Please don't come back and actually hit a shot like this, Daniel Dixon.
The Flying Dutchmen really don’t like losing games, apparently. Tareq Coburn was unstoppable in the first half Thursday night as the Dutchmen took out five days worth of aggression on Elon in a historic 102-61 thumping. The Dutchmen will look to mount their first winning streak in two weeks #CauseImMrBrightside this afternoon, when they host rival William & Mary at the Arena. Here’s a look back at the win over the Phoenix and a look ahead to the Tribe. (Whoohoo! Consecutive singular nicknames!)
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Tareq Coburn nearly broke the school record for 3-pointers in the first half, when he drained seven shots from beyond the arc to account for all 21 of his points in leading the Dutchmen to a dominant wire-to-wire win. The Dutchmen raced out to a 9-0 lead, led 25-2 (!!!) lead after fewer than seven minutes and opened the lead up to 30 a little more than 13 minutes into the game. Jacquil Taylor (15 points, nine rebounds) and Eli Pemberton (nine points, a career-high nine assists) almost put up double-doubles while Justin Wright-Foreman (16 points on just eight shots) and Desure Buie (15 points) had their usual solid games. Every player in uniform scored for the Dutchmen except Connor Klementowicz (rats).
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Elon 2/7)
3: Tareq Coburn
2: Jacquil Taylor
1: Eli Pemberton
SEASON STANDINGS
Justin Wright-Foreman 56
Eli Pemberton 27
Desure Buie 20
Jacquil Taylor 16
Tareq Coburn 13
Jalen Ray 8
Stafford Trueheart 2
Kenny Wormley 1
Dan Dwyer 1
COACHSPEAK: “Might sound crazy, but we approached today as a little bit of a must-win game. Seemed like a long week after that loss. So it was a little bit of a must-win game. We wanted to make a little bit of a statement to show that we don’t like to lose.”
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! What’s up with that? But the Dutchmen did indeed have a 102-61 victory way back in the 1980-81 season, when they throttled SUNY-Stony Brook by that score. The Dutchmen have recorded eight unicorn scores this season.
WIRE TO WIRE
The Dutchmen won a game in which they didn’t trail for the second time this season and the first time since beating Drexel, 89-75, on Dec. 30.
CENTURY CLUB
While the Dutchmen have scored 100 points six times this decade, Thursday night marked the first time they have reached the century mark in a league game since way back on Feb. 29, 1992, when the Dutchmen beat Maryland Baltimore-County, 103-87, in an East Coast Conference game. Oh yeah. The Dutchmen scored 100 points against THAT UMBC, in an ECC game, on Leap Day. All of this is real and spectacular, Litos. The Dutchmen’s 102 points are the second-most scored by a CAA team in a league game this season. James Madison beat UNC Wilmington, 104-95, last Saturday.
THE 40/40/40 CLUB
The win over Elon marked the 25th time in program history the Dutchmen have won a game by at least 40 points. It also marked the third time this season the Dutchmen have won by at least 40 points, which ties the program record for a single season, set way back in the 1951-52 season, when they really were the Flying Dutchmen and, I presume, played at Calkins Hall. In back-to-back games in December, the Dutchmen recorded their most lopsided win as a Division I program (107-54 victory over Division III Rosemont on Dec. 22) with their most lopsided win ever over a Division I foe (a 91-46 victory over Delaware on Dec. 28). The victory over Elon ties a 105-64 victory over Coppin State on Dec. 10, 2014 as the Dutchmen’s second-most lopsided win over a Division I foe.
In addition, the three 40-point wins this season increases to six the Dutchmen’s number of 40-point wins at the Division I level. Thats right, half of the program’s 40-point wins have happened this season, or, more accurately, half of them have happened in the last 11 games.
Lastly, the wins over Delaware and Elon mark the seventh and eighth time the Dutchmen have beaten a Division I foe by at least 35 points.
