MBB Game 10 @Pitt, Dec. 7 (Sun) 4 PM

[Jojogunne]

This is the last of nine road games to open our season (not counting the Molloy contest).

Pitt (5-3) has faced three of our opponents. The Panthers defeated Bucknell handily, but lost to UCF and Quinnipiac. In addition, they just edged Ohio State on a buzzer-beater and will host Texas A&M Tuesday night at 7:00 on ESPNU.

Pitt's head coach is Jeff Capel, who has been HC at VCU and Oklahoma and assistant to Coach K. at Duke.

More about Pitt here:

https://pittnews.com/article/198881/top ... preview-2/

https://pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/mens-basketball

Our game will be on the ACC Network, which is available on cable and through the ESPN+ app. Not sure if WRHU will also cover.

[HUSID74]

As of now ESPN gives us a 15.5% chance of winning. No line yet.

[dutchPride86]

As of now ESPN gives us a 15.5% chance of winning. No line yet.

I wouldn't be surprised if the line reflects a closer game than that. Pitt is only 33 spots ahead of us in kempom (100 vs 133) and were somehow actually ranked way better in the NET (98 vs 165).

At their best Pitt is the only team to beat a top-40 kenpom Ohio St so far this year (on a buzzer beater but still counts). And they destroyed Bucknell by 34 (who we obviously had a tight game with).

But at their worst, Pitt lost to UCF by more than we did (10 vs 4) and they obviously got upset by Quinnipiac.

Now that being said, I kinda feel like this game could be tougher than Syracuse even though Cuse is a better team than Pitt. I would expect Pitt to come out ready to play and not overlook us after their Quinnipiac debacle, whereas Cuse might still be flying high from beating #13 Tennessee and not take us as seriously. But would hope we at least have a punchers chance to pull the upset

[triplec2195]

Just based on what they have done and haven't done Pittsburgh could have a real game on their hands. I hope that the development of DeCady continues because he could be a real factor if he continues to play the way he did against Columbia.

[dutchPride86]

So reading way too much into these practice photos the team put out today, but 2 genuine things of note to me...

1. DeCady is on the baseline watching with the other 4 usual starters while Biggie is in with the bench unit
2. Someone on the team must be sick... if you look close at the bench in far corner someone is wearing a covid mask. I think its Wills?

https://x.com/i/status/1997373403972407759

Again reading waaay too much into a couple photos probably but figured worth mentioning

[Wags]

As of now ESPN gives us a 15.5% chance of winning. No line yet.

I wouldn't be surprised if the line reflects a closer game than that. Pitt is only 33 spots ahead of us in kempom (100 vs 133) and were somehow actually ranked way better in the NET (98 vs 165).

ESPN now has this as Pitt, -7.5. I guess that's fair especially at home for the Panthers. But yet again, way out of whack with the percentage. 15.5% should be more like 40%, which is about what I expect.

At their best Pitt is the only team to beat a top-40 kenpom Ohio St so far this year (on a buzzer beater but still counts). And they destroyed Bucknell by 34 (who we obviously had a tight game with).

But at their worst, Pitt lost to UCF by more than we did (10 vs 4) and they obviously got upset by Quinnipiac.

Kind of feels like it comes down to which Pittsburgh team shows up. Hofstra has been pretty consistent, we know they'll battle and should be able to hang in as long as the Pitt team that didn't clobber Bucknell and beat Ohio State doesn't show up. If so, it could be challenging. To keep it from being too much of a challenge, they'll need the Edmead that has looked like the one that was mature beyond his freshman status, playing in control, taking care of the ball (he has been great with that for a freshman so far, averaging 34 mpg and no games with more than 3 TOs yet), and involving himself enough in the scoring in addition to involving others over the Edmead at Temple, who couldn't buy a 3 and who only scored 6 pts that game.

[triplec2195]

ESPN now showing Pitt as an 8.5 point favorite. I like the 7.5 number better! For sure we need to play a good first half and stay close.

