Let's hope North Carolina A&T doesn't have to endure the Holland (Lee) Tunnell on the way home.
Welcome back, peak Aaron Estrada. The reigning CAA Player of the Year looked ready to mount a repeat bid Thursday night, when he scored 31 points as the Dutchmen led wire-to-wire in an 87-73 win over Delaware in the league opener. The Dutchmen will look to make it two this afternoon, when they are slated to host CAA newcomer North Carolina A&T. Here’s a look back at the win over the Blue Hens and a look ahead to the Aggies.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Tyler Thomas opened the game with nine unanswered points and Aaron Estrada and Jaquan Carlos took over from there for the Dutchmen, who were rarely threatened as they won in New-ARK for the ninth straight season (a streak which comes with one caveat, as you’ll see soon enough). After Thomas’ run, Estrada scored 10 of the Dutchmen’s next 12 points (with Thomas scoring the other two) to help withstand the first comeback bid by Delaware. The Blue Hens got within three points once in the first half, which ended with Thomas and German Plotnikov mounting a 6-0 run to give the Dutchmen their biggest lead at 44-29. Delaware pulled within single digits just once in the second half at 56-48 with 13:16 left, but Jyare Davis turned the ball over on consecutive possessions before Warren Williams and Thomas scored on back-to-back trips. The Dutchmen led by as many as 18 down the stretch. Estrada finished with 21 points while Thomas added 20 points. Carlos flirted with a triple-double for the second straight game before finishing with 10 points and leading the Dutchmen with seven rebounds and seven eight. Plotnikov, Williams and Nelson Boachie-Yiadom all had eight points apiece.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Delaware, 12/29)
3: Aaron Estrada
2: Tyler Thomas
1: Jaquan Carlos
SEASON STANDINGS
Aaron Estrada 27
Darlinstone Dubar 17
Tyler Thomas 14
Jaquan Carlos 9
Amar’e Marshall 6
Warren Williams 5
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom 5
Griffin Barrouk 1
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! But it took a good amount of digging to find the Dutchmen’s previous 87-73 win, which they recorded over Merrimack during the 1975-76 season. I was only two years old that season, so if I cried when the Dutchmen made the NCAA Tournament it was because I was teething or just mad my 15-month-old sister was getting more attention than me.
The Dutchmen have four 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?
Well, if the Dutchmen never trailed and Tyler Thomas scored the first nine points of the game…that means Tyler Thomas did it again! Thomas’ jumper 18 seconds into the game put the Dutchmen ahead for good and, once again, set a record for the earliest a Hofstra player has ever hit a known Keith Hernandez dating back to *flips calendar* when we began this feature last month. A new earliest Keith Hernandez has been set in each of the last six victories. If these trends continue, the Dutchmen really WILL soon be scoring their go-ahead baskets before the opening tip!
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)
Tyler Thomas go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Old Westbury, 12/22/22 (19:02 left 1H)
Tyler Thomas tie-breaking jumper vs. Delaware, 12/29/22 (19:42 left 1H)
This also gives Thomas four Keith Hernandezes, which makes him the Dutchmen’s Keith Hernandez. He’s Tyler Thomas!
Tyler Thomas 4
Jaquan Carlos 1
Darlinstone Dubar 1
German Plotnikov 1
Aaron Estrada 1
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 FOURTEEN GAMES
With Thursday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 8-6. This ties the 2022-23 team for the 36th-best record in school history through 14 games. This marks the third straight 8-6 start for the Dutchmen and the 11th such start in program history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 14 games:
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 7-7
1976-77: 10-4
1999-2000: 9-5
2000-01: 10-4
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 10-4 (most recent 10-4 start)
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 9-5
2004-05: 10-4
2005-06: 11-3
2006-07: 10-4
2015-16: 10-4
2018-19: 11-3 (most recent 11-3 start, win in 14th game marked eighth win in the 16-game winning streak)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 10-4
1961-62: 13-1 (most recent 13-1 start)
1962-63: 10-4
1963-64: 12-2 (most recent 12-2 start)
Some other notable 14-game starts:
2016-17: 9-5 (most recent 9-5 start)
2013-14: 4-10 (most recent 4-10 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2012-13: 4-10 (won game no. 14 to snap eight-game losing streak)
2011-12: 6-8 (most recent 6-8 start)
2007-08: 3-11 (most recent 3-11 start)
2002-03: 2-12 (most recent 2-12 start)
1996-97: 5-9 (most recent 5-9 start)
1995-96: 7-7 (most recent 7-7 start, last time at .500)
1994-95: 2-12 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-13 (VBK’s last team, most recent 1-13 start)
1988-89: 6-8 (win in 14th game was a 48-34 victory over Rider that still stands as the fewest points allowed by Hofstra in the last 33 seasons)
1986-87: 7-7 (last time at .500)
1966-67: 7-7 (last time at .500)
1961-62: 13-1 (most recent 13-1 start)
1959-60: 13-1 (Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in 14th game was third win of season-ending 13-game winning streak)
1937-38: 10-4 (season complete)
Hofstra has never been 14-0 or 0-14 through 14 games.
Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43, 1945-46, 1948-49, 1949-50, 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.
NUMBER TEN THROUGH FORTY-SIX
With Thursday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 29-17 (.630) as head coach. That’s the third-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 46 games at the helm.
Paul Lynner 36-10 (.783, 46th game was the 16th game of his second season in 1963-64)
Butch van Breda Kolff I 31-15 (.674, 46th game was the 20th game of his second season in 1956-57)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 29-17 (.630, 46th game was the 14th game of his second season in 2022-23)
Mo Cassara 27-19 (.587, 46th game was the 13th game of his second season in 2011-12)
Dick Berg 23-23 (.500, 46th game was the 18th game of his second season in 1981-82)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 21-25 (.457, 46th game was the 20th game of his second season in 1989-90)
Joe Mihalich 19-27 (.413, 46th game was the 13th game of his second season in 2013-14)
Jay Wright 17-29 (.370, 46th game was the 18th game of his second season in 1995-96)
Tom Pecora 14-32 (.304, 46th game was the 14th game of his second season in 2002-03)
Roger Gaeckler 14-32 (.304, 46th game was the 22nd game of his second season in 1973-74)
The records are incomplete for Jack McDonald’s first stint from 1936 through 1943 as well as the tenures of Jack Smith (1943-46) and Frank Reilly (1947-55).
Three coaches had one-season tenures lasting fewer than 33 games at Hofstra. McDonald went 18-6 in the lone season of his second stint in 1946-47 while Joe Harrington went 14-14 in 1979-80 and Mike Farrelly went 13-10 in 2020-21.
FOR OPENERS
The win Thursday improved the Dutchmen to 13-9 in CAA openers.
WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN (part one)
The Dutchmen never trailed Thursday. It was their first wire-to-wire win since a 98-84 victory over Detroit Mercy on Nov. 27, 2021.
WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN (part two)
The Dutchmen’s wire-to-wire win Thursday was their first in a CAA game since a 68-67 win over Delaware in New-ARK on Jan. 17, 2021. That’s the game in which the Blue Hens almost overcame a 20-point deficit before Ebby Asamoah fired what would have been the game-winning 3-pointer just after the buzzer. Now that would have been a painful loss
ALMOST TWO WIRE-TO-WIRE WINS
The Dutchmen haven’t trailed for the last 79:02 dating back to Tyler Thomas’ go-ahead 3-pointer against Old Westbury with *checks the math* 19:02 left in the first half on Dec. 22. It’s the longest stretch in which the Dutchmen haven’t trailed since they posted back-to-back wire-to-wire wins over Delaware and James Madison in the regular season finale and the CAA quarterfinals, respectively, from Mar. 2-10, 2019.
ALMOST THREE WIRE-TO-WIRE WINS
Speaking of early deficits, the Dutchmen have trailed Delaware just once in their last three games in Delaware — at 1-0 just 40 seconds into an 80-66 win on Feb. 12. I don’t have any real historical context for that, I just think it’s neat!
TORRID THOMAS
Tyler Thomas scored the Dutchmen’s first nine points Thursday night. It was the longest stretch of points by a Hofstra player to begin a game since Tareq Coburn scored the Dutchmen’s first 10 points in a 74-69 win over Towson on Jan. 24, 2021.
THIRTY-SOMETHING
Aaron Estrada closed out his third 30-point game of the season in style Thursday night, when he weaved his way through a triple team for the Dutchmen’s final points. Estrada is tied with four other Division I players for the most 30-point games in the country this season, but every other player in the group has played at least 12 games while Estrada has been limited to 11 games by the ankle injury he suffered against George Mason on Nov. 30. In addition, the 30-point effort was the seventh for Estrada in a Hofstra uniform — tied with Loren Stokes for the sixth-most by a Hofstra player since the start of the 1991-92 season.
Justin Wright-Foreman 23
Demetrius Dudley 12
Charles Jenkins 12
Antoine Agudio 10
Speedy Claxton 8
Loren Stokes 7
AARON ESTRADA 7
TWO TWENTY-SOMETHINGS
Tyler Thomas was quite the secondary scorer alongside Aaron Estrada Thursday, when Thomas finished with 20 points. The trio of Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov and WRHU alums Kevin Dexter and Rob Joyce teamed up to figure out the Dutchmen are 25-12 since the start of the 2013-14 season (Joe Mihalich’s first season) when at least two players score 20 points. The Dutchmen are 2-0 this season when two players score at least 20 points, Thomas (26 points) and Darlinstone Dubar (22 points) led the way for the Dutchmen in an 83-78 win over Iona on Nov. 11.
