I'll Be Quirky: Richmond

There's no doubt we'll pull off the big upset!

Well, that was almost fun at a historic level. The Flying Dutchmen came all the way back from a 23-point first half deficit against St. Bonaventure take a five-point lead with 6:08 left in the second half Saturday afternoon before they ran out of steam and fell to the Bonnies, 77-69. The Dutchmen will look to get back over .500 when they complete non-conference play (probably) this afternoon, when they are scheduled to face another Atlantic 10 power, Richmond. Here’s a look back at the loss to the Bonnies and a look ahead to the Spiders (ahhh, gross, creepy crawlies).

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

The Dutchmen fell behind 30-7 just 10:21 into the game before Jalen Ray scored all 28 of his points over the next 24:01 as the Dutchmen mounted a 59-32 run to take a 66-62 lead before going 1-for-7 from the field over the final 5:22. That’s a lot to happen in just 53 words. Ray had 17 of his points during a 20-9 spurt that ended the run. He finished the game 9-of-19 from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point land. Isaac Kante, who is averaging a double-double this season, had his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Tareq Coburn struggled in his second homecoming and finished with nine points on 2-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-9 from beyond the arc. Caleb Burgess had five points, six assists, three rebounds, two turnovers and one steal in 31 minutes.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. St. Bonaventure 12/19)

3: Jalen Ray

2: Isaac Kante

1: Caleb Burgess

SEASON STANDINGS

Jalen Ray 11

Tareq Coburn 11

Isaac Kante 7

Caleb Burgess 3

KVonn Cramer 3

Kevin Schutte 1

THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER SIX GAMES

As you have probably gathered by now, the Dutchmen are 3-3, which is tied for the 37th-best start in program history. Twenty-seven other teams began 3-3, most recently the 2018-19 squad. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through six games.

NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1975-76: 3-3

1976-77: 5-1

1999-2000: 3-3

2000-01: 5-1

2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 4-2

NIT TEAMS

1998-99: 2-4

2004-05: 6-0 (most recent 6-0 start)

2005-06: 4-2

2006-07: 3-3

2015-16: 4-2

2018-19: 3-3

Some other notable six-game starts:

2013-14: 2-4 (most recent 2-4 start)

2012-13: 3-3 (last time at .500 that season because…well, you know)

2008-09: 5-1 (most recent 5-1 start)

1994-95: 1-5 (Jay Wright’s first team)

1993-94: 1-5 (VBK’s last team)

1978-79: 3-3 (last time at .500)

1973-74: 0-6 (most recent 0-6 start, Hofstra won game no. 7 and has never started 0-7)

1943-44: 3-3 (last time at .500)

Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43, 1948-49, 1951-52, 1954-55, 1957-58.

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.

CLOSE COMEBACK

The Dutchmen flirted with their biggest comeback win in memory Saturday. If my research is correct, the biggest comeback in the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-pres) happened Feb. 25, 2016, when the Dutchmen overcame an 18-point deficit to beat UNC Wilmington, 70-69. As it was, taking the lead after falling behind by 23 points marks the Dutchmen’s biggest comeback in a loss of the Joe Mihalich era. The Dutchmen overcame 17-point deficits to take the lead before losing to James Madison, 59-53, on Feb. 10, 2014 and to Indiana State, 67-66, on Nov. 23, 2015.

RAY DAY! RAY DAY!

Jalen Ray finished with a game-high 28 points Saturday, one point shy of matching his career-high (as well as another milestone, which we’ll get to shortly). He set that career-high a mere four days earlier against Monmouth. The back-to-back 20-point games give Ray three 20-point efforts this season, one more than he had in his first three seasons combined. In addition, Ray drained a career-high six 3-pointers Saturday, bettering his previous best of five 3-pointers, set five times previously. All that means…

RAY’S RECOGNITION

…Ray earned CAA player of the week honors for the back-to-back big games against Monmouth and St. Bonaventure. It’s the first player of the week award for Ray, who is the first Dutchman to earn player of the week honors since Desure Buie did so for the week ending Feb. 23. Ray is the second Hofstra player to earn a weekly honor from the CAA. KVonn Cramer was named rookie of the week for the week ending Dec. 6.

RAY DAY? RAY DAY?

Jalen Ray enters today’s game with 999 career points, which, if my math is correct, leaves him one point shy of becoming the 39th Hofstra player to score 1,000 points, including the 21st to do so in the Defiantly Dutch era.

