Here's hoping the Flying Dutchmen are the ones emptying out ice cream trucks and stores around Wilmington early tonight.
Who could have imagined two weeks ago that today's game against UNC Wilmington could be so pivotal? Me. I never doubted anything. No sirree. If you read anything else, it was because I was hacked. Anyway, the red-hot Flying Dutchmen will look to continue surging and attempt to further solidify their grip on a top-four seed and double bye this afternoon, when they visit the defending CAA champs.
As will hopefully become the routine once again the rest of the season, I ran down the boilerplate material from Thursday night’s win over Charleston 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 Seahawks. Enjoy!
WE’RE STREAKING AGAIN (in the good way)
The Dutchmen earned their fourth straight win Thursday night. It’s the second winning streak of four games or longer this season for the Dutchmen, who won eight in a row from Dec. 7 through Jan. 10. (And then lost five straight because this season is craaaaazy) This is the fourth time in Speedy Claxton’s five seasons as head coach that the Dutchmen have authored at least two four-game winning streaks. They had three winning streaks of four games or longer in 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 before posting one four-game winning streak last season. Just saying, I wouldn’t complain if the Dutchmen wanted to get that third four-game winning streak by winning at least the regular season finale and then all three or four (but hopefully three) CAA Tournament games.
A CLOSE SERIES
The Dutchmen edged Charleston 66-62 after dropping the first game of the season series 66-64 at the Arena on Jan. 29. I'm not very good at math, but even I know that means the Dutchmen outscored Charleston 130-128 in the regular season series. That’s the narrowest net margin between the Dutchmen and a CAA opponent in a two-game regular season series since the 2015-16 campaign, when they were outscored by two points by both Charleston (135-133) and UNC Wilmington (139-137) while splitting with the Cougars and Seahawks.
ONE POSSESSION OBSESSION
The Dutchmen never trailed by more than three points Thursday night. It was the fourth straight game in which they never trailed by more than one possession. After earning wire-to-wire wins over Monmouth (73-57 on Jan. 31) and Northeastern (80-63 on Feb. 5), the Dutchmen trailed just once against Towson in a 71-49 win last Saturday. This is the longest streak of games in which the Dutchmen have never trailed by more than one possession since a five-game streak from Feb. 4-16, 2023, when the Dutchmen beat Stony Brook, Northeastern, Monmouth, Drexel and Hampton and trailed only against Northeastern.
ALL OR NOTHING FROM OUTSIDE (part one)
The Dutchmen made a quirky bit of history Thursday night, when four players — Preston Edmead (0-for-7), Biggie Patterson (0-for-3), Joshua DeCady (0-for-2) and Joshua Aaron Reaves (0-for-2) were scoreless from 3-point land while hoisting at least two attempts apiece. Per StatHead, this is the first time ever the Dutchmen have won a game in which four players were scoreless from 3-point land (minimum two attempts). The Dutchmen last had at least four players miss all their attempts from 3-point land (minimum two attempts) on Feb. 1, 2025, when Jaquan Sanders (0-for-3), Khalil Farmer (0-for-2), German Plotnikov (0-for-2) and Eric Parnell (0-for-2) did so in a 75-52 loss to Campbell.
ALL OR NOTHING FROM OUTSIDE (part two)
Just two players hit a 3-pointer for the Dutchmen Thursday night, when German Plotnikov went 6-for-13 from beyond the arc while Cruz Davis was 1-for-7. It was the first time the Dutchmen won a game in which two or fewer players hit a 3-pointer since Jan. 4, 2025, when Davis (4-for-5) and Jean Aranguren (1-for-8) drained the lone 3-pointers in a 55-37 win over Northeastern.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
The Dutchmen allowed fewer than 70 points for a season-high fifth straight game Thursday night. This is the longest streak of such performances for the Dutchmen since they allowed fewer than 70 points in each of their final eight games last season from Feb. 13-Mar. 8, 2025. The Dutchmen, in the throes of a season-long offensive slump, were just 3-5 during that stretch.
