Would Aerosmith let Joey Kramer (far right) on stage at Moe's here in the year 2020? (Also how is Flaming Moe's 28 years old?!)
Well, that was a pretty good road trip. The Flying Dutchmen exacted some revenge on William & Mary last Saturday and muddied the waters at the top of the CAA by pulling away in the second half and rolling to an 83-60 victory. With the win, the Dutchmen momentarily moved into a three-way tie for first in the CAA. But their time atop the league was fleeting thanks to Thursday night’s open date, and the Dutchmen will look to remain no more than a half-game back of Charleston today when they host Northeastern in another big game. Here’s a look back at the win over the Tribe and a look ahead to the Huskies (or, as we call it in these parts, the Barone Bowl).
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Desure Buie (a game-high 22 points and seven assists) led five players in double figures and the red-hot Tareq Coburn (19 points) appeared as the Dutchmen nearly evened the seasonal aggregate score with William & Mary in a rout of the Tribe. The Dutchmen, of course, fell at home to William & Mary, 88-61, on Jan. 2. The Dutchmen trailed for just one possession in the first half and carried a 43-33 lead into the locker room thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Coburn in the final 20 seconds. Buie and Coburn had eight points apiece in a 31-9 second half run by the Dutchmen that removed any doubt. Isaac Kante (13 points, 11 rebounds) had another double-double while going 6-for-6 from the field. Eli Pemberton had 16 points and Jalen Ray finished with 10 points.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. William & Mary 2/1)
3: Desure Buie
2: Tareq Coburn
1: Isaac Kante
SEASON STANDINGS
Desure Buie 47
Eli Pemberton 30
Isaac Kante 26
Tareq Coburn 24
Jalen Ray 13
Stafford Trueheart 2
Omar Silverio 2
COACHSPEAK: “Anybody that says that, in a healthy way, there wasn’t a little bit of a payback on our minds, it was. Listen, they played terrific — as good as we played today, that’s the way they played when they came to our place. I guess we’re even now and if there’s a rubber match, we’ve got to wait to see what happens.”
THIS IS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF FRIENDS’ FIRST SEASON, WHAT WOULD THIS GAME BE TITLED IF IT WAS AN EPISODE OF FRIENDS?
The One Before the Super Bowl
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
Yes! Whoohoo, two in a row! But that’s what happens when you score in the 80s and win by 23. The Dutchmen beat Buffalo 84-61 on Feb. 8, 1992 — hey, that’s 28 years ago today! — and cruised past Queens 84-60 during the 1960-61 season, but they’d never before earned an 83-60 victory. The Dutchmen have nine unicorn scores this season. They recorded 10 unicorn scores last season. The term unicorn score was coined by Mets superfan, historian and blogger Greg Prince to describe a score by which the Mets had never previously won.
11/9/19: 94-74 over Monmouth
11/15/19: 111-69 over New York Tech
11/21/19: 88-78 over UCLA
12/1/19: 91-69 over Holy Cross
12/2/19: 64-57 over Canisius
12/10/19: 71-63 over SUNY-Stony Brook
1/4/20: 102-75 over Elon
1/30/20: 86-63 over Elon
2/1/20: 83-60 over William & Mary
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER TWENTY-FOUR GAMES
With the win over William & Mary, the Dutchmen improved to 17-7. This ties the 2019-20 team for the 16th-best record through 24 games. Just three other teams were 17-7 through 24 games, most recently the 2004-05 squad. Here is how some other notable Hofstra teams have fared through 23 games:
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 13-11 (win in 24th game marked first win of six-game winning streak that carried Dutchmen into the NCAAs)
1976-77: 18-6 (win in 24th game marked fourth win of nine-game winning streak that carried Dutchmen into the NCAAs)
1999-2000: 18-6
2000-01: 20-4 (win in 24th game marked 12th win in program-record 18-game winning streak)
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 17-7
2004-05: 17-7
2005-06: 19-5 (most recent 19-5 start)
2006-07: 18-6 (most recent 18-6 start)
2015-16: 16-8 (most recent 16-8 start)
2018-19: 20-4
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 18-6
1961-62: 21-3 (most recent 21-3 start)
1962-63: 18-6 (seventh win of 11-game winning streak)
1963-64: 20-4
Some other notable 24-game records:
2017-18: 14-10 (most recent 14-10 start)
2016-17: 11-13 (most recent 11-13 start)
2014-15: 15-9 (most recent 15-9 start)