That got me thinking: How close have his 20 predecessors been to 1,000 points prior to the game in which they reached the milestone and has anyone actually entered a game with 999 points? The answer is doubly remarkable. Not only has a player twice entered a game with 999 points, but the last player to do so was current assistant coach Craig “Speedy” Claxton, who had 999 points entering the Dutchmen’s game against Rutgers on…I am not kidding here, Dec 22, 1998. That’s 22 years ago today! Stats! The other player with 999 points prior to the game in which he hit 1,000 is James Shaffer, the first member of the DD-era 1,000-point club.

Here is the entire list of how many points the 20 most recent members of the 1,000-point club had prior to the game in which they hit the milestone. Check out Desure Buie!

Speedy Claxton 999 pts prior to 12/22/98

James Shaffer 999 pts prior to 3/2/95

Loren Stokes 998 pts prior to 12/30/05

Kenny Adeleke 996 pts prior to 12/31/03

Eli Pemberton 995 pts prior to 12/1/18

Roberto Gittens 995 pts prior to 12/27/99

Antoine Agudio 994 pts prior to 3/20/06

Mike Moore 993 pts prior to 2/11/12

Darius Burton 992 pts prior to 1/24/97

Justin Wright-Foreman 991 pts prior to 1/7/18

Rick Apodaca 991 pts prior to 2/9/02

Rokas Gustys 990 pts prior to 1/5/18

Ameen Tanksley 990 pts prior to 2/25/16

Juan’ya Green 990 pts prior to 2/7/16

Nathaniel Lester 990 pts prior to 2/1/12

Carlos Rivera 990 pts prior to 1/27/07

Norman Richardson 988 pts prior to 2/6/00

Brian Bernardi 983 pts prior to 1/2/17

Charles Jenkins 976 pts prior to 2/28/09

Desure Buie 968 pts prior to 1/4/20 

OVER THE AIR

Today’s game is scheduled to be broadcast on SNY (Teevee! The teevee!), which is channel 60 for those of us subjected to our Altice overlords, as well as on ESPN3. Hofstra will provide a radio feed, as well as live stats, at the Pride Productions hub.

RICHMOND AND THE ATLANTIC 10

Richmond, under 16th-year head coach Chris Mooney, is 6-1 this season after edging Loyola-Chicago, 75-73, on Friday night. The Spiders upset Kentucky 76-64 on Nov. 29 and suffered their only loss on Dec. 13, when they fell to top-10 West Virginia 87-71. 

The Spiders were picked to finish first in the A-10’s preseason poll after going 24-7 and finishing second in the A-10 with a 14-4 mark last season, when they were positioned to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 season. Three Richmond players were selected to the preseason all-A10 teams. Senior guard Jacob Gilyard was selected to the all-A10 first team as well as the all-defensive team while senior guard Blake Francis and senior forward Grant Golden were named to the all-A10 second team.

Francis (16.4 ppg) leads five Richmond players averaging in double figures. Golden ranks second in both scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg). Tyler Burton leads the Spiders in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and is also averaging 11.6 ppg. Gilyard is averaging 11.9 ppg and leads the team with 6.0 assists per game.

The Dutchmen are 0-3 all-time against Richmond. The two teams last met on Nov. 19, 2014, when the late great Zeke Upshaw had his coming out party as he scored a career-high 37 points for the Dutchmen, who never trailed in regulation before falling to the Spiders, 74-63, in overtime.

This marks the eighth straight season in which Hofstra has faced at least one A-10 school, Hofstra is 36-106 all-time against current Atlantic 10 schools, a membership that includes former Dutchmen conference foes George Mason (CAA), La Salle (ECC) and VCU (CAA). 

This is, of course, the second straight game the Dutchmen have played an A-10 foe following Saturday’s loss to St. Bonaventure. It’s the first time Hofstra has played schools from the same league in back-to-back games since a three-game stretch against the MAAC’s Monmouth, Rider and Manhattan from Dec 5-10, 2018.

At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 158th while Richmond is ranked 74th. KenPom.com predicts a 77-69 loss for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 13-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 4-2 against the spread this season following Saturday’s rollercoaster cover.

ALMOST RANKED RICHMOND

The Dutchmen, who opened the season by visiting then-no. 24 Rutgers, almost got a rare second game against a ranked opponent. Richmond just missed out on the AP top 25 this week, when it received the 27th-most votes, 25 fewer than no. 25 Oregon. But Jeff Goodman has the Spiders in his top 25, so if the Dutchmen win, we’ll count this as a top-25 win!

