Remember the WAC? It's back! In pog form! But Robbie Bosco isn't there.
At this rate, Bachman-Turner Overdrive (GOOGLE IT CRAIN) will be playing pregame concerts at the Arena by the time the CAA schedule starts. The Dutchmen once again got to the workin’ five extra minutes part Friday night, when they outlasted Rice 68-63 in overtime in their first of three games at the Baha Mar Nassau Championship in the Bahamas.
With the quick turnaround, we’ll eschew the Keep It Perky and put everything — the boilerplate postgame material, the recap of Rice and the look ahead to something called a Tarleton State — together in an old-school jam-packed I’ll Be Quirky. Don’t worry, I probably won’t lapse back into old habits for good! Probably. Possibly. Anyway, here’s a look back at the win over the Owls and a look ahead to…the Texans? The Texans.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Cruz Davis scored seven of his game-high 22 points in overtime before Khalil Farmer channeled his inner Mariano Rivera and came up with three big points and a key rebound in the final seconds of an exciting overtime win. Davis scored six points in a game-opening 21-12 RUSH BIAS run for the Dutchmen, who missed 11 of their final 16 shots in the half as Rice pulled within 31-28 NICE FOOTBALL SCORE. The Owls scored the first eight points of the second half to take their biggest lead, but the two teams weren’t separated by more than three points the rest of the second half after Davis’ layup with 14:46 left pulled the Dutchmen within 38-35. With the Dutchmen ahead 56-54, Michael Graham had a chance to ice the game with a pair of free throws but missed both before Trae Broadnax hit a layup with eight seconds left. KiJan Robinson missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. There were two ties and two lead changes in overtime before Davis’ layup put the Dutchmen ahead for good at 65-63 with 59 seconds left. The teams traded misses before Farmer — in the game because Jean Aranguren fouled out and due to the struggles of Jaquan Sanders and TJ Gadsden — was fouled on an inbounds pass and sank his first two free throw attempts of the season with 14 seconds left. Farmer then iced the win by rebounding Dar’s missed 3-pointer 10 seconds later and splitting a pair of free throws. Davis set career highs with 22 points and eight rebounds while adding a team-best three assists. Robinson continued thriving as the sixth man by scoring 12 points in a career-high 32 minutes. Graham had seven points and tied a career-high with 15 rebonds while Plotnikov set season bests with six points in 32 minutes. Gadsden and Sanders had seven points apiece, but none after halftime as they were phased out down the stretch for Robinson and Plotnikov. Aranguren (two points in 22 minutes) had his second straight subpar game.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Rice, 11/29)
3: Cruz Davis
2: KiJan Robinson
1: Michael Graham
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 15
Cruz Davis 12
Jaquan Sanders 9
KiJan Robinson 4
Michael Graham 1
TJ Gadsden 1
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! But in a fun quirky twist, the Dutchmen’s previous 68-63 win was also recorded in a tournament setting back on Nov. 16, 2008, when they nipped Yale by that score in the preseason NIT at UConn.
The Dutchmen have recorded two unicorn score victories this season and 55 unicorn score victories since the start of the 2018-19 season, when we first started tracking unicorn scores.
2024-25: Two unicorn scores
2023-24: Seven unicorn scores
2022-23: 12 unicorn scores
2021-22: 11 unicorn scores
2020-21: Zero unicorn scores (really)
2019-20: 13 unicorn scores
2018-19: 10 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. You may also know it as a “Scorigami,” a term popularized in the NFL.
WHO HAD THE KEITH HERNANDEZ?
Cruz Davis joined the Keith Hernandez club Friday night, when he hit the tie-breaking layup to give the Dutchmen the lead for good at 65-63 with 59 seconds left in overtime. It’s the fourth overtime Keith Hernandez in history (or at least since the 2022-23 season) but the second straight following Jean Aranguren’s free throw against UMass two weeks ago tonight.
