Wouldn't bet against this guy mounting a historic comeback for someone, even at almost 60 years old.
A slow start was too much to overcome Tuesday night for the Flying Dutchmen, who spotted Iona a 12-point first half lead and tied the game three times in the second half before falling to the Gaels, 82-74. If that scores sounds familiar, it should! The Dutchmen will get their second chance to try and pull off an upset against a top 25 foe tonight, when they are scheduled to visit Maryland, who just lost to oh come on are you kidding me really George Mason? Here’s a look back at the loss to Iona and a look ahead to the Terrapins.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Jalen Ray (20 points) seamlessly returned from injury, but Zach Cooks (11 points on 4-of-17 shooting, including 1-of-7 from 3-point land) was contained by Rick Pitino & Co. as the Dutchmen couldn’t get over the hump. Iona raced out to a leads of 14-2, 16-4 and 19-7 as the Dutchmen opened up by shooting 4-of-13 with three turnovers. The Dutchmen pulled within three points three times in the first half and trailed 39-32 at intermission before falling behind by 11 with 16 minutes left. Ray then scored 11 points in a 17-6 run that ended with Darlinstone Dubar hitting a jumper to tie the game 55-55 with 10:45 left. The Dutchmen were down 65-64 and had a chance to go ahead with 5:08 left, but Caleb Burgess missed two free throws and Iona ended the game on a 17-10 run. Ray (6-10 from 3-point land) hit six 3-pointers for the third time in his career while Dubar finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Aaron Estrada had 11 points while Iyiola had six points and 10 rebounds.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Iona, 11/16)
3: Jalen Ray
2: Darlinstone Dubar
1: Abayomi Iyiola
SEASON STANDINGS
Zach Cooks 6
Darlinstone Dubar 4
Aaron Estrada 4
Jalen Ray 3
Abayomi Iyiola 1
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER THREE GAMES
As you have probably gathered by now, the Dutchmen are 1-3, which is tied for the 45th-best start in program history. Thirty-three other teams began 1-2, most recently last year’s squad. The Dutchmen last began 1-2 in back-to-back-to-back seasons from 1997-98 through 1999-2000. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through three games.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 2-1
1976-77: 2-1
1999-2000: 1-2
2000-01: 3-0
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 1-2
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 1-2
2005-06: 2-1
2006-07: 0-3
2015-16: 3-0
2018-19: 2-1
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 1-2
1961-62: 2-1
1962-63: 1-2
1963-64: 3-0
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.
THIRD GAME NOT USUALLY THE CHARM
Speedy Claxton is the fourth straight Hofstra coach to open his first season 1-2 and the 11th all-time. Tom Pecora (2-1 in 2001-02, with the loss coming in his third game) was the most recent first-year head coach to open better than 1-2. The others: Dick Berg (2-1 in 1980-81, with the loss coming in his third game), Butch van Breda Kolff I (3-0 in 1955-56), Frank Reilly (3-0 in 1947-48) and Jack McDonald (2-1 in 1946-47).
No Hofstra head coach has ever lost his first three games. The only first-year Hofstra head coaches to earn their first win in the third game are Roger Gaeckler (1972-73), Jack Smith (1944-45) and McDonald in his first stint in 1936-37, when he directed the Dutchmen to the first win in program history with a 42-40 overtime win over Staten Island.
A FAMILIAR RESULT
Not only did the Dutchmen lose to Iona 82-74 for the second straight season, they fell by that score in the third game of the season for the second straight year. I have no idea if something like that’s ever happened before, but I tend to doubt it! (And if you watched the game and/or were interested for entertainment purposes only after getting a line where Hofstra was a 6 1/2-point underdog, you know the Dutchmen seemed to score on a putback just before the buzzer but it didn’t count for some weird reason)
FIT TO BE TIED IN A WIRE-TO-WIRE LOSS
The Dutchmen didn’t lead in a loss for the first time since Rutgers led the entire way in a 70-56 win on Nov. 29, 2020. But the Dutchmen managed to tie the game in the second half of a loss in which they never led for the first time since Feb. 22, 2015, when the Dutchmen tied William & Mary twice in the second half of an 80-78 loss at the Arena.
RAY MOVIN’ ON UP (part one)
Graduate student Jalen Ray continued climbing a pair of all-time Hofstra lists in his season debut Tuesday. With 20 points, Ray moved past Barry White into 16th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,354 points. He enters tonight needing 11 points so surpass Ken Rood for 15th place.
14.) Rick Apodaca 1,422
15.) Ken Rood 1,354
16.) JALEN RAY 1,354
17.) Barry White 1,344
18.) Dave Bell 1,330
RAY MOVIN’ ON UP (part two)
And by taking the court for his 124th career game Tuesday, Ray moved into a tie for fifth place on the all-time games played list with Roberto Gittens, Loren Stokes and Greg Johnson. Ray is four games away from tying Charles Jenkins and Nathaniel Lester for third pace and 17 games behind the all-time leader, Desure Buie.
ZACH STILL COOKING
Fellow graduate student Zach Cooks’ red-hot start slowed a bit Tuesday, when he scored 11 points. But his 66 points through three games are still the most by a Hofstra player in his first three games for the school since, and we are not kidding here, Speedy Claxton scored 63 points in his first three games in 1996-97.
In addition to Claxton and Cooks, the only players to score at least 60 points in their first three games for Hofstra in the last 30 years are almost certainly Lawrence Thomas (64 points in 1995-96) and the late great Demetrius Dudley (95 points in 1991-92). I say almost certainly because I seem to have misplaced my 1992-93 stats, but I’m pretty sure no newcomers scored at least 60 points in their first three games that season.