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

Arachnophobia bias! (This would mean we’re biased against people who have a fear of spiders, but I just like the sound of arachnophobia bias)

You’re the other Richmond school bias! (Hi Pav!)

Jerry Wainwright bias! (Richmond, which was in the CAA but before Hofstra joined, was coached by Wainwright after he left the CAA, where he opposed Hofstra with UNCW. Got it?)

You still get publicity from I-AA football bias! (duh)

You give Glenallen Hill nightmares bias! (The longtime power-hitting outfielder once needed a DL stint after getting injured sleepwalking during a nightmare about spiders)

I'll Be Quirky: St. Bonaventure

May the Flying Dutchmen suck like a fox, a la bootleggers Homer and Bart, this afternoon! 

The Flying Dutchmen built their first winning streak of the season in entertaining fashion Tuesday night, when they traded haymakers (and 3-pointers) with Monmouth before pulling away late in the second half for a 96-88 victory. The Dutchmen will hope to get a chance to make it three in a row today, when they trek outside the metro New York City area for the first time by going way upstate to visit St. Bonaventure. Here’s a look back at the win over the Hawks and a look ahead to the Bonnies.

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Jalen Ray (29 points) set his career high and Tareq Coburn (28 points) tied his as they mounted a 1-2 punch to lead the Dutchmen past Monmouth. The teams traded the lead seven times in the first half before the dutchmen took the lead for good on a layup by KVonn Cramer with 3:34 left. Ray (11 points) and Coburn (nine points) did their best Desure Buie/Eli Pemberton imitation by scoring 20 straight points for the Dutchmen during a span of more than eight minutes in the second half. That stretch included another pair of clutch go-ahead shots by Ray, who hit a 3-pointer to snap the penultimate tie of the game with 13:43 remaining before he hit two free throws to give the Dutchmen the lead for good at 64-62 with 12:53 to go. The Dutchmen needed a few more minutes to begin pulling away with an 8-0 run fueled entirely by the trio of Issac Kante, Vukasin Masic and Cramer. The Dutchmen went a robust 29-of-32 from the line, including a 14-of-16 effort by Coburn and a 7-of-7 effort by Ray, the latter of whom was 9-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point land. Kevin Schutte had six points and a career-high 10 rebounds while playing 16 minutes in place of a struggling Kante, who finished with seven points and nine rebounds. The Dutchmen and Monmouth combined to go a whopping 26-of-54 from beyond the arc.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Monmouth 12/15)

3: Jalen Ray

2: Tareq Coburn

1: Kevin Schutte

SEASON STANDINGS

Tareq Coburn 11

Jalen Ray 8

Isaac Kante 5

KVonn Cramer 3

Caleb Burgess 2

Kevin Schutte 1

COACHSPEAK: “Glad we scored 96 points, because we needed ‘em tonight.”—acting head coach Mike Farrelly

WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?

No! But it’s been almost 44 years since the Flying Dutchmen beat Siena, 96-88, on Feb. 24, 1977. That came during a season in which the Dutchmen earned a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. We’ll take that again, please and thanks.

The Dutchmen have yet to record a unicorn score this season. *insert Milhouse crying and wondering where the unicorn scores are here* The Dutchmen recorded 13 unicorn score victories last season, three more than in 2018-19, which was when we first started tracking unicorn scores. 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. 

THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER FIVE GAMES

As you have probably gathered by now, the Dutchmen are 3-2, which is tied for the 22nd-best start in program history. Thirty-one other teams began 3-2, most recently last year’s squad. Things turned out OK after that. This is the fourth straight 3-2 start for the Dutchmen, the program’s longest stretch of 3-2 starts since a four-season stretch from 1983-84 through 1986-87. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through five games.

NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1975-76: 2-3

1976-77: 4-1

1999-2000: 3-2

2000-01: 4-1

2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 3-2

NIT TEAMS

1998-99: 2-3

2004-05: 5-0 (most recent 5-0 start)

2005-06: 4-1

2006-07: 2-3

2015-16: 3-2

2018-19: 2-2

NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1958-59: 3-2

1961-62: 4-1

1962-63: 3-2 (over .500 for good)

1963-64: 4-1

Other notable five-game starts:

2016-17: 2-3 (most recent 2-3 start)

2013-14: 2-3 (Joe Mihalich’s first team)

2012-13: 3-2 (last time over .500 that season because…well, you know)

2010-11: 2-3 (last time under .500)

2008-09: 4-1 (most recent 4-1 start)

1994-95: 1-4 (Jay Wright’s first team)

1993-94: 1-4 (VBK’s last team)

1978-79: 3-2 (last time over .500)

1974-75: 2-3 (last time under .500)

1973-74: 0-5 (most recent 0-5 start)

1972-73: 2-3 (under .500 for good)

1950-51: 3-2 (over .500 for good)

1944-45: 2-3 (under .500 for good)

1937-38: 3-2 (over .500 for good)

Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43, 1948-49, 1951-52, 1954-55, 1957-58.

