth. A Hofstra reserve won KenPom.com MVP honors just twice in the previous three-plus seasons. Warren Williams earned the award twice during the 2022-23 season, when he had 18 points and seven rebounds in a 77-57 win over Monmouth on Kan. 11, 2023 before he flirted with a double-double (19 points, nine rebounds) in an 84-52 win over Northeastern on Feb. 25, 2023. Quirky!
TWENTY OFF THE BENCH
With his 20-point performance off the bench Saturday afternoon, Biggie Patterson became the second Hofstra reserve this season to score 20 points. Freshman Jaeden Roberts collected a career-high 20 points in the 79-78 loss to North Carolina A&T on Jan. 22. This is the first time multiple Hofstra players have scored 20 points off the bench in the same season since Omar Silverio (three times) and Jalen Ray (once) combined for four such efforts during the 2021-22 campaign.
PRESTO!
Preston Edmead continued the most impressive freshman season by a Hofstra player this decade Saturday afternoon, when he flirted with a double-double by finishing with 13 points and a career-high nine assists to go along with five rebounds. Edmead previously had eight assists in a game three times, including each of the preceding two games against Monmouth and Northeastern. The nine assists are tied for the most by a Hofstra player this season, matching the mark set by Cruz Davis in the 70-69 win over Syracuse on Dec. 13, and are the most by a Hofstra freshman since Chaz Williams had 10 assists in an 87-74 win over Georgia State on Feb. 27, 2010. Edmead has scored in double figures in 21 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 391 points (15.6 ppg) through 25 games are 40 more than Charles Jenkins had through 25 games during his freshman season in 2007-08, 22 more than Antoine Agudio had through 25 games during his freshman season in 2004-05 and 15 more than Speedy Claxton had through 25 games during his freshman season in 1996-97. Pretty good company. (Yes I finally added Jenkins to the group, not sure what took me so long there)
PRESTON VS. SPEEDY
Speaking of which…Preston Edmead’s first 25 games as a true freshman point guard have been just as impressive as Speedy Claxton’s first 25 games as a true freshman point guard way back in 1996-97.
Speedy Claxton: 15.0 points per game/3.2 assists per game/4.6 rebounds per game
Preston Edmead: 15.6 ppg/4.7 apg/3.4 rpg
Pretty quirky and neat!
PRESTON COLLECTING DIMES
Preston Edmead continued racking up the assists Saturday afternoon, when he, as you no doubt know by now, finished with a career-high nine assists. It was the fourth straight game in which Edmead collected at least seven assists after finishing with more than seven assists just once in the first 21 games of the season. Edmead has 32 assists over the last four games after collecting 22 assists in the first eight CAA games dating back to Dec. 29 and 33 assists in a 12-game span from Dec 10 through Jan. 24.
CRUZ-IN
Cruz Davis continued bouncing back from his mini-slump last Saturday afternoon, when he scored 16 points while adding five assists and five rebounds. Davis, whose career-long streak of 21 straight double-digit scoring efforts ended when he was held to seven points in the 66-64 loss to Charleston on Jan 29, has 56 points on 20-of-38 shooting from the field, including 7-of-16 from 3-point land, over his last three games after going 8-of-35 from the field, including 3-of-16 from beyond the arc, against William & Mary and Charleston from Jan. 24-29. Davis has scored in double figures in 45 of the 56 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 28-17 when Davis scores in double figures.
CRUZ-IN TOWARDS 1,000 POINTS
Cruz Davis inched closer to an impressive milestone Saturday afternoon, when his 16 points increased his total at Hofstra to 987 points. That leaves him (carries the one, drops the remainder) 13 points shy of joining the 1,000-point club. There are 42 members of the 1,000-point club at Hofstra, which was joined most recently by Darlinstone Dubar and Tyler Thomas during the 2023-24 season.
CRUZ GETS A REST
The lopsided win allowed Cruz Davis to grab some rare rest Saturday afternoon, when he played 33 minutes and sat the final 5:02. The 33 minutes were the fewest minutes Cruz has logged since Dec. 10, when he played 23 minutes in the 92-23 win oer Division III Old Westbury, and his fewest against a Division I opponent since Dec. 3, when he played 32 minutes in the 72-70 loss to Columbia.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
Silas Sunday had another solid game Saturday afternoon, when he had five points, eight rebounds and one block while combining with Joshua DeCady to defend Tyler Tejada over 24 minutes. Sunday has pulled down at least eight rebounds in a game seven times this season after recording eight or more rebounds just twice over his first three collegiate seasons The 24 minutes marked the most playing time for Sunday since Jan. 22, when he logged 29 minutes in a 79-78 loss to North Carolina A&T. Sunday has also scored in all 25 games this season after scoring in 26 of 33 games last season.