ALL OR NOTHING
Loyal reader EvanJ checks in with a fascinating stat for Caleb Burgess, who had six assists, no points and no turnovers before fouling out Tuesday. Per Evan and the Play Index at College Basketball Reference, that’s the sixth time a player has had no points, at least six assists and no turnovers while fouling out since 2010-11, the start of the Play Index era.
DON’T FALL TWO UNDER .500!
The Dutchmen’s loss Tuesday imperils one of the neatest streaks we’ve discovered here at DD HQ. The Dutchmen haven’t been two games under .500 since ending the 2016-17 season at 15-17. Only 51 other Division I teams — including tonight’s opponent, Maryland — have gone as long or longer without falling two games under .500, including 44 programs whose streak predates the 2016-17 finale and seven others who were last two games under .500 as of the end of their ’16-17 season. The number shrunk by two last night, when Nevada and Oregon State fell to 1-3 with losses to San Francisco and Samford, respectively.
In addition to Hofstra, two other schools with 1-2 records are putting their streaks on the line tonight. Virginia is hosting Coppin State while Western Kentucky is visiting Memphis.
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 11 schools and matched by two more.
(Once again, dear Dutchmen: Please win tonight so this stat remains current, thank you in advance)
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game will be carried on FS1, which is channel 69 on Optimum or Cablevision or whatever it’s called nowadays. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
HOFSTRA VS. TOP 25 TEAMS
Maryland is ranked no. 20 in the AP poll and no. 21 in the coaches’ poll, though the Terrapins’ ranking may be endangered after Wednesday’s loss to George Mason (really, are you kidding us).
This will be the 22nd time Hofstra faces a top 25 team in the DD Era (1993-present). The Dutchmen are 2-19 in the previous 21 games after the 83-75 overtime loss to then-no. 15 Houston on Nov. 9.
This will also be the second straight season in which Hofstra faces two top 25 foes. The Dutchmen lost to Rutgers in last year’s opener.
11/9/21: no. 15 Houston 83-75 L (OT)
12/22/20: no. 23 Richmond 76-71 W
11/29/20: no. 24 Rutgers 70-56 L
12/22/17: no. 1 Villanova 95-71 L
12/11/16: no. 6 Kentucky 96-73 L
11/12/13: no. 3 Louisville 97-69 L
11/18/10: no. 8 North Carolina 107-63 L
11/13/09 no. 1 Kansas 101-65 L
11/17/09 no. 12 UConn 76-67 L
12/22/06 no. 23 Syracuse 85-60 L
2/23/06 no. 25 George Mason 77-68 W
12/30/04 no. 7 Syracuse 80-75 L
11/22/02 no. 21 Gonzaga 69-61 L
12/4/01 no. 9 Syracuse 91-65 L
3/15/01 no. 15 UCLA 61-48 L***
3/17/00 no. 14 Oklahoma State 86-66 L***
11/20/98 no. 6 Maryland 89-59 L
12/2/98 no. 25 St. John’s 70-49 L
11/27/97 no. 19 Louisville 75-66 L
12/14/96 no. 19 Xavier 79-43 L
12/28/95 no. 8 Villanova 91-57 L
***NCAA Tournament
MARYLAND AND THE ACC, ERR, BIG TEN
Maryland, under 11th-year head coach Mark Turgeon, is 3-1 this season with wins over Quinnipiac, George Washington and Vermont before Wednesday’s 71-66 loss to George Mason, which continues stealing our thunder even 15 years later.
Maryland was picked to finish fifth in the Big 10, which of course has 14 teams, in a poll conducted by The Athletic and The Columbus Dispatch, because the Big 14 does not actually conduct a preseason poll.
Senior Eric Ayala, who received four votes in the all-conference poll, leads Maryland with 15.8 points per game. Graduate student Fatts Russell (12.8 ppg), junior Qudus Wahub (12.3 ppg) and junior Donta Scott (10.5 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. Wahub and Scott are each averaging 8.5 rebounds per game. Simon Wright, an Elon transfer, has scored three points.
The Dutchmen and Maryland have one common opponent — their next one. Hofstra visits Richmond on Monday before the Spiders play Maryland on Thanksgiving.
Hofstra is 0-5 all-time against Maryland, which will always be an ACC school to me. The teams last faced each other on Nov. 16, 2018, when the Terrapins overcame an eight-point deficit early in the second half to record an 80-69 win.
The Dutchmen are 4-11 all-time against current Big 10 foes, though none of those wins was recorded against a team actually in the Big 10 at the time. All three of the Dutchmen’s wins against Rutgers came before Rutgers, which will always be an A-10 school to me, joined the Big Ten in 2014. The Dutchmen beat Nebraska, which will always be a Big 8/Big 12 school to me, in the opening round of the NIT in 2006.
At KenPom.com this afternoon, Hofstra is ranked 153rd while Maryland is ranked 36th. KenPom.com predicts a 77-63 for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 12-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 2-1 against the spread this season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Gary Williams bias! (The court at Maryland is named after the coach who directed the Terrapins to the 2002 national title)
Buck Williams bias! (The longtime Nets star played at Maryland)
Walt Williams bias! (Walt played for six NBA teams after starring at Maryland)
Frank Reich bias! (Need a non-Williams and who is better than the guy responsible for engineering both the greatest pro and college football comebacks of all-time?)
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