Not that David Wright...whose final game with the Mets, pictured here, happened so long ago, he is on the Hall of Fame ballot that was released yesterday. Yikes.
The Flying Dutchmen earned their first win over a Division I opponent in resounding fashion Monday night, when they scored the first 10 points and were never threatened in a 102-68 win over former East Coast Conference foe Buffalo in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Dutchmen will look to stay hot and continue settling old family business tonight, when they face former Bracketbuster foe Wright State. Here’s a look back at the win over the Bulls and a look ahead to…the Flying Brothers? The Raiders? Why aren’t Wright State’s teams nicknamed the Flying Brothers?
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Darlinstone Dubar continued his early-season breakout by scoring a career-high 30 points — including 21 in the first half — as the Dutchmen rolled past Buffalo. Dubar was outscoring Buffalo by himself through the 9:50 mark of the first half for the Dutchmen, who never led by fewer than seven after their game-opening surge. The Dutchmen ended any doubt with a 19-0 run spanning more than five minutes late in the first half. The Dutchmen led by as many as 35 in the first half, led 59-26 at the half and by as many as 44 before Speedy Claxton sat the starters midway through the second half. Tyler Thomas had 21 points while KiJan Robinson finished with 13 points and four rebounds off the bench. Jacco Fritz (seven points, eight rebounds) flirted with a double-double and was whistled for just two fouls in 25 minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Buffalo, 11/20)
3: Darlinstone Dubar
2: Tyler Thomas
1: Jacco Fritz
SEASON STANDINGS
Darlinstone Dubar 9
Tyler Thomas 8
Jaquan Carlos 4
Jacco Fritz 1
KiJan Robinson 1
Bryce Washington 1
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
Yes! While 102 points is the Dutchmen’s favorite point total at or beyond the century mark — Monday’s win marks the ninth time in program history they’ve scored exactly 102 points — none of the other victories in which they scored 102 points were within seven points of Monday’s final.
This is the Dutchmen’s second unicorn score victory of the season. The Dutchmen recorded 12 unicorn score victories last season after recording 11 unicorn score victories in 2021-22, 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.
11/6/23: 101-48 over St. Joseph’s (NY)
11/20/23: 102-68 over Buffalo
WHO HAD THE KEITH HERNANDEZ?
Jaquan Carlos opened the game with a 3-pointer to give the Dutchmen a lead they’d never relinquish with 19:33 left in the first half. That’s the fourth-earliest Keith Hernandez in history (or at least since we started tracking Keith Hernandezes last season). It’s also just the second Keith Hernandez for Carlos, who had the first Keith Hernandez in the 2022-23 season-opening win over Princeton. So that was the biggest gap between Keith Hernandezes in history (or at least since we started tracking Keith Hernandezes last season)!
Darlinstone Dubar go-ahead layup vs. St. Joseph’s (NY), 11/6/23 (14:30 left 1H)
Jaquan Carlos tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Buffalo, 11/20/23 (19:33 left 1H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Jaquan Carlos 1
Darlinstone Dubar 1
ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since last season)
Tyler Thomas 10
Darlinstone Dubar 6
Aaron Estrada 4
Warren Williams 3
Jaquan Carlos 2
German Plotnikov 2
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 FOUR GAMES
With Monday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 2-2. This ties the 2023-24 team for the 35th-best record in school history through three games. Thirty-one other teams began 2-2, most recently the 2020-21 squad. 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
2005-06: 2-1
2006-07: 1-3
2015-16: 3-1
2018-19: 2-2
2022-23: 4-0 (most recent 4-0 start)
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:
2021-22: 1-3 (most recent 1-3 start)
2017-18: 3-1 (most recent 3-1 start)
2013-14: 1-3 (Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2010-11: 1-3 (Mo Cassara’s first team)
2002-03: 1-3 (loss in fourth game — to future Ton Pecora employer Quinnipiac — was first loss in eight-game losing streak, tied for the longest of the Tom Pecora era)
2001-02: 3-1 (Tom Pecora’s first team)
1994-95: 1-3 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 0-4 (VBK’s last team, most recent 0-4 start)
1982-83: 4-0
1974-75: 2-2 (at .500 for the last time)
1973-74: 0-4
1972-73: 2-2 (at .500 for the last time)
1969-70: 0-4
1960-61: 4-0
1959-60: 4-0
1955-56: 4-0 (Butch van Breda Kolff improves to 4-0)
1954-55: 4-0
1952-53: 4-0
1951-52: 4-0
1948-49: 4-0
1947-48: 4-0 (Frank Reilly improves to 4-0)
1944-45: 2-2 (at .500 for the last time)
1936-37: 2-2 (program is at all-time .500 for the first time — albeit after just four games)
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.