45 (91-46 over Delaware, 12/28/18)
41 (102-61 over Elon, 2/7/19)
41 (105-64 over Coppin State, 12/10/14)
39 (93-54 over UNC Wilmington, 1/27/10)
39 (84-45 over Northeastern, 1/4/00)
38 (96-58 over SUNY-Stony Brook, 12/13/16)
38 (83-45 over New Hampshire, 1/23/00)
36 (92-56 over Brooklyn, 2/27/92)
CRUISING IN #CAAHOOPS
The Dutchmen’s 41-point win marked the second-biggest victory in a CAA game this year, behind only the Dutchmen’s 45-point win over Delaware on Dec. 28, the fourth 40-point win in a CAA game this decade and the 18th time a CAA game has been decided by more than 30 points since 2010. The Dutchmen are the first team to win multiple league games by 30 points or more ini the same season since Old Dominion had two such wins during the 2011-12 campaign.
2/7/19: Hofstra 102, Elon 61
12/28/18: Hofstra 91, Delaware 46
1/5/17: Northeastern 90, Delaware 54
1/7/16: Northeastern 88, Delaware 56
1/2/16: Hofstra 90, Towson 58
2/25/15: Hofstra 73, Charleston 40
1/3/15: William & Mary 75, Charleston 45
2/19/14: Charleston 87, William & Mary 54
3/2/12: Georgia State 85, Hofstra 50***
1/18/12: Old Dominion 71, Towson 41
1/7/12: Old Dominion 75, Towson 38
1/4/12: Drexel 60, Towson 27
12/3/11: Georgia State 66, William & Mary 34
1/5/11: James Madison 99, Towson 68
3/6/10: Old Dominion 86, Towson 56***
2/2/10: Drexel 97, Towson 55
1/27/10: VCU 112, Towson 53
1/27/10: Hofstra 93, UNC Wilmington 54
***CAA Tournament
A PRETTY WHOLE HALF
The Dutchmen led 57-22 at the half Thursday night. The 35-point lead was the largest halftime advantage the Dutchmen have enjoyed against a Division I opponent since at least 2002-03, exceeding the 30-point lead they had on Delaware on Dec. 28, and their second-biggest halftime lead over an opponent since 2002-03, behind only the 40-point lead the Dutchmen held over Rosemont on Dec. 22. The Dutchmen have led at half by at least 20 points 15 times since the start of the 2002-03 season, including three times this season.
40 (62-22) Rosemont, 12/22/18
35 (57-22) Elon 2/7/19
30 (48-18) Delaware, 12/28/18
29 (54-25) UNC Wilmington 1/27/10
27 (51-24) Towson 1/7/04
25 (53-28) Farmingdale State 11/20/09
23 (50-27) Fairleigh Dickinson 11/10/13
22 (47-25) Central Connecticut 12/31/14
22 (48-26) Coppin State 12/10/14
21 (53-32) Jacksonville 11/14/14
21 (42-21) Elon 11/23/09
20 (47-27) Drexel 12/30/18
20 (44-24) SUNY-Stony Brook 12/13/16
20 (45-25) Long Island U. 12/28/14
20 (45-25) UNCW 2/25/12
HOME SWEET HOME
With the win over Elon, the Dutchmen improved to 13-0 at home this season while extending their overall home winning streak to 16 games dating back to Feb. 15. The 13 straight wins to open the home schedule are the most by a Dutchmen squad since the 2005-06 team won its first 14 home games (13-0 regular season, 1-0 NIT). Per Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov, those 14 wins concluded a 21-game home winning streak that lasted from Jan. 22, 2005 to Mar. 16, 2006 and is the longest home winning streak for the Dutchmen in the CAA era.
NOW THAT’S AN ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER RATIO
The Dutchmen collected 25 turnovers and committed just one turnover Thursday night. The 25 assists were one shy of the program record, set against Rosemont on Dec. 28, and marked the third time the Dutchmen have racked up 25 assists against a Division I foe. They also had 25 assists against UNC Wilmington on Feb. 25, 2012 and Bucknell during the 1988-89 season.