NO DOUBTING THOMAS
The 20-point effort for Thomas was his second of the season and the 18th of his career dating back to his freshman season at Sacred Heart in 2019-20.
CARLOS THE SLOT MACHINE (again)
It was a different combination of 7-7-7 statistics this time, but Jaquan Carlos flirted with a triple-double again Thursday night, when he had 10 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Carlos had eight points, 13 assists and seven steals against Old Westbury on Dec. 22. On Thursday, Carlos became the first Hofstra player to finish with at least seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists since Aaron Estrada had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a 76-73 win over Northeastern on Feb. 19. Carlos was the first pure point guard to finish with at least seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists since Caleb Burgess had 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in an 83-75 win over Delaware in the CAA quarterfinals on Mar. 7, 2021.
CARLOS VS. CLAXTON
If you’re like me (sorry about that), you wondered how many times Speedy Claxton had at least seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a game. The answer is 12 times! Claxton had his final such game at the most opportune time on Mar. 11, 2000, when he finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in the 76-69 win over Delaware in the America East championship game.
ON THE REBOUND
Jaquan Carlos led the Dutchmen in rebounding Thursday, when he became the fifth different player in the last five games to lead the Dutchmen in that category. He followed in the footsteps of Warren Williams (14 rebounds against Old Westbury on Dec. 22). Nelson Boachie-Yiadom (six rebounds against South Florida on Dec. 19), Darlinstone Dubar (seven rebounds against UMass on Dec. 11) and Tyler Thomas (five rebounds against Purdue on Dec. 7).
GERMAN OFF THE BENCH
German Plotnikov had another solid game in a reserve role Thursday, when he finished with eight points five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 24 minutes. The 24 minutes were the fourth-most of the season for Plotnikov and his most since he played a career-high 32 minutes in the 81-77 overtime loss to George Mason on Nov. 30.
QUIET DUBAR
Darlinstone Dubar, who scored a season-high 23 points against Old Westbury on Dec. 22, was limited to two points in 16 minutes on Thursday. The two points were the second-fewest of the season for Dubar, who was scoreless against Saint Mary’s on Nov. 19, while the 16 minutes were his third-fewest. Dubar was limited to three minutes against George Mason on Nov, 30, when he suffered a concussion, and played 12 minutes against Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 25.
QUIET MARSHALL
Amar’e Marshall, the early front-runner for CAA rookie of the year honors, played just 36 seconds Thursday night. It was by far the shortest cameo of the season for Marshall, who played at least 10 minutes in all but two of the Dutchmen’s first 13 games.
OVER THE AIR
This afternoon’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required). Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
GETTING TO KNOW NORTH CAROLINA A&T
Today marks the Dutchmen’s first game against one of the four schools — North Carolina A&T along with Hampton, Monmouth and Stony Brook — that joined the CAA on July 1.
North Carolina A&T, located in Greensboro, N.C., was founded in 1891 as the first college for people of color in North Carolina. It has an enrollment of more than 13,000, making it the largest historically HBCU in the country, and more than 65,000 alumni, including civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and the late Ronald McNair, who was among the astronauts killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986.
In sports, North Carolina A&T fields five men’s teams and eight women’s teams. The school’s nickname is the Aggies.
North Carolina A&T was a founding member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 1970 and remained in the league until exiting for the Big South for the 2021-22 academic year. The men’s basketball team won the MEAC tournament and earned an NCAA Tournament bid 10 times, including seven straight times from 1982 through 1988. The Aggies most recently made the NCAA Tournament in 2013, when they defeated Liberty 73-72 in a play-in game in Dayton.
The North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team has made five NCAA Tournaments while the baseball team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice. The football team has won the Black national championship seven times, most recently in 2019, and is 4-0 all-time in the Celebration Bowl, which pits the MEAC champion against the Southwestern Athletic Conference champion. The women’s bowling team won the national championship in 2015.
ONE-ON-ONE WITH…
North Carolina A&T coach Phillip Shumpert, who was an assistant with the program for three years before being named head coach after Will Jones’ exit this summer. was kind enough to take a few minutes yesterday to talk about some background info on North Carolina A&T, the challenges of changing leagues for a second straight season and the experiences of the first road trip in the CAA.
On the memorable North Carolina A&T athletic moments that every student and coach becomes aware of as soon as arriving on campus: Being back-to-back-to-back national champions in football (from 2017 through 2019). And another moment that the school is kind of known for is our home games at Corbett, we’ve consistently had one of the best crowds in the country — I think KenPom has it as the eighth-best crowd in the country. Those are two things that get students fired up about athletics at A&T.