NUMBER TEN THROUGH SEVENTY
With Monday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 48-23 (.676) as head coach. That’s the second-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 71 games at the helm. The last 18 games mark the highest Claxton has been in the all-time game-to-game standings since he became head coach in 2021-22.
Paul Lynner 53-18 (.746, 71st game was the 12th game of his third season in 1964-65)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 48-23 (.676, 71st game was the fourth game of his third season in 2023-24)
Butch van Breda Kolff I 46-25 (.648, 71st game was the 19th game of his third season in 1957-58)
Dick Berg 37-34 (.521, 71st game was the 16th game of his third season in 1982-83)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 34-37 (.479, 71st game was the 14th game of his third season in 1990-91)
Mo Cassara 34-37 (.479, 71st game was the sixth game of his third season in 2012-13)
Joe Mihalich 33-38 (.465, 71st game was the fourth game of his third season in 2015-16)
Roger Gaeckler 26-45 (.366, 71st game was the 23rd game of his third season in 1974-75)
Jay Wright 25-46 (.352, 71st game was the 16th game of his third season in 1996-97)
Tom Pecora 24-47 (.338, 71st game was the 10th game of his third season in 2003-04)
For all the “fire them now” jokes I make about the slow starts for Wright and Pecora, it really is wild how slow their builds were and how remarkably well the program fared thereafter under both of them.
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 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.
WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN
The Dutchmen never trailed Monday. It was their first wire-to-wire win of the season after recording nine such wins last season — their most since at least the 2005-06 season, which is as far back as play-by-play logs go at the Hofstra site.
A PERFECT TEN
The Dutchmen’s game-opening 10-0 run was their longest since they also scored the first 10 points in an 86-57 win over Monmouth on Feb. 11.
RUN RUNAWAY
The Dutchmen put the game away with a 19-0 run later in the first half. It was their longest run since a 19-0 run spanning the halves in a 67-56 loss (!!!) to Northeastern on Jan. 9, 2021. Weird game, weird season.
A FINE FIRST HALF (part one)
The Dutchmen scored 59 points in the first half Monday night, their most points in a half since they scored 59 points against Old Westbury last Dec. 22 and their most points in a half against a Division I opponent since they raced out to a 61-33 halftime lead over James Madison on Feb. 29, 2020. Things seemed so normal back then.
A FINE FIRST HALF (part two)
The Dutchmen led 59-26 at the half. The 33-point lead is the Dutchmen’s fourth-biggest halftime lead since at least the 2002-03 season, which is as far back as my boxscores go at home, and their second-largest halftime lead over a Division I opponent in that span.