DECADY DANCE
Joshua DeCady had one of his patented all-around games Saturday afternoon, when he had six points, four rebounds and two steals while combining with Silas Sunday to defend Tyler Tejada over 24 minutes. The two-steal game was the sixth of the season for DeCady, who returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in his return from a two-game injury absences last Thursday. The Dutchmen are 9-4 when DeCady starts and 6-4 when he comes off the bench.
VICTORY!
Junior newcomer Victory Onuetu continued emerging from a lengthy slump Saturday afternoon, when he had eight points, five rebounds and two blocks in just 12 minutes off the bench. Onuetu has 14 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks over his last two games after collecting just eight points, 28 rebounds and three blocks over his previous five games from Jan. 17-31, a span in which he fouled out three times and was ejected once. Most of that production came Jan. 24, when Onuetu had eight points and a career-high 13 rebounds in an 89-82 loss to William & Mary.
JUST JOSH-IN
Graduate student Joshua Aaron Reaves remained a key member of the rotation Saturday afternoon, when he had three points, six rebounds, one steal and one block over 17 minutes off the bench. The six rebounds tied Reaves’ single-game high against a Division I opponent this season, first set Jan. 24 in an 89-82 loss to William & Mary. Reaves has 29 points and 17 rebounds over the last five games after recording just 10 points — all against non-Division I foes — over 71 minutes in his first 12 appearances of the season. He didn’t play in four straight games prior to his appearance against William & Mary on Jan. 24 and sat for 10 of the Dutchmen’s first 20 games.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov’s scoring streak ended at a career-high 31 straight games Saturday afternoon, when he was scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting while adding three rebounds, one assist and one block over 22 minutes. Plotnikov was last held scoreless in an 80-75 loss to Stony Brook on Feb. 8, 2025 — one day shy of one year ago last Saturday. Quirky. The 22 scoreless minutes were the second-most for a Hofstra player this season behind the 31 scoreless minutes Joshua DeCady logged in a 70-67 win over Drexel on Jan. 3.
ALEX ANSWERS THE CALL
Graduate student Alex Tsynkevich played in a season-high fourth straight game Saturday afternoon, when he had one rebound in four minutes. Tsynkevich has four points and seven reboudns in 27 minutes oer the last four games after collecting six points and 12 rebounds over 29 minutes in his first seven appearances of the season. The four consecutive games for Tsynkevich are his longest streak at the Division I level since he played in five straight games for Alcorn State from Feb. 5-19, 2024.
JAEDEN JUMPS INTO ACTION
Freshman Jaeden Roberts continued a quiet stretch Saturday afternoon, when he was scoreless on 0-of-2 shooting from the field and 0-of-1 from the free throw line over three minutes. Quirky: Roberts missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:03 left, but nobody realized it was a one-and-one until someone screamed at the four Towson players gathered along the sides of the lane. Roberts has scored two points over 11 minutes in the last four games after averaging 7.5 points over 13.6 minutes per game in the 11 previous games in which he played from Dec. 7 through Jan. 24. The Dutchmen are 14-4 in Roberts’ appearances.
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 CHARLESTON
The Cougars, under second-year head coach and Chris Mack (I still don’t know if he likes obscure members of the 1980s Cincinnati Reds, but we all know he likes obscure Super Bowl halftime shows), are 16-9 overall and 9-3 in CAA play after a 76-64 loss to UNC Wilmington on Monday night. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Charleston, which fell out of first place. I’d definitely respond in a rational manner if that happened to the Dutchmen.