In addition, the one turnover was the fewest in a game by the Dutchmen this decade. It was also only the second time this decade a Division I team has produced an assist-to-turnover ratio of at least 25/1. According to College Basketball Reference, Davidson, which is coached by Hofstra alum Bob McKillop and which is where Elon head coach Matt Matheny served as an assistant head coach before landing with the Phoenix, had 29 assists and one turnover against Charleston Southern on Nov. 10, 2017.
TORRID TAREQ
Tareq Coburn fell short of the program record for most 3-pointers in a game Thursday, but he likely made a bit of history anyway by draining seven 3-pointers in the first half. While Coburn didn’t hit another 3-pointer to tie Brian Bernardi’s record (set against Canisius on Nov. 13, 2015), he is almost surely the first Hofstra player to sink seven 3-pointers in a half. None of the previous nine players to hit seven or more 3-pointers had more than five in a half. The only player whose breakdown I could not confirm was Frank Walker, whose seven 3-pointers against Florida Southern on Dec. 10, 1987 remained the program’s standard for more than 12 years.
COBURN BABY BURN
Tareq Coburn led the Dutchmen in scoring for the second time this season Thursday, when he finished with 21 points. He collected a career-high 22 points against Manhattan on Dec. 10. Coburn is the first Dutchmen other than Justin Wright-Foreman or Eli Pemberton to led the team in scoring in multiple games in a season since Deron Powers (seven times) and Brian Bernardi (twice) in 2016-17.
PERFECT TAYLOR
Jacquil Taylor was 6-for-6 from the field Thursday night on his way to scoring 15 points. It marked the second time in the last three games and the third time this year Taylor has been perfect from the field (minimum five attempts). He was 5-for-5 against Towson on Jan. 26 and 7-for-7 against Rosemont on Dec. 28. Taylor is the first Hofstra player in the CAA era (2001-present) to go at least 5-for-5 from the field in three different games.
Jacquil Taylor 6/6 vs. Elon 2/7/19
Jacquil Taylor 5/5 vs. Towson 1/26/19
Jacquil Taylor 7/7 vs. Rosemont 12/22/18
Rokas Gustys 5/5 vs. UNCW 3/4/18 (CAAT)
Rokas Gustys 6/6 vs. Northeastern 1/25/18
Rokas Gustys 8/8 vs. Towson 2/18/16
Rokas Gustys 5/5 vs. St. Bonaventure 11/28/15
Rokas Gustys 6/6 vs. Vermont 3/18/15
Ameen Tanksley 9/9 vs. Norfolk State 12/2/14
Darren Payen 6/6 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson 11/10/13
Stephen Nwaukoni 5/5 vs. Belmont 11/24/13
Stephen Nwaukoni 5/5 vs. Cleveland State 11/26/11
Greg Washington 6/6 vs. William & Mary 1/22/11
David Imes 8/8 vs. Drexel 1/3/11
Adrian Uter 6/6 vs. Nebraska 3/16/06
Kenny Adeleke 6/6 vs. Illinois State 11/25/01
DIMES FOR PEMBERTON
Eli Pemberton set a career-high with nine assists Thursday. His previous single-game high was six, set three times previously, most recently against James Madison on Feb. 22, 2018.
YOU’RE JUSTIN WRIGHT-FOREMAN! YOU PLAY BASKETBALL FOR THE HOFSTRA FLYING DUTCHMEN!
With his 16 points against Elon, Justin Wright-Foreman extended his streak of double-digit scoring efforts to 77 straight games, the most ever by a Hofstra player as well as the most ever by a CAA player. Wright-Foreman snapped a tie Thursday with Navy legend David Robinson. In addition, Wright-Foreman’s streak is now the second-longest active streak in Division I, per Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov.
Justin Wright-Foreman: 77 straight games 12/11/16-present
Charles Jenkins 58 straight games 12/12/09-3/15/11***
Antoine Agudio 48 straight games 3/6/06-1/17/08****
Juan’ya Green: 43 straight games 11/14/14-12/9/15
Loren Stokes 41 straight games 2/20/06-3/14/07***
Loren Stokes: 34 straight games 1/14/04-1/31/05
***streak ended with the end of the player’s Hofstra career
****Agudio had three DNPs during his streak
Per Gorchov, Wright-Foreman’s streak is tied for the 13th-longest in HISTORY. This is some rarefied air.