40 (62-22) Rosemont, 12/22/18***
37 (51-14) William & Mary, 3/5/23
34 (59-25) Old Westbury, 12/22/22***
33 (59-26) Buffalo, 11/20/23
30 (48-18) Delaware, 12/28/18
***non-Division I opponent
SIZZLING SHOOTING
The Dutchmen shot a robust 62.9 percent (39-of-62) on Monday night. It was their highest shooting percentage since Jan. 4, 2020, when the Dutchmen shot 64.8 percent (35-of-54) from the field in a 102-75 win over Elon.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
The Dutchmen scored at least 100 points Monday for the 40th time in program history and the first time a 101-48 win over St. Joseph’s (NY) way back on Nov. 6. Eleven of the Dutchmen’s 100-point games have happened this century. In fact, all 11 of them have happened in the last 14 seasons. Hey! I smell a quirky stat brewing!
THE 100 CLUB
Griffin Barrouk put the Dutchmen at 100 points by hitting a jumper with 50 seconds left Monday night. He joins a select club of players to score the 100th point for the Dutchmen in a game this century. Look at some of these random names (and one name we won’t fully mention)!
102-62 win vs. Farmingdale State, 11/13/10: Roland Brown jumper w/2:13 left
103-100 2 OT win vs. Marshall, 11/18/12: S*** S***** free throw w/:07 left in the second OT
105-64 win vs. Coppin State, 12/10/14: Eliel Gonzalez free throw w/2:06 left
107-72 win vs. Molloy, 11/30/17: Matija Radovic 3-pointer w/3:06 left
107-54 win vs. Rosemont, 12/22/18: Connor Klementowicz layup w/6:47 left
102-61 win vs. Elon, 2/7/19: Kevin Schutte jumper w/:55 left
111-69 win vs. NYIT, 11/15/19: Kevin Schutte layup w/4:36 left
102-75 win vs. Elon, 1/4/20: Omar Silverio free throw w/2:16 left
102-51 win vs. John Jay, 12/21/21: Jaquan Carlos 3-pointer w/2:12 left
101-48 win vs. St. Joseph’s, 11/6/23: German Plotnikov dunk w/:0.7 left
102-68 win vs. Buffalo, 11/20/23: Griffin Barrouk jumper w/:50 left
D-STONE DEALING
Is Darlinstone Dubar turning into the Dutchmen’s second superstar? Dubar remained red-hot Monday, when he scored a career-high 30 points. He is the 21st player to score at least 30 points in a game since the 1989-90 season, which is as far back as my records go at home. Overall, a player has scored at least 30 points in a game 96 times since the start of the 1989-90 season, including 36 times in the Joe Mihalich/Mike Farrelly/Speedy Claxton era (2013-pres).
TOTAL (career games)
Justin Wright-Foreman 23
Demetrius Dudley 12
Charles Jenkins 12
Antoine Agudio 10
Speedy Claxton 8
Loren Stokes 7
Mike Moore 3
Zeke Upshaw 3
Rick Apodaca 2
Desure Buie 2
John Mavroukas 2
Jalen Ray 2
Ameen Tanksley 2
Darlinstone Dubar 1
Juan’ya Green 1
Nathaniel Lester 1
Eli Pemberton 1
Norm Richardson 1
Carlos Rivera 1
Omar Silverio 1
Lawrence Thomas 1
This would make for an awesome Immaculate Grid game, just saying.
D-STONE STREAKING
I always promised you there’d be no math here, but by scoring 30 points on Monday night, Darlinstone Dubar has now scored at least 17 points in all four games this season. Prior to this season, Dubar had never scored at least 17 points in more than two consecutive games, and both of those stretches featured a game against a Division III school.
D-STONE FEASTING
Darlinstone Dubar’s 21 points in the first half Monday were the most by a Hofstra player in a half since Aaron Estrada scored 25 points in the first half of the 85-81 win over then-no. 18 Charleston on Jan. 28.
NO DOUBTING THOMAS
Tyler Thomas had his usual fine game Monday night, when he finished with 21 points. It was the 19th straight double-digit effort for Thomas, who has scored at least 10 points in 27 of his last 28 games and 34 times in 40 games overall since joining the Dutchmen last season. He has scored at least 20 points three times in four games this season and 15 times overall.
