Live look at me watching tonight's game with all my friends in Mason Nation.
The Flying Dutchmen took care of an old friend Sunday afternoon, when they fended off a late comeback attempt by Quinnipiac to edge Tom Pecora and the Bobcats, 72-70. Now the Dutchmen will look to take care of a less familial foe tonight, when they visit George Mason. Wear your cups, boys! Here’s a look back at the win over Quinnipiac and a look ahead to the Fighting Larranagas.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
The Dutchmen led for the final 37-plus minutes but had to withstand a series of furious rallies in the second half to escape with their second win at the National Grammar Rodeo. Quinnipiac whittled a 17-point first-half deficit to two points a little less than seven minutes into the second half before Aaron Estrada scored seven unanswered points to start a 10-2 run that extended the Dutchmen’s lead to 54-44. The Bobcats scored eight straight points to close within 64-63 with 3:26 left and squandered a chance to tie the score when Ike Nweke missed a free throw. Quinnipiac would miss five shots and turn the ball over on its six possessions with a chance to tie the score or take the lead. Darlinstone Dubar hit the Dutchmen’s last field goal, a 3-pointer with 1:30 left that extended the lead to 69-65, and the Dutchmen went 3-for-5 from the line the rest of the way before the Bobcats missed three shots in the final four seconds. Estrada (29 points, six rebounds, six assists) had another monster game while Dubar had 15 points in just 24 minutes. Jaquan Carlos finished with a career-high 14 points, including all of the Dutchmen’s points in an 11-5 first half run, while Nelson Boachie-Yiadom had two points, eight rebounds and four blocks in 30 minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Quinnipiac, 11/27)
3: Aaron Estrada
2: Darlinstone Dubar
1: Jaquan Carlos
SEASON STANDINGS
Aaron Estrada 18
Darlinstone Dubar 9
Tyler Thomas 8
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom 5
Jaquan Carlos 5
Amar’e Marshall 3
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! But for the second straight win, the Dutchmen went more than 40 years in between this particular victorious score. The Dutchmen previously beat Manhattan 72-70 on Dec. 23, 1978.
The Flying Dutchmen have three unicorn score victories this season after recording 11 unicorn score victories last season, no unicorn scores in 2020-21, 13 unicorn scores in 2019-20 and 10 unicorn scores in 2018-19. 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. You may also know it as a “Scorigami,” a term popularized in the NFL.
WHO HAD THE KEITH HERNANDEZ?
Aaron Estrada hit the basket that put the Dutchmen ahead for good by draining a jumper with 17:27 left in the first half to give them a 4-3 lead. Despite the narrow nature of the victory, it’s the earliest a Hofstra player has ever hit a known Keith Hernandez dating back to *flips calendar* when we began this feature earlier this month. A new earliest Keith Hernandez has been set in each of the last four games. If these trends continue, the Dutchmen will never lose again!
Jaquan Carlos tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Princeton, 11/7/22 (1:11 left 2H)
Tyler Thomas tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Iona, 11/11/22 (:35.2 left 2H)
Darlinstone Dubar go-ahead layup vs. George Washington, 11/14/22 (5:09 left 2H)
German Plotnikov go-ahead 3-pointer vs. San Jose State. 11/17/22 (6:32 left 2H)
Tyler Thomas tie-breaking jumper vs. UNC Greensboro, 11/26/22 (14:56 left 1H)
Aaron Estrada go-ahead jumper vs. Quinnipiac, 11/27/22 (17:28 left 1H)
Five different players with a Keith Hernandez in six wins. Pretty, pretty good.
The Keith Hernandez is bestowed upon the player who scores the points that put the Dutchmen ahead for good in a victory. The stat pays homage to Hernandez, the World Series-winning Cardinals and Mets first baseman who had a record 129 game-winning RBIs when the stat was inexplicably discontinued after the 1988 season.
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER EIGHT GAMES
With Sunday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 6-2. This ties the 2022-23 team for the 12th-best record in school history through seven games. Eleven other teams began 5-2, most recently the 2015-16 squad. 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
2015-16: 6-2
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:
2021-22: 4-4 (most recent 4-4 start)
2020-21: 5-3 (most recent 5-3 start)
2013-14: 2-6 (most recent 2-6 start)
2012-13: 3-5 (most recent 3-5 start)
2008-09: 7-1 (most recent 7-1 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
1951-52: 8-0
1947-48: 8-0
The Dutchmen have never opened 0-8.