JWF CLOSES IN ON 2K AND SPEEDY
Justin Wright-Foreman remained in eighth place on the all-time Hofstra scoring list Thursday, when he scored 16 points. To be fair, he needed to make up 51 points to catch up to seventh-place Speedy Claxton, but Wright-Foreman could have a milestone-filled day today. He needs 19 points to become the eighth player in program history to score 2,000 points and 35 points to surpass Claxton. Wright-Foreman has scored at least 35 points in a game seven times.
7.) Speedy Claxton, 2,015 (1996-2000)
8.) JUSTIN WRIGHT-FOREMAN 1,981 (2015-present)
9.) David Taylor 1,818 (1979-83)
10.) Norman Richardson 1,677 (1997-2001)
PEMBERTON HITS 21
Eli Pemberton, the newest member of the Hofstra 1,000-point club, moved into 21st place on the all-time list Thursday, when he scored nine points to move past Demetrius Dudley and John Mills, who each scored 1,220 points at Hofstra. Pemberton enters today just four points away from surpassing Carlos Rivera for 20th place. He is also 19 points away from moving past Roberto Gittens into 19th place.
19.) Roberto Gittens 1,240 (1997-2001)
20.) Carlos Rivera 1,225 (2004-07)
21.) ELI PEMBERTON 1,222 (2016-present)
21t.) Demetrius Dudley 1,220 (1991-93)
21t.) John Mills 1,220 (1941-43, 1946-47)
24t.) Brian Bernardi, 1,186 (2014-17)
24t.) Juan’ya Green 1,186 (2014-16)
TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE
Graduate transfers Jacquil Taylor and Dan Dwyer continued to more than fill in for Rokas Gustys down low. Taylor and Dwyer combined for 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in 39 minutes Thursday and are now averaging 10.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.06 blocks per game while playing an average of 39.6 minutes per contest. As a senior last year, Gustys averaged 10.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 0.4 blocks per game while playing an average of 29.7 minutes per contest. Taylor and Dwyer are also draining 69.7 percent of their free throws (46-for-66), which is…different.
A DESURE THING
Desure Buie lost ground in his attempt to move back into contention for the national free throw shooting title Thursday, when he didn’t go to the line in the win over Elon. Buie is shooting a robust 90.3 percent (56-of-62) from the line this season, which would rank him 12th nationally entering play today if Buie had enough made free throws to qualify for the title. NCAA.org's minimum is 2.5 made free throws per game, which means Buie needed 60 makes through 24 games and will need to make seven free throws today, in the Dutchmen’s 25th game, in order to qualify for the leaderboard.
However, Hofstra’s specifications are two free throws made per game, which means Buie is on pace to threaten the school single-season record for free throw percentage of 91.3 percent, which was set by Steve Nisenson during the 1963-64 season. Nisenson and Brian Appel (90.5 percent during the 1977-78 season) are the only players to shoot at least 90 percent from the line over a full season for the Dutchmen.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (which unfortunately was released in 1992)
It’s not really early anymore, but you’re not wrong if you’re thinking you’ve never seen a Dutchmen team shoot free throws this well. The Dutchmen were 11-of-14 from the line against Northeastern, which kept their season-long percentage at 79.1 percent. That was, and I can’t believe I’m typing these words, good enough for the second-best percentage in the country entering today’s games. The Dutchmen rank just behind Incarnate Word (80.5 percent) and just ahead of Louisiana-Monroe (78.8 percent), Toledo (78.2 percent) and Central Connecticut State (77.3 percent). Hey! That’s where my parents went! At this rate, the Dutchmen would shatter the program record for free throw percentage set by the 2010-11 team, which drained 76.1 percent of its free throws.
In addition, as reader Evan Jones notes, the Dutchmen are a little behind the pace set last season by William & Mary, which set the single-season CAA record by shooting .810 from the free throw line. Technically, the Tribe were at 81.049 percent (479-for-591).