STAYING (within) SINGLE (digits)
Is something going to give with this stat this afternoon? With Thursday’s win, the Dutchmen (17-9) have still 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 (20-4) 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 (17-9)
Miami Ohio (25-0)
Saint Louis (24-1)
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.
CRUZ HITS 1K
Cruz Davis made a bit of history we weren’t quite sure we’d ever see again Thursday night, when he scored his 1,000th point for Hofstra by sinking a free throw with 7:24 left. Davis is the 43rd player in school history to score 1,000 points, the 25th to do so in the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-present), the 12th to do so since 2013-14 — the first year of the Joe Mihalich/Mike Farrelly/Speedy Claxton era and the beginning of this golden age of Hofstra hoops — and the first to reach the milestone since Tyler Thomas did so on Jan. 25, 2024.
The last 12 players to join the 1,000-point club have all done so since 2015-16. At least one player has reached the milestone in nine of the last 11 seasons — every season but 2021-22, the first season following the pandemic and a season in which Tareq Coburn (971 points at Hofstra) and Isaac Kante (682 points at Hofstra) each transferred with at least one year of eligibility left, and 2024-25, when the lone player on the roster with more than one previous season at Hofstra was German Plotnikov. Again, with the constant changes in college basketball, let’s appreciate what Davis has done, because there’s no guarantee we’ll see it again anytime soon.
Davis now has 1,010 points NICE RADIO STATION, which leaves him nine points shy of surpassing John Irving for 42nd place, 13 points shy of moving pst James Shaffer into 39th place and 36 points away from moving past Percy Johnson for 40th place.
39.) Darius Burton 1,060
40.) Percy Johnson 1,045
41.) James Shaffer 1,022
42.) John Irving 1,018
43.) CRUZ DAVIS 1,010
HOW THEY GOT TO 1,000 POINTS
Because I’m a weirdo, I wondered what the breakdown was for the fashion in which players recorded their 1,000th point at Hofstra. I could only get the 18 most recent members of the club dating back to 2005-06, the furthest back play-by-play data goes at Hofstra’s site. Davis is just the fourth player to reach the milestone via a free throw and the first to do so since Ameen Tanksley on Feb. 25, 2016. But that free throw completed a nostalgic 3-point play for Tanksley, which means Davis is the first player to hit 1,000 points with a traditional free throw since Juan’ya Green just 18 days earlier on Feb. 7, 2016. Quirky! And the list!
3-pointer
Darlinstone Dubar, 1/6/24
Aaron Estrada, 1/28/23
Eli Pemberton, 12/1/18
Loren Stokes, 12/30/05
2-point basket
Tyler Thomas. 1/25/24
Jalen Ray, 12/22/20
Desure Buie, 1/4/20
Justin Wright-Foreman, 1/7/18
Rokas Gustys, 1/5/18
Brian Bernardi, 1/2/17
Mike Moore, 2/11/12
Charles Jenkins, 2/28/09
Carlos Rivera, 1/27/07
Antoine Agudio, 3/20/06
Free throw
Cruz Davis, 2/12/26
Ameen Tanksley, 2/25/16 (completing a nostalgic 3-point play)
Juan’ya Green, 2/7/16
Nathaniel Lester, 2/1/12
CRUZ-IN
Cruz Davis had a pretty good game Thursday night! The star guard continued bouncing back from his mini-slump as he scored 23 points — including 15 of the Dutchmen’s last 16 points and their final seven over the last 1:47 — while adding six rebounds, four assists and one steal. 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 79 points on 26-of-53 shooting from the field, including 8-of-22 from 3-point land, over his last four 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 46 of the 57 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 29-17 when Davis scores in double figures.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov bounced back from his first scoreless game of the season with another classic glue guy effort Thursday night, when he scored a season-high 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from 3-point land while adding five rebounds, three blocks, two steals and one assist over 40 minutes. The 20 points and six 3-pointers were each the most for Plotnikov since he set career-highs with 23 points and seven 3-pointers in a 77-55 win over North Carolina A&T in the first round of the CAA Tournament last Mar. 7. The six 3-pointers were also a season-high for a Hofstra player and the most since…Plotnikov’s seven 3-pointers last Mar. 7. Plotnikov entered Thursday just 5-of-19 from 3-point land in the last five games in which he’d played dating back to Jan. 17. The three blocks tied a career-high set three times previously, most recently in a 77-60 win over Pennsylvania on Nov. 30. And the two-steal game marked the fourth time this season Plotnikov has recorded at least two thefts.