This feature is inspired by Mets superfan and blogger Greg Prince, who measures how the current Mets compare, record-wise, to previous teams through the same point in the season.

FARRELLY FINALLY OVER .500

We kid, we kid. But with the win Tuesday night, acting head coach Mike Farrelly moved over .500 for the first time. Among head coaches who did not win their Hofstra debuts, Farrelly is just the second to get over .500 for the first time by his fifth game. Hofstra’s first men’s basketball team got over .500 for the first time at 3-2 under Jack McDonald in 1936-37. Joe Harrington got over .500 for the first time at 4-3 in his lone season at the helm in 1979-80.

The three men to lead the Flying Dutchmen to an NCAA berth at the Division I level all took far longer to get over .500 for the first time. Roger Gaeckler needed 127 games (almost five full seasons) to get over .500 on Feb. 21, 1977, when the Dutchmen beat American, 89-78. Jay Wright needed 143 games (also almost five full seasons) to get over .500 on Feb. 27, 1999, when the Dutchmen beat Vermont, 69-59, in an America East quarterfinal game. And the Dutchmen lost their final two games of the season to drop Wright back under .500 FIRE HIM. And Joe Mihalich got over .500 for the first time in his 87th game on Jan. 24, 2016, when the Dutchmen beat William & Mary, 91-63. Mihalich’s Hofstra head coaching record has remained over .500 thereafter.

CLIPPING THE HAWKS

The Dutchmen have now won their last four games against Monmouth. That’s pretty impressive, but it’s not the longest active winning streak against a non-conference foe. The Dutchmen have beaten SUNY-Stony Brook five straight times. Heh. Among conference foes, the Dutchmen entered this season with an eight-game winning streak against Drexel and a five-game winning streak against Elon.

STILL NOT TWO UNDER .500

The win Tuesday ensured the Dutchmen would at least get to the scheduled start of conference play without falling two games under .500 for the first time since the end of the 2016-17 season. Only 65 other Division I teams have gone as long or longer without falling two games under .500, including 56 programs whose streak predates the 2016-17 finale and nine others who were last two games under .500 as of the end of their ’16-17 season.

Among true mid-majors (defined by me as schools outside the Power 6, AAC, A-10, West Coast and Mountain West), Hofstra’s streak is exceeded by just 13 schools and matched by two more. Two schools fell off the list last week as Charleston lost on Wednesday and UNC Greensboro lost on Thursday to fall two games under .500 for the first time since the end of the 2014-15 season and the end of the 2015-16 season, respectively. Here’s the full list and the date the program was most recently two games under .500:

Louisiana Tech: 2/16/12

New Mexico State: 1/3/15

UAB: 1/17/15

Furman: end of ’14-15

Vermont: 12/8/15

Northern Kentucky: end of ’15-16

Loyola Chicago: end of ’15-16

Georgia Southern: 11/22/16

Belmont: 11/25/16

Liberty: 1/3/17

Buffalo: 1/31/17

Murray State: 2/25/17

South Dakota State: 2/18/17

HOFSTRA: end of ’16-17

Hawaii: end of ’16-17

Western Kentucky: end of ’16-17

TWICE AS NICE CAREER NIGHTS

Jalen Ray and Tareq Coburn set and matched their career-high scoring efforts Tuesday, when Ray finished with 29 points and Coburn had 28 points. It marked the first time two players scored in double figures and matched or exceeded their career-high in points for the Dutchmen since Jan. 4, when Desure Buie shattered his career high with 44 points and Isaac Kante scored 19 points, tying his career-high, in a 102-75 win over Elon. It also happened once earlier last season on Nov. 21, 2019, when Buie (29 points) and Ray (27 points) both set career highs in the 88-78 upset of UCLA.