[EvanJ]

https://gohofstra.com/news/2025/12/4/me ... attle.aspx is our preview titled "Steel City Bound; Pride And Panthers To Battle."

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/side ... game10.pdf is our Game Notes.

https://defiantlydutch.blogspot.com/202 ... burgh.html is Jerry Beach's "I'll Be Quirky: Pittsburgh."

https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=614082 will have statistics. All CAA teams use StatBroadcast, but in the ACC, Pittsburgh uses StatBroadcast, while Syracuse uses Sidearm Stats. The game at Syracuse is our only remaining game that will not use StatBroadcast (which is better) with the possible exception of games after the CAA Tournament.

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/ ... 6a6cbf45a6 will have video, but you can only watch if you get ACC Network on TV.

Northeastern was favored by 1 and defeated Central Connecticut 73-56.

[dutchPride86]

So reading way too much into these practice photos the team put out today, but 2 genuine things of note to me...

1. DeCady is on the baseline watching with the other 4 usual starters while Biggie is in with the bench unit
2. Someone on the team must be sick... if you look close at the bench in far corner someone is wearing a covid mask. I think its Wills?

https://x.com/i/status/1997373403972407759

Again reading waaay too much into a couple photos probably but figured worth mentioning

DeCady is starting over Biggie. So I wasnt reading too much into the practice photos. Let's hope Biggie doesnt become the Jaquan Sanders of this year and get buried in Speedys doghouse

https://x.com/i/status/1997767337798152594

[dutchPride86]

So reading way too much into these practice photos the team put out today, but 2 genuine things of note to me...

1. DeCady is on the baseline watching with the other 4 usual starters while Biggie is in with the bench unit
2. Someone on the team must be sick... if you look close at the bench in far corner someone is wearing a covid mask. I think its Wills?

https://x.com/i/status/1997373403972407759

Again reading waaay too much into a couple photos probably but figured worth mentioning

DeCady is starting over Biggie. So I wasnt reading too much into the practice photos. Let's hope Biggie doesnt become the Jaquan Sanders of this year and get buried in Speedys doghouse

https://x.com/i/status/1997767337798152594

Jaeden Roberts non garbage time minutes before Wills as well. Bet Wills isn't available then

First time Hofstra ever actually revealed info about the team... just took going zapruder film on some twitter practice photos

[dutchPride86]

Nice little lift from Roberts couple buckets and an assist here. Hes not there yet defensively, getting caught on screens, but showing enough here he should play more!

And Cruz's start here wow

[stuball888]

At the half Towson down to UCF by 20 points

[Wags]

Winning basketball from Davis. Carried their offense almost by himself, which opened things up for his teammates, who he also set up. He loves these Sunday afternoons early in PA. Scored 10 of HU's first 18 against Penn. Had 16 of their first 20 today.

Cruz 19, Pitt 23.

Pitt also sucks but they were 7.5-point favorites, so this is still good. Have to finish it.

[dutchPride86]

Good timeout from Speedy. This game is faaaaaar from over. Especially with how we traditionally struggle to hold leads

[Pride97]

Great win over an ACC team! Should be a real confidence booster.

Cruz certainly was “the guy” today.

Hopefully they can carry this to Syracuse.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cactus]

Cruuuuuuz!

Pitt loses a buy game to Hofstra.
The epitome of brutality!

Heck of a win.

[dutchPride86]

LETS GO! Pitt might be near the bottom of the ACC but NEVER apologize for an ACC road win.

What can you say about Cruz? One of the better individual performances in recent Hofstra memory. Felt like I was watching a cross between Estrada and JWF today. That is a CAA player of the year if he can bottle that effort.

German and Sunday the unsung heros for me. Both of Germans 3s in the 2nd half were huge shots to kill some of Pitts momentum. And while Sunday is far from perfect, really starting to see some growth from him last couple games.

The grit and defensive effort this team plays with are great signs, nice to be rewarded for it today. Not blinking and answering the call both times Pitt cut it to 3 in the 2nd half as impressive as building the big lead was to me if not moreso.