His favorite place on campus: Probably the Student Center. Brand new facility, has everything you need in it. So that one is the spot — besides the gym (laughs). For me, that’s probably the best spot on campus.
On changing leagues for a second straight season: It’s very challenging, I’m going into my fourth year and this is the third league I’ve been in. Started out in the MEAC and went to the Big South and now we’re in the Colonial. One of the biggest challenges with the CAA would be the travel. Our first two games are in Boston and New York. We’re in the Big South last year, we play a game, we’re back by 12. So that’s a different experience for us. Another thing is, going to three leagues in three years, you have a different type of player in each league. Trying to get balance and put together a complete CAA team, that’ll probably take a while because we’ve moved leagues so many times.
On the trip to Boston and New York: We flew into Boston, played Northeastern and then (Friday) morning we bussed down. That will be the lesson learned — probably should bus that night. Less traffic coming last night, we would have been in better shape. We left this morning and as we kept going, got through Connecticut and things of that nature, the traffic got worse and worse and it took us a long time. Took us almost two hours and 50 minutes to go 97 miles. That was a challenge. As we did it this first time, now we know what to do and how to approach it.
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA A&T
The Aggies are 5-9 and 0-1 in the CAA after an 88-76 loss to Northeastern in the league opener Thursday night.
The Dutchmen and Aggies had one common opponent in non-conference play. Both teams beat UNC Greensboro, with the Dutchmen earning a 65-53 win in the Northern Classic on Nov. 26 and the Aggies knocking off the Spartans, 73-56, four days later. That was the most recent home game for North Carolina A&T, which is slated to conclude a seven-game trek today,
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish second in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 125th at KenPom.com. The Aggies, who were picked to finish 11th, are ranked 200th.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank second in the CAA in offensive efficiency (107.6 points per 100 possessions) and sixth in defensive efficiency (103.9 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 69.0 possessions per 40 minutes, the fourth-most in the league. The Aggies rank sixth in the CAA in offensive efficiency (99.9 points per 100 possessions) and eighth in defensive efficiency (108.9 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 68.1 possessions per 40 minutes, the eighth-most in the league.
Sophomore guard Kam Woods, a transfer from Troy, leads the Aggies with 17.8 points per game. Junior forward Marcus Watson, a preseason all-CAA honorable mention selection, is averaging 13.9 points per game while senior Demetric Horton ranks third on the team with 12.4 points per game and second in rebounding with 4.6 rebounds per game. Senior forward Austin Johnson, a transfer from UC Irvine, leads the Aggies with 6.5 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts an 80-68 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 12 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 5-7-1 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. NORTH CAROLINA A&T
The first league meeting between Hofstra and North Carolina A&T will be the second game between the schools. The Dutchmen earned a 92-72 win at the Arena on Nov. 14, 2018, when Justin Wright-Foreman scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures.
THE DUTCHMEN AGAINST NEW LEAGUE FOES
The Dutchmen are 8-10 in their first game against a new league foe in the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-present). This includes their first game against Northeastern in 1994-95 but not their first game against the Huskies in 2005-06, since that was a reunion and such.
The Dutchmen fell to all three of their one-year-only East Coast Conference foes — Troy State, Chicago State and Northeastern Illinois — in 1993-94. I very likely came up with this stat just to mention the ECC. The Dutchmen were 2-4 in their first games new North Atlantic Conference opponents in 1994-95, with wins over Maine and Boston University and losses to New Hampshire, Northeastern, Vermont and Hartford. The Dutchmen went 3-3 in their first games against the CAA’s old guard in 2001-02 — with wins over Old Dominion, VCU and William & Mary and losses to UNC Wilmington, James Madison and George Mason — before earning wins over new CAA programs Georgia State in 2005-06, Charleston in 2013-14 and Elon in 2014-15.
AULD LANG SYNE
The Dutchmen are playing on New Year’s Eve for the sixth time in the Defiantly Dutch Era. The Dutchmen beat Towson in 2000 and fell to Manhattan in 2003 before winning three straight New Year’s Eve games from 2014 through 2016, when they defeated Central Connecticut in 2014 before knocking off Delaware in back-to-back years.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
J.R. Smith is a golfer now bias! (Smith, who went to the NBA immediately after high school, is a student at North Carolina A&T and a member of the men’s golf team)
Tarik Cohen bias! (The former Bears running back graduated from North Carolina A&T)
Al Holland bias! (The former big league relief pitcher and one part of the great Fleer Superstar Special card “Holland Tunnel” played at North Carolina A&T)
Al Attles bias! (The Basketball Hall of Famer, who was the Philadelphia Warriors’ second-leading scorer the night Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points and later directed Golden State to its first NBA championship, is a graduate of North Carolina A&T)
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