2013-14: 7-17 (most recent 7-17 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2012-13: 6-18 (most recent 6-18 start)
2011-12: 8-16 (most recent 8-16 start)
2009-10: 12-12 (most recent 12-12 start)
2001-02: 10-14 (most recent 10-14 start, loss in 24th game marked third loss of Tom Pecora-era record-tying eight-game losing streak)
1995-96: 8-16 (win in 24th game snapped Jay Wright-era record nine-game losing streak)
1994-95: 8-16 (Jay Wright’s first year)
1993-94: 6-18 (win in 24th game was final win of regular season, VBK’s last year)
1991-92: 16-8 (win in 24th game was fifth in nine-game winning streak that ended in ECC title game)
1990-91: 13-11 (most recent 13-11 start)
1987-88: 5-19 (only 5-19 start, worst 24-game record in school history)
1986-87: 9-15 (most recent 9-15 start)
1981-82: 11-13 (loss in 24th game was sixth loss of eight-game losing streak)
1978-79: 8-16 (third loss of season-ending five-game losing streak)
1977-78: 8-16 (final win of season)
1974-75: 11-13 (won season finale)
1973-74: 8-16 (won season finale)
1972-73: 8-16 (lost season finale)
1971-72: 11-13 (third loss of season-ending four-game losing streak)
1970-71: 16-8 (win in 24th game was third win of season-ending five-game winning streak)
1968-69: 11-13 (last loss of season)
1967-68: 12-12 (last loss of season)
1962-63: 18-6 (win in 24th game was seventh win of 11-game winning streak)
1960-61: 21-3 (final win of season)
1959-60: 23-1 (only 23-1 start & Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in season finale was 13th straight)
Hofstra has never been 24-0, 22-2, 4-20, 3-21, 2-22, 1-23 or 0-24 through 24 games.
The following seasons were completed in fewer than 24 games: 1957-58 (15-8), 1947-48 (13-6), 1945-46 (12-7), 1943-44 (7-12), 1944-45 (8-13), 1943-44 (7-12), 1942-43 (15-6), 1941-42 (15-6), 1940-41 (13-7), 1939-40 (12-9), 1938-39 (10-8), 1937-38 (10-4), 1936-37 (10-7).
Full records not available for the following seasons: 1948-49, 1949-50, 1951-52, 1954-55.
This feature is inspired by Greg Prince, who measures how the current Mets compare, record-wise, to previous teams through the same point in the season.
NUMBER ONE ON THE ROAD
The Dutchmen are 9-4 on the road this year following the sweep of Elon and William & Mary. The nine road wins tie the Dutchmen for the most in the nation with Stephen F. Austin (9-2) and Albany (9-3). In addition, this marks the fifth time in Joe Mihalich/s seven seasons at the helm that the Dutchmen have won at least nine road games. They won nine road games in 2015-16 and 2017-18, 10 road games last season and 11 road games in 2014-15.
SWAPPING ROUTS
Beating William & Mary 83-60 just 30 days after losing to the Tribe 88-61 means the Dutchmen have traded 20-point wins and 20-point losses against the same team in the same season for the second time in three years. On Feb. 1, 2018, the Dutchmen routed UNC Wilmington 96-76. Nine days later, the Seahawks paid the Dutchmen back with a 90-70 win.
This is the third instance of CAA teams trading 20-point wins in the last four seasons. During the 2016-17 season, Northeastern beat William & Mary 84-64 on Dec. 31, 2016 before the Tribe cruised to a 94-69 win in the rematch on Feb. 2.
1010101010 WINS
The Dutchmen put at least five players in double figures last Saturday for the fifth time this season but the first time since a 91-69 win over Holy Cross on Dec. 1. Earlier, they had six players score in double figures against Monmouth on Nov. 9 and five players in double figures against New York Tech on Nov. 15 and then again against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 24. The Dutchmen had six games last season in which five players scored in double figures.
WIRE-TO-WIRE ON THE ROAD…ALMOST
The Dutchmen trailed for a total of 27 seconds against Elon and William & Mary — one possession apiece before the under-16 timeout in the first half. We demand perfection, damnit!
ROMPING ON THE ROAD
The consecutive 23-point wins over Elon and William & Mary by the Dutchmen marked the first back-to-back 20-point road wins by Hofstra since Nov. 18-21, 2000, when the Dutchmen beat Florida International, 78-50 and Florida Atlantic, 87-67. It’s the first time the Dutchmen have won back-to-back road games by at least 20 points in the CAA and the first time they’ve done so in league play since Jan. 23-28, 2000, when they beat America East foes New Hampshire (83-45) and Northeastern (80-69). The 1999-2000 and 2000-01 teams, as you might remember, both made the NCAA Tournament.