The Dutchmen and Cougars had no common opponents during non-league play. In CAA play, both teams have beaten Drexel, Campbell and Northeastern and lost to Stony Brook. The Dutchmen swept Towson, who defeated Charleston, while losing to ELO, which was swept by Charleston, as well as William & Mary and North Carolina A&T, each of whom lost to the Cougars.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish tied for eighth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked a CAA-best 104th at KenPom.com. That’s 58 spots higher than they were to open the season, seven spots lower than their season-high entering the Jan. 10 game against Monmouth and six spots higher than prior to Saturday’s win over Towson. The Cougars, who were picked to finish third, are ranked 173d, which is 41 spots lower than their preseason ranking, 22 spots higher than their season-low entering the Dec. 21 game against Northern Kentucky and 10 spots lower than prior to Monday’s loss.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank first in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (115.4 points per 100 possessions) and seventh in defensive efficiency (106.9 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 64.7 possessions per 40 minutes, the 11th-most in league play. The Cougars rank seventh in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (109.8 points per 100 possessions) and sixth in defensive efficiency (105.6 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 69.9 possessions per 40 minutes, the fourth-most in league play.
The Cougars return three players from last year’s team. Graduate student Jylnn Counter, who opened his career with one season at Northern Oklahoma College-Enid, a junior college, before spending two seasons at IUPUI (yup, that one) and last season at Middle Tennessee State, leads Charleston with 16.8 points and 5.3 assists per game. Graduate student Connor Hickman, who played his first three seasons at Bradley before receiving a redshirt when he was limited to nine games last season at Cincinnati, is averaging 11.7 points per game. Junior Christian Reeves, who opened his career with two seasons at Duke and one season at Clemson, is averaging 10.5 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game. True freshman Martin Kalu is averaging 9.8 points per game while sophomore Chol Machot, who played last season at Florida SouthWestern State College, a junior college, is averaging 9.1 points and ranks second on the team with 6.0 rebounds per game. Junior Colby Duggan, a preseason all-CAA first team selection and a member of the all-CAA first team last year in his second season at Campbell, is averaging 9.9 points per game over the last 12 games after missing the first 13 games due to injury. Sophomore Mister Dean, a preseason all-CAA second team selection following his transfer from USC Upstate, played just three games before suffering a season-ending knee injury against Massachusetts on Nov. 21.
KenPom.com predicts a 74-72 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1 1/2-point underdogs. Another interesting spread in the, well, spreads. The Dutchmen are 14-9 against the spread this season after covering their last three games following a six-game spread losing streak.
THE CAA RACE
It’s still a little early to start wondering about the seeding implications of each game, but we need to take another moment to marvel at the crazy balance/parity in the CAA, where nine of the 13 teams have between five and seven wins. Again, how many teams have between five and seven wins?
UNC Wilmington 9-2
Charleston 9-3
Drexel 7-5
Stony Brook 7-5
HOFSTRA 7-5
Monmouth 6-5
Campbell 6-6
Hampton 6-6
William & Mary 6-6
Towson 5-7
ELO 5-7
Northeastern 2-10
North Carolina A&T 2-10
I broke the ties via records or further tiebreakers within each group. The 7-5 tie was broken by Drexel and Stony Brook both beating Charleston and Drexel beating Stony Brook. Not sure if that’s the correct way to go about things this early in the season, but regardless, there’s nine teams at 7-5, 6-5, 6-6 or 5-7! And there is a chance that EVERY team in that group will be at six or seven wins following tonight’s action. Wild.
ALL-TIME VS. CHARLESTON
Hofstra is 10-12 against Charleston in a series that began with the Cougars joining the CAA prior to the 2013-14 season. The Cougars hung on for a 66-64 win in the first meeting between the teams this season on Jan. 29, when the Dutchmen squandered an 11-point second-half lead but almost overcame an eight-point deficit in the final two minutes. Cruz Davis missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer and Preston Edmead missed a potential game-tying jumper in the last two seconds. The Cougars have won the last four games in the series since the Dutchmen’s 85-81 upset of then-no. 18 Charleston on Jan. 28, 2023.
Eleven of the last 15 games between the teams have been decided by six points or fewer. Charleston was the only team Hofstra didn’t face during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Your coach likes Kid Rock bias! (*Dennis Reynolds voice* Well it’s true)
Chris Mack is unbeaten at the Mack bias! (Hey we can take it as well as we dish it here)
Your Reeves spells his last name wrong bias! (Sorry but we’re taking Joshua Aaron Reaves’ side here)
Double losses in the CBI bias! (Jlynn Counter transferred from IUPUI, which beat the Dutchmen in the 2010 CBI, and Chris Mack started his playing career at Evansville, which beat the Dutchmen in the 2011 CBI, folks, we have SEEN some things)
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