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.
INTERNATIONAL BRIGHT YOUNG TRAVELING MEN
(Sorry, had to get the sort of Jesus Jones reference in there) The Dutchmen finished the Northern Classic 2-1. In addition to winning outside the United States for the first time since an 82-77 win over Florida State in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands on Nov. 20, 2015, the wins over UNC Greensboro and Quinnipiac marked the first time the Dutchmen have won consecutive games in a neutral tournament-esque setting since the Dutchmen won the Naismith Bracket of the Boca Raton Classic by beating Holy Cross and Canisius on consecutive days Dec. 1-2, 2019.
SORRY, TP
The Dutchmen knocked Quinnipiac from the ranks of the unbeaten Sunday afternoon, when the Bobcats became the 343rd Division I team to lose a game this season. As far as I can tell, it’s the first time in at least the CAA/KenPom era (2001-present) that the Dutchmen have knocked off a team that was 7-0 or better. I’ll have to dig a little deeper and then perhaps dive into the pre-CAA/KenPom era. The good news is I may have an excuse to do so, with unbeaten Purdue slated to host the Dutchmen next Wednesday!
THE DEFENSE STILL ISN’T RESTING
The Dutchmen gave up 70 or fewer points for the third straight game. That’s the longest such streak under second-year head coach Speedy Claxton and the longest streak since the Dutchmen allowed 70 or fewer points in three straight games from Jan 17-24, 2021. The Dutchmen last allowed 70 or fewer points in four straight games from Dec. 10-28, 2018, a span that included a win over Division III Rosemont.
STAT-STUFFING ESTRADA
Aaron Estrada finished with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists Sunday afternoon. It was the fifth time in his Hofstra career he’s had at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game, the most since Justin Wright-Foreman had eight such games. Fun fact: Speedy Claxton also had eight games with at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists during his playing career, including five during his senior season in 1999-2000.
ESTRADA 1K
Aaron Estrada’s 3-pointer with 11:54 left marked the fifth, sixth and seventh points of his individual 7-0 run and the 999th, 1000th and 1001st points of his career in four seasons between Saint Peter’s, Oregon and Hofstra. Estrada scored 227 points at Saint Peter’s and 28 at Oregon before collecting 757 points (and counting) at Hofstra. He is the first Hofstra player to record his 1,000th career point for Hofstra after beginning his career elsewhere since Brian Bernardi, who began his career at SMU in 2012-13 but recorded his 1,000th career point during the 2016-17 season. He also finished with more than 1,000 points at Hofstra (1,186, to be exact). Both Tareq Coburn (St. John’s) and Isaac Kante (Long Island University) recorded their 1,000th career points last season after scoring the bulk of their points during their second collegiate stops at Hofstra.
D-STONE’S SURGE
Darlinstone Dubar had a second straight solid game Sunday, when he scored 15 points in 24 minutes. It was the 13th time Dubar has scored at least 15 points in his two-year career at Hofstra and the first time he’s done so while playing fewer than 25 minutes. He had 15 points in 25 minutes in an 80-66 win over Delaware on Feb. 12.
HOT-SHOOTING CARLOS
Jaquan Carlos snapped out of an offensive slump Sunday, when he scored 11 straight Dutchmen points in the first half and finished with a career-high 14 points. Carlos, who scored 22 points in his previous five games combined, went 4-for-8 from the 3-point line after making just six 3-pointers in his first 24 games at Hofstra. The 14 points marked the third time this season Carlos has set a new career-high for points in a single game. He had eight points against Princeton in the season opener Nov. 7 and scored 12 points against Iona four nights later.
BOACHIE-YIADOM’S BLOCK PARTY
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom had eight rebounds and four blocks Sunday afternoon. It was the second time in three games he’s posted at least four blocks following a six-block game against Middle Tennessee State on Friday. Boachie-Yiadom is just the seventh Hofstra player to post multiple games with at least four blocks since the 2010-11 season, the start of the Play Index era at College Basketball Reference, and the first to do so since Jacquil Taylor had at least four blocks in five games during the 2018-19 season. In addition, the eight rebounds tied a season-high for Boachie-Yiadom, who also had eight rebounds against Saint Mary’s on Nov. 19.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Redshirt freshman Amar’e Marshall was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the third time in as many weeks after averaging 9.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the three games at the Northern Classic. Per the CAA, Marshall is just the second freshman in league history to open his career by winning Rookie of the Week honors three straight times since the award began being distributed during the 2003-04 season. Charleston’s Reyne Smith began last season by winning the award four straight times. In addition, Marshall is the first Hofstra freshman to ever win the Rookie of the Week honor in three consecutive weeks in the America East/CAA era (1994-present). Which means that unless Darius Burton did it in the East Coast Conference in 1993-94, it’s the first time a Hofstra freshman has won Rookie of the Week three straight times in Defiantly Dutch era. Now THAT’S a stat!