FROM ZERO TO TWENTY
Now this is quirky. German Plotnikov, who was scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting in last Saturday’s 71-49 win over Towson, is the first Hofstra player to score at least 20 points immediately after a scoreless game since…German Plotnikov, who scored 20 points in an 81-49 win over North Carolina A&T on Feb. 10, 2024, two days after he was scoreless in a 63-59 win over Hampton. Almost exactly two years apart! Prior to Plotnikov, the last Hofstra player to follow up a scoreless effort with a 20-point game in back-to-back performances was Deron Powers, who was scoreless against Charleston on Jan. 7, 2017 before he scored 21 points against ELO on Jan, 12, 2017. Kenny Wormley was scoreless against Maryland on Nov. 16, 2018 and sat the next eight games before scoring 20 points against Division III Rosemont on Dec, 22, 2018.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
Silas Sunday continued doing whatever the Dutchmen need from him at center on Thursday night, when, with Victory Onuetu battling foul trouble again, he had seven points, nine rebounds and one block over 31 minutes. The 31 minutes tied a season- and career-high for Sunday, who also logged 31 minutes in an 89-85 loss to ELO on Jan. 17. The seven points and nine rebounds were each the most for Sunday since Jan. 31, when he collected 12 points and 10 reboudns in his first career double-double in a 73-57 win over Monmouth. Sunday has pulled down at least eight rebounds in a game eight times this season after recording eight or more rebounds just twice over his first three collegiate seasons. He has also scored in all 26 games this season after scoring in 26 of 33 games last season.
BIGGIE OFF THE BENCH
Biggie Patterson continued providing energy off the bench Thursday night, when he flirted with a double-double by finishing with nine points and eight rebounds while adding two steals and one assist in 24 minutes. The nine-point effort was a bit of a quirky outlier for Patterson, who entered Thursday with 11 double-digit scoring efforts in the first 21 games in which he played but six points or fewer in each of the other 10 games. The two steals tied a season-high for Patterson set three times earlier, most recently in a 79-78 loss to North Carolina A&T on Jan. 22. The Dutchmen are now 8-0 when Patterson comes off the bench and 7-7 when he starts.
PRESTO!
Preston Edmead, in the midst of the most impressive freshman season by a Hofstra player this decade, had a rare quiet game offensively Thursday when he scored five points on 1-of-9 shooting — including 0-of-7 from 3-point land — while adding seven rebounds and four assists. The five points were a season-low for Edmead, whose six-game streak of double-digit scoring efforts ended. 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. But the seven rebounds marked the fifth time in the last 11 games Edmead has collected at least seven rebounds after he had six or fewer rebounds in each of his first 15 games. Edmead’s 396 points (15.2 ppg) through 26 games are 28 more than Charles Jenkins had through 26 games during his freshman season in 2007-08, 14 more than Antoine Agudio had through 26 games during his freshman season in 2004-05 and three more than Speedy Claxton had through 26 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 26 games as a true freshman point guard have been just as impressive as Speedy Claxton’s first 26 games as a true freshman point guard way back in 1996-97.
Speedy Claxton: 15.1 points per game/3.3 assists per game/4.6 rebounds per game
Preston Edmead: 15.2 ppg/4.7 apg/3.5 rpg
Pretty quirky and neat!
DECADY DANCE
Joshua DeCady had a relatively quiet game but made his basket count Thursday night, when he finished with two points, three rebounds and one block in 23 minutes. DeCady closed out the first half with his lone points via a fast break dunk after he pressured Jlynn Counter, who turned the ball over to Biggie Patterson near midcourt. The two points were the fewest for DeCady since he was held scoreless in a 70-67 win over Drexel on Jan. 3. The Dutchmen improved to 10-4 when DeCady starts. They are 6-4 when he comes off the bench.