FREE STUFF IS NICE

The Dutchmen’s nearly perfect effort from the free throw line Tuesday night, when they shot 90.6 percent (29-of-32), was likely a historical performance. At the least, they were the first Division I team this season to shoot at least 90 percent from the line while taking at least 30 free throws. UNC Wilmington did it Friday afternoon when they were 28-of-31 for 90.3 percent in an 80-72 win over Norfolk State.

Prior to Tuesday, no team had shot at least 90 percent from the line while taking at least 30 attempts since Duke (of course) shot 91.2 percent from the line (31-of-34) in a 113-101 double-overtime loss (hee hee) over Wake Forest on Feb. 25. In keeping with the theme of really unlikable coaches: Six days earlier, Miami was 29-of-32 from the line in a 102-95 triple-overtime win over Virginia Tech. The last team to shoot at least 90 percent from the line while taking at least 30 attempts in a regulation game was Georgia State, which was also 31-of-34 from the line in a 92-80 win over Coastal Carolina on Feb. 15. While we’re big fans of ex-Georgia State coach Ron Hunter, we have nothing against Rob Lanier.

In addition, as far as I can tell, this is the best free throw shooting performance (minimum 30 attempts) for Hofstra in the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-pres). I don’t have a 2002-03 or 1994-95 media guide handy to check the 2001-02 or 1993-94 seasons, but I’m pretty confident this is the best the Dutchmen have shot from the line in the last 27 seasons.

CONTACT FOR COBURN

Tareq Coburn joined some pretty select company by getting to the line as often as he did Tuesday, when he was 14-of-16 from the line. It marked the second time Coburn has gone to the line at least 16 times in his last three games. He was 13-of-17 from the line against Iona on Dec. 5. Only one other Hofstra player has multiple games with at least 16 free throw attempts since 2010-11, the start of the Play Index era at CollegeBasketballReference.com, and Juan’ya Green did it in a span of 43 games. Green was 13-of-17 from the line against South Florida on Nov. 25, 2014, 13-of-14 against Charleston on Jan. 8, 2015 and 14-of-16 against UNC Wilmington on Feb. 4, 2016.

In addition, Coburn’s ability to get to the line so frequently early this season is doubly notable because he didn’t have 16 free throw attempts COMBINED in any two-game span prior to the game against Iona. Coburn took 13 free throw attempts combined against Drexel (1-of-2) and Delaware (8-of-11) in the CAA Tournament quarterfinals and semifinals on Mar. 8-9. 

RAY OF LIGHT

Jalen Ray moved closer to becoming the newest member of Hofstra’s 1,000-point club Tuesday night, when he scored a career-high 29 points. He now has 971 points, which means *carries the one, drops the remainder* he’s now 29 points away from reaching 1,000 points for his career. Who says math can’t be fun or useful in a sports context?

IT’S RAINING THREES

Monmouth shot a blistering 15-of-30 from 3-point land Tuesday night, which marked the most 3-pointers surrendered by the Dutchmen since Bucknell drained 15 shots from beyond the arc in the Bison’s 86-71 win on Nov. 13, 2018 and the most 3-pointers surrendered by the Dutchmen in a win since Jan. 21, 2016, when Northeastern hit 17 3-pointers but fell, 96-92, in the triple-overtime classic in Boston.

TURNOVER (AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER)

The Dutchmen committed 23 turnovers Tuesday, their most since they made 23 turnovers against (drumroll please) Monmouth in a 91-62 loss on Nov. 9, 2011. The 23 turnovers were Hofstra’s most in a win since Dec. 9, 2017, when the Dutchmen committed 22 turnovers in a 88-82 win over Rider.

HELLUVA HALF

The Dutchmen led Monmouth 49-47 at the half Tuesday night. It marked the highest-scoring half Hofstra was involved in since Feb. 23, 2019, when the Dutchmen outscored James Madison 57-49 in the second half yet only forced overtime, where they fell to the Dukes, 104-99. That was painful. 

OVER THE AIR

Today's game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN3. Hofstra will provide a radio feed, as well as live stats, at the Pride Productions hub.

ST. BONAVENTURE AND THE ATLANTIC 10

St. Bonaventure, under 14th-year head coach Mark Schmidt, is 1-0 after opening its season with an 81-74 win over Akron on Tuesday night. The Bonnies were originally scheduled to play the very first game of the Division I season at 9 AM on Nov. 25 — against Towson, no less — but had to pull out of the Bubbleville tournament due to a positive coronavirus case within their Tier 1 personnel. Another potential season-opener Dec. 12 against St. Francis (PA) was canceled hours before tipoff when someone within the Red Flash’s party tested positive.