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game will be carried on ESPNPlus, which you have if you have the Disney Bundle, which you have if you have a child under the age of 18. A game we can watch? With audio accompanying the video? In this economy? Hofstra will also provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
GEORGE MASON AND THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE
George Mason, a program with whom we’ve never had any sort of negative interaction with no way no sirree Bob, is 3-4 this season under second-year head coach Kim English following a 72-65 win over Queens (the fledgling Division I school in North Carolina, not the college a few miles west of Hofstra) on Saturday.
The Patriots were picked to finish fifth in the 15-team Atlantic 10 (math remains hard). Senior forward Josh Oduro, who was selected to the preseason all-A10 first team, leads George Mason with 12.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Graduate students Victor Bailey Jr. and DeVon Cooper, who previously played at Tennessee and Morehead State respectively, are averaging 11.6 points and 11.4 points per game, respectively. Point guard Ronald Polite III, who returned against Queens after missing two games due to injury, is averaging 8.6 points and 3.0 assists per game.
At KenPom.com, George Mason is ranked 126th nationally in offensive efficiency (103.5 points per 100 possessions) and 135th in defensive efficiency (99.9 points per 100 possessions) while ranking 325th in tempo (64.2 possessions per 40 minutes).
The Dutchmen and Patriots have one common opponent. George Mason is slated to play two A-10 games against George Washington, whom the Dutchmen edged, 85-80, on Nov. 14.
Hofstra is 8-15 all-time against George Mason, with all 23 previous meetings coming while the two schools were CAA rivals from the 2001-02 through 2012-13 seasons. The Dutchmen haven’t been over .500 in the all-time series since Mar. 5, 2006, when they PUNCHED their ticket IN to THE NCAA Tournament by beating Mason, 58-49, in the CAA semifinals. Wait? That didn’t happen? NUTS.
Anyway, Hofstra is 2-10 against George Mason since then and lost the most recent game between the schools on Feb. 20, 2013, when the Patriots rolled to a 79-50 victory at the Arena. That remains the most lopsided loss the Dutchmen have suffered in their last 301 games. Ironic.
At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 124th while George Mason is ranked 125th. Holy crap! We’re like, best friends and stuff! Remarkably, this is the third time this season the Dutchmen and an opponent have been separated by two or fewer spots at KenPom.com and the second time they’ve faced an opponent directly above or beneath them. Hofstra was 144th and Princeton was 143rd entering the season opener on Nov. 7.
KenPom.com predicts a 71-67 win for the Patriots. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 4-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 4-4 against the spread this season.
This marks the 10th straight season in which Hofstra has faced at least one A-10 school. After the win over George Washington on Nov. 14 Hofstra is 39-107 all-time against current Atlantic 10 schools, a membership that includes former conference foes George Mason as well as La Salle (ECC) and VCU (CAA).
Tonight marks the Dutchmen’s second game against a former CAA foe since the latest round of realignment began following the 2012-13 season. VCU edged the Dutchmen, 69-67, in overtime on Nov. 24, 2018.
MOAR MASON CONNECTIONS
This game pits two of the three Division I schools with a former NBA player and a former Major League Baseball player coaching their men’s basketball and baseball programs. English played 41 games for the Detroit Pistons during the 2012-13 season. Hofstra’s baseball team, of course, is coached by former outfielder Frank Catalonotto while Mason’s baseball team is coached by ex-pitcher Shawn Camp.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY (oh boy this is gonna be fun)
You didn’t deserve that at-large bid or Final Four trip bias! (No explanation needed)
Tony Skinn should have been arrested for giving Loren Stokes an abdominal injury bias! (No explanation needed)
Jim Larranaga is a big fat thin phony but he is a Hall of Fame coach and it’s kind of funny he might end up coaching longer at Miami than Mason bias! (No explanation needed)
Ryan Pearson ran up the score bias! (No explanation needed)
Justin Bour bias! (Had to change it up by mentioning the former big league slugger who went to Mason)
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