Jean Aranguren tie-breaking layup vs. Old Westbury, 11/4/24 (19:47 left 2H)
Silas Sunday go-ahead layup vs. Iona, 11/8/24 (17:49 left 1H)
Jean Aranguren go-ahead layup vs. Seton Hall, 11/13/24 (2:19 left 2H)
Jean Aranguren tie-breaking free throw vs. UMass, 11/16/24 (4:58 left OT)
Cruz Davis tie-breaking layup vs. Rice, 11/29/24 (:59 left OT)
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 3
Cruz Davis 1
Silas Sunday 1
ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since the 2022-23 season)
Tyler Thomas 16
Darlinstone Dubar 14
Aaron Estrada 4
Jean Aranguren 3
Warren Williams 3
Silas Sunday 2
Jacco Fritz 2
Jaquan Carlos 2
German Plotnikov 2
Cruz Davis 1
Bryce Washington 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 SEVEN GAMES
With Friday night’s overtime win, the Dutchmen improved to 5-2 this season. This ties the 2024-25 team for the 15th-best record in school history through seven games. It’s the third straight season in which the Dutchmen have opened 5-2 and the 16th time overall in school history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through seven games:
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 3-4
1976-77: 6-1
1999-2000: 3-4
2000-01: 5-2
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 4-3
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 3-4
2004-05: 7-0 (most recent 7-0 start)
2005-06: 5-2
2006-07: 4-3 (over .500 for good)
2015-16: 5-2
2018-19: 4-3 (marked first win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 5-2
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 4-3
1961-62: 6-1
1962-63: 5-2
1963-64: 6-1
Some other notable seven-game starts:
2021-22: 3-4 (most recent 3-4 start)
2020-21: 4-3 (most recent 4-3 start)
2013-14: 2-5 (most recent 2-5 start)
2012-13: 3-4 (under .500 for good because…well, you know)
2011-12: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
2008-09: 6-1 (most recent 6-1 start)
2002-03: 1-6 (most recent 1-6 start)
1994-95: 2-5 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-6 (VBK’s last team)
1982-83: 6-1 (first loss in 7th game)
1978-79: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
1973-74: 1-6 (win snapped the most recent season-opening six-game losing streak, the Dutchmen have never begun 0-7)
1960-61: 7-0
1959-60: 7-0
1955-56: 7-0
1954-55: 7-0
1951-52: 7-0
1947-48: 7-0
1943-44: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
Hofstra has never been 0-7 through seven games. It’s the first record they’ve never experienced! Let’s keep it that way.
Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43.
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 ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN
With Friday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 71-36 (.664) as head coach. That’s tied for the third-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 107 games at the helm.
Butch van Breda Kolff I 73-34 (.682, 107th game was the fifth game of his fifth season in 1959-60)
Frank Reilly 73-34 (.682, 107th game was the seventh game of his fifth season in 1951-52)
Paul Lynner 71-36 (.664, 107th game was the 23rd game of his fourth season in 1965-66)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 71-36 (.664, 107th game was the seventh game of his fourth season in 2024-25)
Joe Mihalich 57-50 (.533, 107th game was the sixth game of his fourth season in 2016-17)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 55-52 (.514, 107th game was the 22nd game of his fourth season in 1991-92)
Dick Berg 54-53 (.505, 107th game was the 25th game of his fourth season in 1983-84)
Roger Gaeckler 49-58 (.458, 107th game was the fifth game of his fifth season in 1976-77)
Jay Wright 46-61 (.430, 107th game was the 25th game of his fourth season in 1997-98)
Tom Pecora 45-62 (.421, 107th game was the 17th game of his fourth season in 2004-05)
Claxton moves back into a tie for third with Paul Lynner but remains two games behind VBK I and Reilly, each of whom are in the midst of lengthy season-opening winning streaks. Everyone else remains in the spot he occupied after 106 games. Including, of course, those perpetual slackers Jay Wright and Tom Pecora continuing to bring up the rear. Perpetual slackers!
The records are incomplete for Jack McDonald’s first stint from 1936 through 1943 as well as the tenure of Jack Smith (1943-46).
Smith finished 27-32 in his three seasons while Mo Cassara finished 38-59 in his three seasons. 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.