The Bonnies, who are one of just nine Division I teams without a senior on their roster, were picked to finish fourth in the A-10’s preseason poll after going 19-12 and finishing tied for fifth in the league last season. Junior guard Kyle Lofton was selected to the preseason A-10 second team while junior forward Osun Osunniyi was picked to the third team and the all-defensive team. Against Akron, Osunniyi scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds while Lofton had 17 points and five assists.

Lofton led the nation in minutes played last season (38.4 minutes per game) while leading the A-10 in assists (6.0 apg) and the Bonnies in scoring (14.1 ppg). Osunniyi led the Bonnies with 8.4 rebounds per game and averaged 10.8 ppg. Lofton and Osunniyi were high school teammates at Putnam Science Academy in New Jersey.

The Dutchmen are 1-5 all-time against St. Bonaventure. The two teams last met on Dec. 7, 2019, when the Bonnies celebrated the 50th anniversary of their Final Four team by handing Hofstra a 73-45 loss. The 45 points are the fewest the Dutchmen have scored under Joe Mihalich while the 28-point margin of defeat is tied for the most lopsided loss absorbed under Mihalich.

This marks the eighth straight season in which Hofstra has faced at least one A-10 school, Hofstra is 36-105 all-time against current Atlantic 10 schools, a membership that includes former Dutchmen conference foes George Mason (CAA), La Salle (ECC) and VCU (CAA). The Dutchmen are scheduled to face another A-10 school, Richmond, on Tuesday night.

At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 155th while St. Bonaventure is ranked 72nd. KenPom.com predicts a 79-69 loss for the Dutchmen. You didn’t believe in us Tuesday night either, Ken, but we showed you! Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 10.5-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 3-2 against the spread this season.

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

You wish you still had Tareq Coburn bias! (The Dutchmen’s star forward transferred to Hofstra after playing one season at St. Bonaventure and may be the first Hofstra player to oppose his former school twice, hmmm, might need to look that up)

Prohibition bias! (Per Wikipedia which is never wrong, Olean was a hotbed for bootlegging during the Prohibition)

You might have better sportswriter alums than us bias! (An oldie but goodie, but Mike Vaccaro and Adrian Wojnarowski are pretty, pretty good)

You have six Pulitzer Prize winners bias! (Apparently St. Bonaventure graduates some pretty good writers in other areas, too)

I'll Be Quirky: Monmouth

May the Dutchmen have the Jersey shore experience enjoyed by Mac and Frank, and not the one endured by Dee, Dennis and Charlie.

The Flying Dutchmen won the only must-win game of the year Wednesday night, when they frittered away most of a 23-point second half lead before re-asserting Island supremacy by edging SUNY-Stony Brook, 72-67. The Dutchmen are scheduled to take a third shot at getting over .500 for the first time tonight, when they are slated to head to the Jersey shore to visit Monmouth. Here’s a look back at the win over the Patriots and a look ahead to the Hawks.

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Tareq Coburn (19 points, eight rebounds) led all scorers for a second straight game, but it was Jalen Ray who hit the biggest shots as the Dutchmen avoided an epic collapse at the Arena. Ray was just 2-of-9 from the field when he sank a jumper with 2:41 left that stopped a 22-2 run by SUNY-Stony Brook. Mouhamadou Gueye followed with a dunk for the Patriots to pull them back within 64-61 and Ray missed a 3-pointer, but with a chance to tie the score, Juan Felix Rodriguez turned the ball over on the subsequent possession and Ray followed with another jumper to extend the lead back to five. Gueye then hit two free throws but freshman Vukasin Masic sealed the victory with his first career basket. Caleb Burgess cemented his grip on the point guard spot by scoring a career-high 12 points and adding six assists while committing just one turnover. Isaac Kante (15 points, eight rebounds) flirted with a double-double and Ray finished with 10 points.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. SUNY-Stony Brook 12/9)

3: Tareq Coburn

2: Caleb Burgess

1: Jalen Ray

SEASON STANDINGS

Tareq Coburn 9

Jalen Ray 5

Isaac Kante 5

KVonn Cramer 3

Caleb Burgess 2

COACHSPEAK: “I thought we played 32 good minutes. Great energy — what we didn’t have the other night in the second half against Iona, we had tonight.”—acting head coach Mike Farrelly

WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?