The Dutchmen are also the first CAA team to win consecutive road games by 20 points or more since Jan. 5-7, 2018, when William & Mary cruised past Delaware (90-65) and Drexel (85-63).
HOT TO COLD AND BACK AGAIN FOR COBURN
Tareq Coburn continued his rollercoaster ride of a season last Saturday, when he followed up a scoreless game against Elon by collecting 19 points against William & Mary. The Elon game was preceded five days earlier by Coburn racking up a career-high 24 points against Drexel. Coburn is the first Hofstra player to sandwich a scoreless game around a pair of double-digit efforts since…Coburn did it from Feb. 7-14, 2019, when he had 21 points against Elon, none against William & Mary and 14 points against Charleston.
PERFECT KANTE
Issac Kante continued his impressive season Saturday by racking up another double-double and scoring 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field. It was his third perfect effort of the season (minimum six attempts). Kante was also 6-for-6 against Manhattan on Dec. 22 and 7-for-7 against Northeastern on Jan. 8. He is just the third Hofstra player in the CAA era to have three perfect shooting nights while attempting at least six field goals.
Jacquil Taylor had all three such efforts in his lone season with the Dutchmen last season, when he went 7-for-7 against Rosemont on Dec. 22, 6-for-6 against Elon on Feb. 7 and 7-for-7 against James Madison in the CAA Tournament quarterfinals on Mar. 10. Rokas Gustys went 6-for-6 against Vermont in the That Which We Shall Not Name Invitational on Mar. 18, 2015, 8-for-8 against Towson on Feb. 18, 2016 and 6-for-6 against Northeastern on Jan. 25, 2018.
BUIE MOVING ON UP
Desure Buie continued climbing Hofstra’s all-time scoring list last Saturday, when he scored 22 points to leapfrog both Mike Moore and Wandy Williams and move into 29th place. Buie has a pretty good shot to make up more ground today. He needs just three points to move past Nathaniel Lester into 28th place and is 23 points shy of surpassing Ted Jackson for 27th place.
27.) Ted Jackson 1,159 (1958-61)
28.) Nathaniel Lester 1,139 (2007-12)
29.) DESURE BUIE 1,137 (2015-present)
30.) Wandy Williams 1,132 (1966-69)
31.) Mike Moore 1,128 (2010-12)
32.) Richie Swartz 1,107 (1959-62)
BUIE RACKING UP THE DIMES
Desure Buie might also move up another all-time Hofstra list today, when he needs six assists to surpass Charles Jenkins for the fifth-most in school history.
4.) Frank Walker 522 (1986-90)
5.) Charles Jenkins 489 (2007-11)
6.) DESURE BUIE 483 (2015-present)
BUIE CHASES THE TRIPLE CROWN
Desure Buie enters today leading the Dutchmen in scoring (18.6 ppg), assists (5.6 apg) and steals (2.2 spg). A Hofstra player has held at least a share of the lead in all three categories just seven times in the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-present). Juan’ya Green was the last one to win the Triple Crown when he did so for the second straight year in 2015-16.
2015-16: Green (17.8 ppg/7.1 apg/1.6 apg)
2014-15: Green (17.1 ppg/6.5 apg/1.4 apg)***
2010-11: Charles Jenkins (22.6 ppg/4.8 apg/1.7 spg)
2008-09: Charles Jenkins (19.7 ppg/4.3apg/1.4 spg)
2004-05: Loren Stokes (18.3 ppg/3.5 apg/1.8 spg)
1999-2000: Speedy Claxton (22.8 ppg/6.0 apg/3.3 spg)
1997-98: Speedy Claxton (16.3 ppg/7.2 apg/2.2 apg)
***Green shared the steals lead with Ameen Tanksley
SO WHO HAS A DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING STREAK NOW?
Justin Wright-Foreman, as you may or may not recall, ended his Hofstra career by scoring in double figures in each of his last 88 games. The longest such streak now belongs to Desure Buie, who has 20 straight double-digit efforts.
NO REST FOR THE WEARY
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen enter today ranked last out of 353 Division I teams in bench usage (16.0 percentage of minutes).
OVER THE AIR
Today’s game will be aired on FloHoops.com (subscription). Hofstra will carry live audio and offer live stats here.