And another underrated positive development this year... they are SOOOO much better at breaking the press. Calm and collected, makes a huge difference

[Wags]

Cruuuuuuz!

Pitt loses a buy game to Hofstra.
The epitome of brutality!

Ha! I was waiting for someone to say it here. I'm sure Rothstein already has!.

Cummings was ridiculous in the second half (30 of his 34 pts) but Davis (19 in the first and 17 in the second) was far more balanced over the course of the game.

As great as Davis was, and as good a team effort as it was again, Hofstra may not have pulled away and won today with Plotnikov's two very timely 3s and huge tip-in to help get it back to a 10-point lead after Pitt cut it from 17 down to 3. And good passes to find him on the 3s.

First win over an ACC team in a decade (Florida State in 2015). If they can get the one at Syracuse and against Quinnipiac at home, they can have some great momentum heading into CAA play after tonight's win and what they've done with other non-conference wins and close losses so far.

[EvanJ]

Our lead peaked at 17, and went down to 3. If you knew before the game that Onuetu, Sunday, and DeCady would combine for 9 rebounds, you would have expected to get outrebounded. Both teams had 18 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds.

Davis scored 19 in the first half, and 17 in the second half. I wonder when the last time a player scored at 36 points, and another player scored at least 13 more second half points than him. Brandin Cummings scored 4 in the first half, and 30 in the second half. I wonder if that will be the most points anybody has in the second half of a loss all season. Cummings did not start, entered with 12:10 left in the first half, and did not leave. I wonder who the last player was to not play for at least the first 7:50 and score at least 34 points.

Before the game, the announcers said that we are the only team with the top two in our conference in assists per game. Davis had 7, and Edmead had 4.

One of the people in the studio at halftime was Luke Hancock, who you might remember for playing for George Mason in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, which were Charles Jenkins' last two seasons. I knew Hancock transferred, but I did not remember where. Since he was on ACC Network, I assumed that he transferred to the ACC, but I was wrong. After a redshirt season that transfers used to have to have, he played for Louisville for two seasons, which were their last in the Big East, and their only season in the American Athletic before they joined the ACC.

It was our first win over an ACC team since we defeated Florida State 82-77 in the Virgin Islands on November 20, 2015, so it was over ten years ago. We went 1-2 in the Virgin Islands, that ended with us blowing a lead to lose to Indiana State 67-66. We trailed by 10 at halftime, went up 7 with 1:50 left, and got outscored 8-0 after that.

The CAA went 2-1 against Division I, and I already posted about Northeastern's 73-56 win. Towson trailed by 20 at halftime and lost 86-61 at Central Florida, so they did 21 points worse than we did there.

Campbell defeated non-Division I Virginia-Lynchburg 142-69. Campbell led 75-21 at halftime. Including non-Division I opponents, I wonder if the 87 point win is the largest margin of victory ever by a CAA team. The CAA Record Book does not have any margin of victory records.

I will type more later.

[Wags]

One of the people in the studio at halftime was Luke Hancock, who you might remember for playing for George Mason in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, which were Charles Jenkins' last two seasons. I knew Hancock transferred, but I did not remember where. Since he was on ACC Network, I assumed that he transferred to the ACC, but I was wrong. After a redshirt season that transfers used to have to have, he played for Louisville for two seasons, which were their last in the Big East, and their only season in the American Athletic before they joined the ACC.

Not only was he on Louisvile, he was the 2013 Final Most Outstanding Player for them and the first non-starter to win the award. He started a trend of sorts. Three other reserves after him won the MOP - Villanova's Donte DiVincenzo (2018), Virginia's Kyle Guy (2019), and Baylor's Jared Butler (2021).

Towson trailed by 20 at halftime and lost 86-61 at Central Florida, so they did 21 points worse than we did there.

It's always difficult to read too much into these things, but it's possible that this comparison may be at least one good sign for Hofstra's chances in the CAA this year.