No! And it didn’t take long to figure that out. The Dutchmen beat Central Connecticut, 72-67, on Dec. 15, 2014 for Joe Mihalich’s third win at the helm. As the child of a pair of Central Connecticut grads, I may or may not have dubbed that The Beach Bowl.

The Dutchmen have yet to record a unicorn score this season. C’mon guys, get with it. The Dutchmen recorded 13 unicorn score victories last season, three more than in 2018-19, which was when we first started tracking unicorn scores. 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. 

THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER FOUR GAMES

As you have probably gathered by now, the Dutchmen are 2-2, which is tied for the 34th-best start in program history. Thirty other teams began 2-2, most recently last year’s squad. Things turned out OK after that. This is the third straight 2-2 start for the Dutchmen, the program’s longest stretch of 2-2 starts since a five-season stretch from 1941-42 through 1945-46. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through four games.

NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1975-76: 2-2

1976-77: 3-1

1999-2000: 2-2

2000-01: 4-0

2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 2-2

NIT TEAMS

1998-99: 1-3

2004-05: 4-0 (most recent 4-0 start)

2005-06: 2-1

2006-07: 1-3

2015-16: 3-1

2018-19: 2-2

NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1958-59: 2-2

1961-62: 3-1

1962-63: 2-2

1963-64: 3-1

Other notable four-game starts:

2017-18: 3-1 (most recent 3-1 start)

2013-14: 1-3 (most recent 1-3 start)

1994-95: 1-3 (Jay Wright’s first team)

1993-94: 0-4 (VBK’s last team, most recent 0-4 start)

This feature is inspired by Mets superfan and blogger Greg Prince, who measures how the current Mets compare, record-wise, to previous teams through the same point in the season.

WHO STILL RULES THE ISLAND?

Hofstra does, of course. The win last Wednesday was the Flying Dutchmen’s fifth straight over SUNY-Stony Brook and the sixth in seven seasons since the series resumed in 2014. Hofstra is 25-22-1 in all sports against SUNY-Stony Brook since the two schools began scheduling each other again in the spring of 2014, including 20-11-1 since the 2016-17 school year began. (To be fair, Hofstra is 1-1 this year following the Flying Dutchwomen’s 63-52 loss to SUNY-Stony Brook on Monday afternoon)

FOUR FOR FARRELLY

Acting head coach Mike Farrelly improved to 2-2 at the helm with the win over SUNY-Stony Brook. He is the first head coach to open 2-2 since Butch van Breda Kolff did so in his second stint in 1988-89 and the eighth to do so overall. Jack McDonald (1936-37), Jack Smith (1943-44), Paul Lynner (1962-63), Roger Gaeckler (1972-73), Joe Harrington (1979-80) and Dick Berg (1980-81) are the others. Mo Cassara (2010-11) and Joe Mihalich (2013-14) each opened 1-3 while Tom Pecora opened 3-1 in 2001-02. Frank Reilly (1947-48) and van Breda Kolff (1955-56) each began 4-0 while McDonald began his second stint at 3-1 in 1946-47.

STILL NOT TWO UNDER .500

The win Monday also ensured the Dutchmen would not fall two games under .500 for the first time since the end of the 2016-17 season. Only 65 other Division I teams have gone as long or longer without falling two games under .500, including 56 programs whose streak predates the 2016-17 finale and nine others who were last two games under .500 as of the end of their ’16-17 season.

Among true mid-majors (defined by me as schools outside the Power 6, AAC, A-10, West Coast and Mountain West), Hofstra’s streak is exceeded by just 13 schools and matched by two more. Two schools fell off the list last week as Charleston lost on Wednesday and UNC Greensboro lost on Thursday to fall two games under .500 for the first time since the end of the 2014-15 season and the end of the 2015-16 season, respectively. Here’s the full list and the date the program was most recently two games under .500:

Louisiana Tech: 2/16/12

New Mexico State: 1/3/15

UAB: 1/17/15

Furman: end of ’14-15

Vermont: 12/8/15

Northern Kentucky: end of ’15-16

Loyola Chicago: end of ’15-16

Georgia Southern: 11/22/16

Belmont: 11/25/16

Liberty: 1/3/17

Buffalo: 1/31/17

Murray State: 2/25/17

South Dakota State: 2/18/17

HOFSTRA: end of ’16-17

Hawaii: end of ’16-17

Western Kentucky: end of ’16-17

WHEW

The Dutchmen led by as many as 23 points Wednesday night before SUNY-Stony Brook got as close as three points a handful of times in the last three minutes. That marked the biggest near-blown lead for the Dutchmen since Feb. 14, 2019, when they led by 24 points in the second half of a 99-95 win over Charleston.