VICTORY!
Junior newcomer Victory Onuetu was limited by foul trouble again Thursday night, when he was scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting while finishing with two rebounds, one block and four fouls in eight minutes. Onuetu has been held scoreless in five of his last eight games dating back to Jan. 17, a span in which he’s fouled out three times and been ejected once. The two rebounds were the second-fewest of the season for Onuetu, who had one rebound in under two minutes before being ejected against Charleston in a 66-64 loss on Jan. 29. Onuetu has also come off the bench in each of the last five games after starting 17 of the first 21 games.
JUST JOSH-IN
Graduate student Joshua Aaron Reaves played in his season-high sixth straight game Thursday night, when he was scoreless on 0-of-2 shooting from 3-point land while adding two rebounds over eight minutes. Reaves played in each of the Dutchmen’s first five games this season before sitting out 10 of the next 15 games from Nov. 28 through Jan. 22. He has 29 points and 19 reboudns over the last six games after recording just 10 points — all against non-Division I foes — over 71 minutes in his first 12 appearances of the season. In a quirky bit, Reaves has been held scoreless in his second, fourth and sixth game — i.e. in every other game — in the six games since his return to the rotation Jan. 24.
ALEX ANSWERS THE CALL
Graduate student Alex Tsynkevich also extended a season-long playing streak to five games Thursday, when he didn’t record a stat while logging 26 seconds just beyond the midway point of the second half. Tsynkevich has four points and seven reboudns in 26-plus minutes oer the last five games after collecting six points and 12 rebounds over 29 minutes in his first seven appearances of the season. The five 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.
OVER THE AIR
This afternoon’s game is slated to be carried live on CBS Sports Network, which is channel 215 in the Optimum/Altice Are Our Overlords Universe, at least until our Optimum/Altice overlords decide to drop CBSSN in a carriage dispute. Fun fact: The Dutchmen snapped a six-game losing streak on CBS Sports Network with last Saturday’s 71-49 win over Towson. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING UNC WILMINGTON
The Seahawks, under sixth-year head coach Takayo Siddle, are 21-4 overall and 10-2 in the CAA after beating ELO 64-55 on Thursday night. UNC Wilmington moved into first place with Monday’s wire-to-wire 76-64 victory over Charleston. Remarkably, Siddle is the first Seahawks head coach to remain in the position for more than four years since the legendary Jerry Wainwright spent eight seasons at the school from 1994-95 through 2001-02.
The Dutchmen and Seahawks had no common opponents during non-league play. In CAA play, both teams have beaten Drexel, Northeastern and Campbell. The Dutchmen swept Towson and split with Charleston, each of whom UNC Wilmington beat, and lost to North Carolina A&T and Stony Brook, each of whom the Seahawks defeated. Hofstra lost to William & Mary, which swept the Seahawks.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish tied for eighth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked a CAA-best 102nd at KenPom.com. That’s 60 spots higher than they were to open the season, five spots lower than their season-high entering the Jan. 10 game against Monmouth and two spots higher than prior to Thursday’s win. The Seahawks, who were picked to finish second, are ranked 108th, which is 12 spots higher than their preseason ranking, 14 spots lower than their season-high entering the Dec. 3 game against Marshall and one spot higher than prior to Thursday’s win.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank third in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (113.6 points per 100 possessions) and seventh in defensive efficiency (105.3 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 65.1 possessions per 40 minutes, the 10th-most in league play. The Seahawks rank fourth in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (111.8 points per 100 possessions) and fourth in defensive efficiency (103.4 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 66.1 possessions per 40 minutes, the eighth-most in league play.
