Chris Ray was good, but Jalen Ray is better.
A CAA season unlike any other officially got underway Saturday, when the Flying Dutchmen took a 14-point first-half lead against William & Mary before fending off a late comeback for an atypically-low-scoring-for-this-rivalry 61-56 win. The two teams are scheduled to hopefully complete the back-to-back set this afternoon with another game at the Arena. Here’s a look back at the win over the Tribe and a look ahead to…the game with the Tribe. Weird season.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Isaac Kante (15 points and 14 rebounds) posted his third straight double-double and Caleb Burgess (nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists) flirted with a triple-double in a breakout performance as the Dutchmen overcame a rough shooting night to hold off William & Mary. Burgess scored a pair of baskets in a three-possession span shortly before the midway point of the second half for the Dutchmen, who scored just 19 points in the final 16 minutes. The Tribe got as close as three points twice in the final minute but Luke Loewe (27 points) turned the ball over with a chance to close the gap to one or two points. Tareq Coburn scored 13 points and had three blocks. Jalen Ray was limited to seven points on 2-of-11 shooting but added a career-high nine rebounds. The Dutchmen shot just 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the field and were just 2-of-18 from 3-point land.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. William & Mary 1/2)
3: Isaac Kante
2: Caleb Burgess
1: Tareq Coburn
SEASON STANDINGS
Jalen Ray 14
Tareq Coburn 13
Isaac Kante 12
Caleb Burgess 5
KVonn Cramer 3
Kevin Schutte 1
COACHSPEAK: “It’s 1-0, however you get it. You only get so many opportunities to do this. To get to 1-0 in conference — ugly, pretty, a million points, 61 points, that doesn’t matter. 1-0 is all that matters at the end of the day. So we did what we needed to do.”—acting head coach Mike Farrelly
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No and I’m starting to FREAK OUT A LITTLE BIT HERE, GUYS. You have to figure there were plenty of 61-56 games back in the days before offense became turbo-charged, and sure enough, they used to happen twice a year! The 61-56 win was the first for the Flying Dutchmen since a Bracket Busters (ugh) victory over Fairfield on Feb. 21, 2009 That was the second 61-56 win of the season. The Dutchmen also beat SUNY-Stony Brook by that score on Dec. 10, 2008.
The Dutchmen have yet to record a unicorn score this season. *taps feet impatiently* 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 EIGHT GAMES
With the win Saturday, the Dutchmen improved to 5-3, which is tied for the 23rd-best start in school history. Fifteen other teams began 5-3, including each of the last four. That’s as wild as the previous four teams opening 4-3! Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through eight games.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 4-4
1976-77: 6-2
1999-2000: 4-4
2000-01: 6-2
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 5-3
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 4-4
2004-05: 8-0 (most recent 8-0 start)
2005-06: 6-2
2006-07: 5-3 (over .500 for good)
2015-16: 6-2 (most recent 6-2 start)
2018-19: 5-3 (marked second win in the 16-game winning streak)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 4-4
1961-62: 7-1
1962-63: 6-2
1963-64: 7-1
Some other notable eight-game starts:
2013-14: 2-6 (most recent 2-6 start)
2012-13: 3-5 (most recent 3-5 start)
2008-09: 7-1 (most recent 6-1 start)
2002-03: 1-7 (most recent 1-7 start)
1994-95: 2-6 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-7 (VBK’s last team)
1960-61: 8-0
1959-60: 8-0
1955-56: 8-0
1947-48: 8-0
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.
FOR OPENERS
The win Saturday improved the Dutchmen to 12-8 in CAA openers. Hofstra has won four straight league openers, the second-longest active streak behind Northeastern, which ran its league-opener winning streak to a whopping nine games with a 75-52 win over Elon Saturday afternoon. Bill Coen, everyone. All four of the CAA teams that have yet to make their league debut this season lost their conference opener last season.
IS THAT TOM PECORA AND TONY SHAVER’S MUSIC I HEAR?
After more than a half-decade of combining for pinball-like high scores, the Dutchmen and Tribe boarded a time machine Saturday. The 61 points by Hofstra and the 117 total points scored Saturday were both the fewest by the winner of a Dutchmen-Tribe game and the fewest total points scored since…no kidding, Jan. 2, 2010, when William & Mary eked out a 48-47 victory. The winner of a Hofstra-William & Mary game hadn’t scored fewer than 70 points since the Dutchmen’s 67-64 win on Jan. 22, 2011.
NO ASTERISK NEXT TO THIS 61
The 61 points by the Dutchmen were tied for the second-fewest they’ve scored in a victory since Joe Mihalich arrived in the fall of 2013. The Dutchmen have scored 61 points in a victory three times since 2013-14, first on Feb. 8, 2014 (61-52 over UNC Wilmington) and then again in the CAA quarterfinals on Mar. 8, 2010 (61-43 over Drexel). Ironically, in that it’s not ironic at all, the Dutchmen’s fewest points in a victory under Mihalich also came in a CAA opener on Dec. 31, 2016, when Hofstra edged Delaware, 58-56.
WHO NEEDS THREES?