GET TO THE WORKIN’ OVERTIME PART
With the win Friday night, the Dutchmen improved to 5-3 in overtime under Speedy Claxton. It was the second straight overtime victory for the Dutchmen, who beat UMass 75-71 in their previous win Nov. 16, and the fourth straight victory overall in an overtime contest for the Dutchmen. Prior to outlasting the Minutemen, the Dutchmen beat Rutgers 88-86 in the first round of the NIT on Mar. 14, 2023 and edged High Point 97-92 in the Gulf Coast Showcase championship game on Nov. 22, 2023. This marks the first time the Dutchmen have won four straight games decided in overtime since Dec. 8, 2010 through Nov. 18, 2012, when they beat Binghamton, James Madison, William & Mary (Charles Jenkins Game!) and Marshall, the latter in double overtime.
OH NO THE THREES AREN’T FALLING…
…but it didn’t matter Friday night, when the Dutchmen won despite shooting just 18.5 percent (5-of-27) from 3-point land! That’s the lowest 3-point shooting percentage for the Dutchmen in a win since Jan. 17, 2021 when they shot 17.6 percent (3-of-17) in a 68-67 win over Delaware.
CRUZ-IN
Cruz Davis continued establishing himself as an all-CAA caliber player Friday night, when he set career highs with 22 points and eight rebounds. It’s the third time this season Davis has established a new career high in scoring and the second time he’s done so in rebounding. Davis opened the season with 19 points and seven rebounds against Division III Old Westbury on Nov. 4 before scoring 21 points against UMass on Nov. 16. Davis has scored in double figures in five of his first seven games this season — and scored nine points in the other two games — after reaching double figures five times in his first 28 games the previous two seasons at Iona and St. John’s.
HERE’S TO YOU MR. ROBINSON
KiJan Robinson just continues to get better and better — and continues to look like the Dutchmen’s version of The Microwave (HAVE YOU GOOGLED THIS YET CRAIN). Robinson scored 12 points in a career-high 32 minutes Friday, when he and German Plotnikov were on the floor in overtime in place of Jaquan Sanders and TJ Gadsden. He was also the only Hofstra player with multiple 3-pointers. Robinson has scored in double figures three times in seven games this season after doing so just twice in 32 games last season.
BUSY OFF THE BENCH (part one)
This stat comes courtesy of Loyal Reader EvanJ, who noted KiJan Robinson led the Dutchmen with 15 field goal attempts and wondered about the last time a reserve led the Dutchmen in shots. The answer, as far as I can tell from a perusal of the renamed Stathead at College Basketball Reference, is…Griffin Barrouk, who hoisted 11 shots in just 14 minutes in a 71-56 loss to UMass on Dec. 11, 2022. Barrouk finished with a career-high 11 points and earned his lone 3 Stars of the Game honor that night.
BUSY OFF THE BENCH (part two)
KiJan Robinson and German Plotnikov each played 32 minutes off the bench Friday night. That’s the most minutes a reserve has played for the Dutchmen since Warren Williams also logged 32 minutes Mar. 6, 2023, when the Dutchmen fell to UNC Wilmington 79-73 in overtime in the CAA Tournament semifinals.
GRAHAM CRACKIN’
Michael Graham had his best game of the season Friday night, when he had seven points and 15 rebounds in a career-high 33 minutes. The 15 rebounds were the most for Graham since Feb. 4, 2023, when he pulled down 15 rebounds for Loyola Marymount against San Diego, and the most by a Hofstra player since Jan. 9, 2022, when Abayomi Iyiola had 15 rebounds in an 87-80 win over James Madison.
GIVING BACK THE FREEBIES
Michael Graham’s night could have been even better, but his chances at a double-double disappeared when he finished 1-of-6 from the free throw line. Graham is the first Hofstra player to make one free throw or fewer in at least six attempts since Dec. 5, 2020, when Kvonn Cramer was 1-of-6 from the line in an 82-74 loss to Iona.
PRODUCTIVE PLOTNIKOV
German Plotnikov, the lone returning player who made a start last season for the Dutchmen, may have snapped out of his season-long slump Friday night, when he had six points in 32 minutes. Plotnikov’s biggest contribution Friday was the heads-up play he made in th waning seconds of overtime, when he chased down an errant KiJan Robinson jumper along the baseline and threw it off a Rice player to ensure the Dutchmen could keep possession.