PUTTING ON THE FRITZ
Jacco Fritz, who was held scoreless and without a rebound while fouling out in just eight minutes in the loss to George Washington last Tuesday night, set season-highs Monday with seven points and eight rebounds. The seven points were the most for Fritz since he had eight points for Canisius in a 67-66 overtime loss in the MAAC tournament on Mar. 7 while the eight boards were his most since he had nine rebounds against Saint Peter’s on Feb. 24.
THIS ONE GOES TO ELEVEN
Bryce Washington scored a season-high 11 points while also setting a season-high by playing 27 minutes Monday night. The 11-point effort marked the third time Washington has scored in double figures in 32 games at Hofstra and his 15th double-figure effort dating back to his days at Penn.
KIJAN’S FAST START
Freshman KiJan Robinson finished with a career-high 13 points Monday. The 13 points are the most by a Hofstra freshman since redshirt freshman Amar’e Marshall scored 15 points against Old Westbury on Dec. 22 and the most by a true freshman since Jalen Ray closed out his freshman season by scoring 16 points in a 93-88 loss to UNC Wilmington in the CAA tournament quarterfinals on Mar. 4, 2018. Robinson, who had 11 points against St. Joseph’s (NY) on Nov. 6 and 10 points against George Washington last Tuesday, is the first Hofstra freshman — true or redshirt — to score in double figures in at least three of his first four games since true freshman Eli Pemberton opened his career with five straight double-figure efforts in November 2016. Pretty good company.
FARMER’S AID
Redshirt freshman Khalil Farmer scored a career-high six points in 10 minutes Monday night. Farmer scored five points against St. Joseph’s (NY) on Nov. 6.
TAKING CARE OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS
This one was for you, Jim Shaffer and Sean Titus and Chris Parsons and Darius Burton and Pat Cosgrove and John Mavroukas and James Parisi and Rob Ogden and Matt Carpenter and Chris Johnke and Andre English and Joe LoRusso and assistant coach Joe Featherston and assistant coach Joe Dunleavy and especially you VBK. (You don’t want to know how many of the members of the ’93-94 team I could recall off the top of my head)
With Monday night’s lopsided win over Buffalo, the Flying Dutchmen have now avenged all the East Coast Conference losses they suffered during the 1993-94 season, when they were 1-4 in league play before winning the conference tournament. Stop looking at me like I’m making this up.
The Dutchmen opened 1993-94 ECC play with a 71-57 loss to Buffalo on Jan. 15 before losing to Troy (not a) State, 84-79, two days later. After beating Central Connecticut State 84-76 in Beach Bowl I on Feb. 5, 1994 (the first Hofstra basketball game I ever attended!), the Dutchmen closed out regular season play with a 69-68 loss to Chicago (not a) State on Feb. 26 and a 90-76 loss to Northeastern Illinois on Feb. 28.
Not even a week later, the revenge tour began for the Dutchmen, who won the conference tournament by beating Chicago State 86-77 on Mar. 4 before edging Troy State 90-89 in overtime on Mar. 5 and knocking off Northeastern Illinois, 88-86, in double overtime for the championship on Mar. 6. A few hours later, Bryan Adams and Sting performed “All For Love.” I’m still not over it.
Buffalo ducked Hofstra for the next 29 seasons, which meant we had to wait 10,850 days for last night’s comeuppance. And THAT’S why the Dutchmen won by 34. We don’t forget here! Sometimes we’re the only people to remember certain things. But we don’t forget them!
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game, as well as the entire Gulf Coast Showcase, is slated to be carried live on Flo Hoops. For subscription options, click here. Hofstra will also provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
GULF COAST SHOWCASE UPDATE
The Dutchmen and Wright State (a 91-85 winner over Louisiana) were joined in the winner’s bracket by High Point (whose 82-68 win over Iona ensures the Dutchmen and Iona can’t play twice this season, booo) and Illinois State (whose 61-52 win over Long Beach State ensures the Beaches won’t be rooting against the Beaches, bummer). The winners of today's games will play for the championship tomorrow night at 7:30 PM. The vanquished (seems nicer than saying the losers) will meet in the third-place game at 5 PM.