Last year’s Dutchmen shot 68.2 percent from the free throw line. But subtracting Rokas Gustys’ performance (45-of-120, 37.5 percent), the Dutchmen would have shot 74.7 percent, which would have been the third-best single-season mark in program history.
OVER THE AIR
Hofstra will provide a radio feed of today’s game, as well as live stats, at the Pride Productions hub. The game will be broadcast live online at College Sports Live.
SCOUTING WILLIAM & MARY
The Tribe, under 16th-season head coach Tony Shaver, are 9-15 this season and 5-7 in CAA play. The Tribe fell to Northeastern, 72-60, on Thursday.
The Dutchmen and Tribe had one common foe during non-league play. Both teams lost to Marshall, which beat Hofstra 76-72 on Nov. 11 and William & Mary 84-64 on Nov. 28. In CAA play, both have faced Northeastern twice.
William & Mary is the third team the Dutchmen are facing for the second time in CAA play. The Tribe have swept Drexel, split with Delaware and been swept by Northeastern.
The Dutchmen, who were picked third in the CAA preseason poll, were ranked 61st at KenPom.com this morning. The Tribe, who were picked fourth, were ranked 230th at KenPom.com as of early this morning.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank first in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (121.3) and first in conference-only defensive efficiency (99.9). The Tribe rank seventh in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (104.9) and fourth in conference-only defensive efficiency (105.2).
The Tribe are led by a pair of juniors. Forward Nathan Knight is averaging a team-high 19.2 points per game to go along with 8.4 rebounds per game. Guard Justin Pierce ranks second on the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game while averaging 8.6 rebounds per game. Junior guard Matt Milon (12.2 points per game) and freshman Chase Audige (10.7 points per game) are also averaging in double figures for William & Mary.
KenPom.com predicts an 82-68 win by the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 11.5-point favorites as of early this morning. Hofstra is 17-6 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. WILLIAM & MARY
Hofstra is 21-13 against William & Mary in a series that began when the Dutchmen joined the CAA prior to the 2001-02 season. The Dutchmen outlasted the Tribe, 93-90, in three-overtime instant classic in this season’s first clash between the teams on Jan. 10. The Dutchmen are looking for their first season sweep of the Tribe since 2015-16, when Hofstra actually beat William & Mary three times.
AN OUT-OF-NOWHERE RIVALRY
The Dutchmen barely crossed paths with William & Mary during their first decade-plus in the CAA, but the Tribe have become Hofstra’s biggest rival since Joe Mihalich became head coach in 2013. Of the last 13 games between the two teams, nine have been decided by six points or fewer or in overtime, including both games last season, when the Dutchmen fell, 90-87, in the CAA opener in Williamsburg before earning a 90-84 win in Hempstead.
Six of those games have gone down to the last second, including the goddamn Daniel Dixon debacles. Overall, the Dutchmen are 4-5 against the Tribe in these “close shaves.”
1/10/19: Hofstra 93, William & Mary 90 (3 OT)
2/15/18: Hofstra 90, William & Mary 84
12/30/17: William & Mary 90, Hofstra 87
1/2/17: William & Mary 95, Hofstra 93 (OT)
3/6/16: Hofstra 70, William & Mary 67***
2/11/16: Hofstra 86, William & Mary 80
3/8/15: William & Mary 92, Hofstra 91 (2OT)***
2/22/15: William & Mary 80, Hofstra 78
2/26/14: William & Mary 79, Hofstra 74
***CAA semifinals
Oh and the coaches really like one another.
Prior to 2013-14, the Dutchmen held a 14-7 lead in the season series. The teams faced each other just once per season from 2005-06 through 2008-09. Only four of the first 21 games between the Dutchmen and Tribe were decided by six points or fewer or in overtime, including, of course, The Wolf’s game on Feb. 15, 2011.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Bill Lawrence bias! (The Scrubs creator went to William & Mary)
Tony Shaver’s mustache is awesome bias! (Just take a look at it)
Don’t be mad The Wolf’s moment turns eight next Friday! (It’s true)
Ivan Fears bias! (The New England Patriots assistant coach played at William & Mary)
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