The Seahawks return five players from last year’s CAA champions and also added FOUR transfers from within the CAA. Senior Nolan Hodge, a preseason all-CAA honorable mention selection who has played his entire career at UNC Wilmington (!!!), leads the Seahawks with 15.4 points per game. Junior Patrick Wessler, who began his career with two years at Virginia Tech, is averaging 13.4 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game. Senior Madison Durr, who opened his career with two seasons at The Citadel before playing last year at Monmouth, is averaging 10.2 points per game and ranks second on the team with 2.2 assists per game. Senior Christian May, another intraconference transfer who spent his first three seasons at Towson, is averaging 10.2 points per game (fractionally less than Durr, for the record) and ranks second on the Seahawks with 5.3 rebounds per game. Senior Noah Ross, another preseason all-CAA honorable mention selection who has played his whole career at UNC Wilmington, is averaging 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Senior Joshua Williams, who began his career with one season apiece at Northwestern State and Chipola College, the latter of which is a junior college, leads the Seahawks with 4.3 assists per game. UNC Wilmington’s other CAA transfers are senior CJ Luster II, a preseason all-CAA first team selection who played last season at Stony Brook but is redshirting due to injury, and junior Jahnathan Lamothe, who played last season at North Carolina A&T and is averaging 4.0 points per game in 10 games since missing the first 15 contests due to injury.
KenPom.com predicts a 71-69 loss for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 2 1/2-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 15-9 against the spread this season after covering their last four games following a six-game spread losing streak. Rollercoaster ride!
THE CAA RACE
OK maybe it’s not too early to start wondering about the seeding implications of each game while we continue to marvel at the crazy balance/parity in the CAA, where eight of the 13 teams have between six and eight wins.
UNC Wilmington 10-2
Charleston 9-4
HOFSTRA 8-5
Monmouth 7-5
Drexel 7-6
William & Mary 7-6
Stony Brook 7-6
Campbell 6-6
Towson 6-7
Hampton 6-7
ELO 5-8
North Carolina A&T 3-10
Northeastern 2-10
I broke the ties via records or further tiebreakers within each group. Towson is the higher seed over Hampton based on the Tigers’ win over Charleston. Good news on Thursday for the Dutchmen, who are in sole possession of third place after the other 7-5 teams, Drexel and Stony Brook, both lost, But with a loss today, the Dutchmen could fall into a three-way tie for fourth by the end of Monday night. So let’s just win!
TAKING ON THE TOP TEAM
This afternoon marks the eighth time over last 10 full seasons the Dutchmen are opposing a team with at least a share of first place in the CAA after Feb. 1. The Dutchmen are 3-4 in such games, including 2-2 against UNC Wilmington.
2/4/16: L 70-67 UNC Wilmington** (8-2)
2/25/16: W 70-69 UNC Wilmington
2/18/17: L 83-76 UNC Wilmington
2/3/18: L 86-85 Charleston***
2/1/20: W 83-60 William & Mary
2/7/22: W 73-71 UNC Wilmington
3/2/24: L 87-76 Charleston
**Hofstra and UNC Wilmington entered the game tied for first place at 8-2
***Charleston and William & Mary entered the night tied for first place at 8-3
ALL-TIME VS. UNC WILMINGTON
Hofstra is 28-24 against UNC Wilmington in a series that began when the Dutchmen joined the CAA prior to the 2001-02 season. The Dutchmen won the lone meeting between the teams last season on Jan. 11, 2025, when Jean Aranguren had a team-high 20 points and converted the go-ahead nostalgic 3-point play with 31.1 seconds left in a 66-63 victory. Mike DePaoli served as the acting head coach in place of Speedy Claxton, who missed the game for personal reasons. Thanks to the dreaded unbalanced schedule, this will mark the fourth straight season in which Hofstra and UNC Wilmington play just once. The Dutchmen are 10-3 in the regular season against UNC Wilmington dating back to 2017-18 but have been eliminated by the Seahawks in the CAA Tournament twice in that span.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
You don’t want us to have road scoops bias! (Let’s hope we are all eating ice cream to celebrate instead of to wallow tonight)
You could almost field a starting lineup with CAA transfers bias! (Hey it’s true)
Alex Riley likes football scores bias! (Our pal, former UNCW beat scribe and current UNCW play-by-play man inspired the whole NICE FOOTBALL SCORE thing, so blame him)
How did Brandon Beane keep his job bias! (The UNCW grad and Bills general manager managed to win his power struggle with fellow CAA alum Sean McDermott despite turning Josh Allen into a one-man team, good work if you can get it)
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