Well, usually everyone. But the Dutchmen won Saturday despite going just 2-of-18 from 3-point land. That’s the lowest percentage of 3-pointers with that many attempts in a win for the Dutchmen at least the 2003-04 season, which is as far back as my individual game logs go at home. The Dutchmen were 2-of-15 (13.3 percent) in a 64-51 win over Florida International on Nov 19, 2005.
Entering Saturday, just six teams had won a game this season in which they shot 11.1 percent or worse on 18 or more attempts from 3-point land. Remarkably, two of them did it against Northeastern. Syracuse was 2-of-18 from beyond the arc in a 62-56 win on Dec. 16 while West Virginia was 2-of-21 from beyond the arc in a 73-51 win on Tuesday.
It’s actually the second time this year the Dutchmen have won despite hitting two or fewer 3-pointers. They were 2-of-10 in the 73-58 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 30. The Dutchmen last won multiple games with two or fewer 3-pointers during the 2011-12 campaign, when they were 2-of-6 in a 63-59 win over St. Francis (NY) on Nov. 19 and 1-of-6 in a 63-53 win over Cleveland State on Nov. 26.
DIAL 9-7-7 FOR BURGESS
Caleb Burgess flirted with the second triple-double in program history Saturday afternoon, when he finished with nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Burgess is the first Hofstra player to have at least nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a game since Eli Pemberton racked up 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in an 86-63 win over Elon on Jan. 30, 2020. Juan’ya Green recorded Hofstra’s only triple-double on Dec. 28, 2014, when he had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in an 88-62 win over Long Island University.
Prior to Saturday, just one Division I player this season had collected at least nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a game without breaking into double digits in any of the categories. Binghamton’s George Tinsley finished with nine points, eight rebounds and eight steals in a 64-60 loss to Marist on Dec. 6.
TRIPLE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE FUN
Isaac Kante posted his third straight double-double Saturday by finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Kante almost got the double-double in the first half, when he had 10 points and nine rebounds. He is the first Hofstra player with three straight doubles since Rokas Gustys had three in a row from Feb, 10-17, 2018. No Hofstra player has had at least four straight double-doubles since Gustys recorded eight in a row from Feb. 7-Mar. 5, 2016.
RAY ON THE REBOUND
Jalen Ray’s streak of 20-point games ended at three as he was limited to seven points Saturday, but he chipped in with a career-high nine rebounds. Ray’s previous high was eight rebounds, set against Northeastern in the CAA title game on Mar. 10.
LOOKING TO BRING OUT THE BROOMS IN THE BACK-TO-BACK
Recent history is on the side of the Dutchmen as they attempt to complete the weekend sweep of William & Mary. Of the 88 completed back-to-backs between Division I foes this season, 49 have ended in a sweep and 39 have ended with a split. League play comprised 80 of those back-to-backs, with 45 ending in sweeps and 35 ending with a split. There were 26 back-to-backs completed Saturday, when the teams that lost the opener went 14-12.
OVER THE AIR
Hofstra will provide a video feed (with a FloHoops subscription) and radio feed of today’s game, as well as live stats, at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING WILLIAM & MARY
The Tribe, under second-year head coach Dane Fischer, fell to 2-4 with Saturday’s loss.
The Dutchmen and Tribe had no common foes in non-league play.
The Dutchmen, who were picked first in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 146th at KenPom.com, down six spots from Saturday morning. The Tribe, which was picked 10th after losing the great Nathan Knight as well as two other starters to graduation, is ranked 292nd, an improvement of four spots.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank first in the CAA in offensive efficiency (103.1) and third in defensive efficiency (101.3). The Tribe rank 10th in the CAA in both offensive efficiency (97.7) and 10th in defensive efficiency (108.0).
Senior guard Luke Loewe, who was one of six players listed among the preseason all-CAA honorable mentions, tied a career-high with 27 points Saturday and leads the Tribe with 17.5 points and 4.0 assists per game. Freshmen Yuri Covington (11.0 ppg) ranks second in scoring while while junior Quinn Blair leads William & Mary with 7.0 rebounds per game and is adding 9.8 ppg.
KenPom.com predicts a 76-65 win for the Dutchmen. (He predicted a 78-66 win Saturday) As of the overnight hours, the wise guys in Vegas had not yet offered a line, for entertainment purposes only. I’ll do my best to check before tip, for entertainment purposes only. The Dutchmen are 5-3 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. WILLIAM & MARY
Hofstra is 24-14 against William & Mary in a series that began when the Dutchmen joined the CAA prior to the 2001-02 season. The Dutchmen are looking to complete a regular season sweep of the Tribe for the second time in the last three seasons.
With Saturday’s close finish, 11 of the last 18 games between the teams have been decided by six points or fewer or in overtime, including back-to-back barnburners in the CAA Tournament in 2015 (shudders) and 2016.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Buzz Cooper bias! (Justin Deas, who played Buzz on “Guiding Light” which I definitely didn’t plan my classes around at Hofstra, went to William & Mary)
Chris Ray bias! (The former Orioles closer also went to William & Mary)
Wikipedia bias! (According to Wikipedia, which is never wrong and should I suppose know these things, W&M grad Steven Pruitt has made the most edits on Wikipedia)
The Hawks haven’t won a title in forever either! (Sorry, new Hawks fans, but it’s true)
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