WINTER HOMECOMING—FINALLY
This weekend marks the first Winter Homecoming at Hofstra. Some of us may recall this was promised back in December 2009. Anyway. The highlight of the festivities will be the celebration of the 2000 America East-winning Flying Dutchmen, who will be honored throughout the afternoon. Mah Gawd is that Jay Wright’s music I hear? (No, he’s coaching Villanova today. Pfft)
THE CAA RACE
The Dutchmen enjoyed a really good weekend last weekend, but a loss today will likely undo most or all of the ground they made up with the sweep of Elon and William & Mary. The Dutchmen enter today at 8-3, a half-game back of first-place Charleston, a half-game ahead of third-place William & Mary and a game ahead of fourth-place Delaware. While there are no guarantees anything will ever go according to script in the CAA, the Cougars, Tribe and Blue Hens are all playing the bottom three teams in the league in Elon, UNC Wilmington and James Madison, respectively, today. So a loss for the Dutchmen and wins by the Cougars, Tribe and Blue Hens would drop the Dutchmen into fourth place, 1 1/2 games behind Charleston. But a win would assure the Dutchmen of remaining in second place and playing for first place when Charleston visits Thursday night. The drama!
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies, under 14th-year head coach Bill Coen, are 11-12 this season and 5-6 in CAA play after suffering their third straight loss last Saturday, when they were upset by Elon, 74-69. It was the first time Northeastern has lost a league game by more than two points this season. The Huskies’ six CAA losses have come by a combined 14 points. They’re gonna be snarling today.
The Dutchmen and Huskies had one common foe in non-league play. Hofstra beat Holy Cross, 91-69, on Dec. 1 while Northeastern handed the Crusaders a 101-44 drubbing on Nov. 19.
In CAA play, both teams have beaten Towson, James Madison and Drexel and lost to Delaware. The Dutchmen beat UNC Wilmington, which beat the Huskies, and lost to Charleston, who fell to Northeastern. The Dutchmen swept Elon, whom split with the Huskies, and split with William & Mary, which swept Northeastern.
The Dutchmen, who were picked first in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 127th at KenPom.com. The Huskies, who were picked third, are ranked 142nd at KenPom.com.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank first in the CAA in league-only offensive efficiency (112.4) and fourth in defensive efficiency (102.5). The Huskies rank fifth in the CAA in league-only offensive efficiency (107.2) and first in defensive efficiency (98.7).
Senior guard Jordan Roland leads the Huskies — and the CAA — with 23.0 points per game. Another senior guard, Bolden Brace, is pulling down a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game while adding 10.3 points per game. Freshman Tyson Walker leads Northeastern with 3.5 assists per game and ranks second with 11.3 points per game. Junior forward Tomas Murphy has missed the last 19 games with an injury.
KenPom.com predicts a 74-70 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 4.5-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 16-7 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. NORTHEASTERN
Hofstra is 24-23 against Northeastern in a series that began during the 1949-50 season. All but three of the meetings have come in conference play since the 1994-95 season, when Hofstra joined the North Atlantic Conference. The Dutchmen won for the seventh time in the last 10 meetings between the schools on Jan. 9, when Eli Pemberton hit a layup just before the buzzer to lift Hofstra to a 74-72 win. It was the second time in 52 weeks the Dutchmen snapped a 72-72 tie at the buzzer. Justin Wright-Foreman, of course, hit a running 34-footer on Jan. 5 2019 to give the Dutchmen a 75-72 win. The Dutchmen are looking to sweep the regular season series for the first time since 2016-17. Of course, the Huskies have won the most important game between the two teams over the five years — the CAA title game last Mar. 12, when Northeastern pulled away in the second half for an 82-74 victory.
THE BARONE BOWL
The Barone Bowl was established by me and Northeastern graduate Mike Brodsky during the 2009-10 season, after Northeastern and Hofstra dropped football within two weeks of one another (Hofstra’s decision, of course, was reached after a multi-year study, wink wink nudge nudge). Hey it sure is neat Hofstra is hosting Northeastern in the school’s first Winter Homecoming.
The Barone Bowl pays homage to the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond in which a Hofstra kicker boots a 68-yard field goal against Northeastern but Frank Barone catches the ball and refuses to give it up. Apparently that wasn’t the type of publicity either school liked. Anyway.
Northeastern leads the Barone Bowl series, 13-10, and won possession of the trophy for the first time since the 2014-15 season last spring. Grumble grumble. With a win today, Hofstra will wrest the trophy back. This, unfortunately, is a purely symbolic trophy, one which you will not find displayed by either school. But you can find me and Brodsky talking about it on Twitter!
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Aerosmith is freezing out Joey Kramer bias! (True story)
Alex Cora took the fall for the Astros bias! (Know your baseball current events, kids)
Napster bias! (Founder Shawn Fanning went to Northeastern before killing the record industry and flooding our old desktop with viruses)
Dave Leitao bias! (Hi Brodsky!)
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