WRIGHT STATE AND THE HORIZON LEAGUE
Wright State, under eighth-year head coach Scott Nagy, is 1-3 this season after earning the aforementioned 91-85 win over Louisiana on Monday afternoon. Each of the Raiders’ first three games were against teams currently in the top 120 at KenPom. Colorado State rolled to a 105-77 win on Nov. 10 before Toledo edged the Raiders 78-77 on Nov. 14 and Indiana earned an 89-80 victory last Thursday.
Wright State was picked to finish third in the 11-team Horizon League. Graduate student guard Trey Calvin, who was named the Horizon League’s preseason player of the year, is averaging 26.3 points per game, second-most in the nation. Graduate student guard Tanner Holden, who spent his first three seasons with the Raiders and transferred to Ohio State last year before returning to Wright State, was named to the all-Horizon preseason second team and is averaging 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Junior center AJ Braun is averaging 11.5 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game while redshirt junior Brandon Noel, who was also selected to the all-Horizon preseason second team, is averaging 9.5 points per game.
The Dutchmen and Raiders have no common opponents this season.
Wright State leads the all-time series 2-0, so this is another chance to settle some family business. The Raiders rolled to an 82-56 win in Ohio in a Bracketbuster game on Feb. 19, 2011 (even though never Hofstra nor Wright State were in NCAA Tournament contention…the Bracketbuster was a good idea that ESPN ruined, shocker) before beating the depleted Dutchmen, 63-57, in the return game at the Arena on Dec. 15, 2012.
The Dutchmen are 5-4 all-time against current Horizon League schools. This marks the Dutchmen’s first game against a Horizon League member since Nov. 27, 2021, when they beat Detroit Mercy and Antoine Davis, 98-84, at the Arena.
At KenPom.com this afternoon, Hofstra is ranked 130th while Wright State is ranked 145th. KenPom.com predicts an 81-79 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 2 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 1-2 against the spread this season.
THE DUTCHMEN ON THIS DATE
New feature! At least if I can catch up on the rest of the calendar over the next few weeks. Anyway, I thought it’d be fun to see how the Dutchmen have historically fared on each of the days in which they are scheduled to play this season.
Thus, I am here to report the Dutchmen are 7-3 all-time on Nov. 21. Tonight marks their first game on Nov. 21 since 2019, when the Dutchmen earned their biggest Nov, 21 win by upsetting UCLA, 88-78. But the Dutchmen have also beaten two other Final Four teams on this date!
11/21/19: 88-78 W UCLA
11/21/18: 80-71 W Cal State-Fullerton
11/21/16: 92-90 W Bradley
11/21/15: 66-65 W Stony Brook
11/21/12: 67-56 L Manhattan
11/21/10: 62-47 L Nebraska
11/21/07: 60-57 L St. Francis (NY)
11/21/04: 69-67 W Florida International
11/21/00: 87-67 W Florida Atlantic
11/21/97: 69-55 W Bucknell
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
You were supposed to host the 2016 Presidential Debate not us bias! (Hofstra got to host a record third consecutive debate in 2016 because Wright State backed out due to security concerns, geez, whatever could have made them think one of the candidates would be a security risk)
You’re not the Cradle of Aviation bias! (Sure you’ve got a school named after the Wright brothers, but Long Island is the Cradle of Aviation)
Sean Murphy bias! (The Atlanta Braves’ all-star catcher went to Wright State)
Not David Wright bias! (Or former Expos & Rangers outfielder George Wright, for that matter, in case it ever comes up in Immaculate Grid)
Wright’s not a state bias! (I thought we were done with this after disposing of Troy State and Chicago State)
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