EIGHT WAS ENOUGH

The Dutchmen had eight players score in the first half Wednesday, the most players they’ve put into the scorebook before halftime since eight players scored in the first half of a 94-74 win over — whoa — Monmouth on Nov. 9, 2019. 

TORRID TAREQ

So far, the answer to who is going to replace the production of Desure Buie and Eli Pemberton is Tareq Coburn. The senior remained hot Wednesday, when he scored 19 points while shooting 7-of-11 from the field. Coburn has shot 54.1 percent (20-of-37) while scoring 68 points in the Dutchmen’s last three games. It’s his highest-scoring three-game stretch as well as his best shooting performance over three games since he shot 63.3 percent (19-of-30) against Rider, Manhattan and SUNY-Stony Brook from Dec. 8-19, 2018.

CALEB’S THE BURGEONING POINT GUARD

The competition to replace Buie at point guard, meanwhile, ended almost as quickly as it began. Caleb Burgess had a second straight strong game Wednesday, when he set career-highs with 12 points in 35 minutes while dishing out six assists, one shy of the career-high set the previous game against Iona, and committing no turnovers. Burgess has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 13/1 over the last two games, which is the most assists with one turnover or fewer over a two-game span since Buie also had a 13/1 assist-to-turnover ratio against UNC Wilmington and Towson on Feb. 16-21, 2019. Any doubt the job belongs to Burgess was removed last week when junior college transfer Shawndarius Cowart, who was expected to battle for the job with Burgess, left the team after playing four games and entered the transfer portal.

WELCOME TO THE ALL-TIME SCORING LIST

Freshmen David Green and Vukasin Masic scored their first collegiate points in bookend fashion Wednesday. Green, who started and went scoreless in his first three games, scored all five of his points Wednesday in the first 2:41. Masic, inserted into the game in the final minute because KVonn Cramer had four fouls, drained the most clutch first career basket in memory by hitting a baseline layup with 31 seconds left left to put the Dutchmen up 68-63.

OVER THE AIR

Tonight’s game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN3. Hofstra will provide a radio feed, as well as live stats, at the Pride Productions hub.

MONMOUTH AND THE MAAC

Monmouth, under 10th-year head coach King Rice, is scheduled to open its season tonight. The Hawks and Hofstra were scheduled to open the season Nov. 25, but that game was postponed hours before opening tip after a Tier 1 member of the Monmouth program tested positive for the coronavirus. The positive result forced Monmouth to cancel games against Maryland (Dec. 1) and St. Francis (Dec. 4).

This is expected to be the only non-conference game for Monmouth, which is scheduled to open MAAC play against Saint Peter’s on Friday. I joined The Hawks Nest Podcast over the weekend to discuss the game, check out the podcast here.

Monmouth was picked to finish third in the preseason MAAC coaches poll after going 18-13 and finishing tied for third in the MAAC with a 12-6 league mark last season. Senior guard Deion Hammond was named to the preseason all-MAAC first team after earning first-team honors last season, when he led the Hawks with 16.3 points per game.

This is the fourth straight season in which Hofstra and Monmouth have opposed each other. The Dutchmen are 4-6 all-time against Monmouth but have won the last three games, including last season, when Hofstra cruised to a 94-74 win on Long Island.

At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 160th while Monmouth is ranked 188th. KenPom.com predicts a 74-73 loss for the Dutchmen. Why don’t you believe in us, Ken? Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 2-2 against the spread this season.

Hofstra is 102-119 all-time against current MAAC schools. The loss to Iona on Dec. 5 snapped a six-game winning streak for the Dutchmen against the MAAC. This marks the 14th time in the last 15 seasons the Dutchmen are scheduled to play at least two MAAC schools (the 2014-15 schedule had no MAAC teams).

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

Rum ham bias! (Mac and Frank ate rum ham while Dee and Dennis had a nightmarish experience at the Jersey shore)

Sun block drink bias! (That’s how Charlie tripped out)

Chris Hogan bias! (The AFC East-touring wide receiver played football at Monmouth, cool, I-AA football attention!)

North Carolina blue blood bias! (Rice and assistant coach J.R. Reid both played for North Carolina back when I rooted for the Tar Heels instead of Hofstra)