The 32 minutes were the most for Plotnikov since he played 36 minutes in the 73-58 win over Delaware in the CAA Tournament quarterfinals on Mar. 10 while the six points were his most since he scored 11 points against Not Twitter Guy in an 87-64 win on Feb. 24. In fact, the six points were as many as Plotnikov scored in his previous nine games dating back to March 2.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
With Michael Graham having his best game of the season, Silas Sunday wasn’t needed as much Friday. But the 1A big man still pulled down a season-high six rebounds over 12 minutes. The six rebounds were Sunday’s most since Feb. 17, when he had six rebounds in an 82-62 win over Northeastern.
FARMER’S THE CLOSER?
An honorary extra star of the game to Khalil Farmer, who might have saved the Dutchmen in the final 14 seconds. Farmer, pressed into duty because Jean Aranguren fouled out and Jaquan Sanders and TJ Gadsden were struggling, was fouled as he took an in-bounds pass and drained two free throws — his first free throw attempts of the season — to extend the Dutchmen’s lead to 67-63. He then iced the win by grabbing the rebound following Rice’s penultimate field goal attempt and subsequently sinking one of two free throws. Farmer entered Friday with two free throws in six attempts in his entire career! You can’t predict college basketball, Suzyn.
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
I have to finish looking this one up to fully confirm it, but I believe Khalil Farmer is the first player to score all his points in overtime for the Dutchmen since way back on Feb. 18, 2009, when Mike Davis-Sabb drained a free throw for is only point of the game and the Dutchmen’s final point in a 99-96 double overtime win. Even if that’s not accurate, I got to drop a Mike Davis-Sabb reference on you today That’s a win!
SANDERS SLUMP?
Jaquan Sanders had his second straight quiet game Friday night, when he scored seven points — all in the first half — while going 1-of-8 from the 3-point land. Sanders, who scored eight points in the 80-44 loss to Houston on Nov. 22, didn’t play in the overtime, when he and TJ Gadsden were replaced by KiJan Robinson and German Plotnikov. In addition, last night marked the first time this season Sanders hasn’t hit at least two 3-pointers.
BLUE JEAN
This is definitely a slump for Jean Aranguren, who picked up two fouls in the first two minutes Friday night and fouled out in overtime after scoring just two points in 22 minutes. Aranguren opened his Hofstra career by scoring at least 10 points in each of his first five games before he was held scoreless in the 80-44 loss to Houston on Nov. 22. The two points in the last two games are the fewest Aranguren has scored in a two-game span since he had two points over the final two games of last season for Iona.
TJ TO THE EXTREME
TJ Gadsden’s hot-and-cold season continued in micro and macro fashion Friday night, when he had seven points and four rebounds in 13 minutes. Gadsden had five points and three rebounds in the first 6:24 but just two points and one rebound thereafter and none at all in the second half or overtime, when he didn’t play the final 23:23. He has just 19 points and 21 rebounds in the six games outside of a 75-71 win over Massachusetts on Nov. 16, when Gadsden finished with nine points and 11 rebounds in the 75-71 overtime victory. Gadsden has yet to reach double figures in seven games this season after scoring at least 10 points in 11 of 25 games last season for Canisius.
LOPEZ DEBUTS
Welcome to the all-time Hofstra roster Carlos Lopez, who made his Dutchmen debut in the final 14 seconds of overtime. Lopez didn’t play in the first six games after transferring from Saint Francis (PA) following last season.
OVER THE AIR
This afternoon’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops. For subscription options, click here. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
TARLETON STATE AND THE WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Tarleton State, which is in its fifth season as a Division I program, fell to 1-6 this season under fifth-year head coach Billy Gillispie with a 62-51 loss Friday afternoon to Iona in both team’s Baha Mar Nassau Championship opener. It was the first time this season the Texans have lost by fewer than 20 points against a Division I opponent. Tarleton State recorded its lone win Nov. 14, when it beat Tabor, an NAIA school, 88-57.
Tarleton State was picked to finish sixth in the nine-team Western Athletic Conference, whose membership shrunk by two when Stephen F. Austin and UTRGV departed for the Southland. The WAC, the wildest example of conference realignment gone completely crazy, will be down to seven teams next season when Grand Canyon and Seattle depart for the Mountain West and West Coast Conference, respectively. More on the WACkyness shortly!
Per KenPom.com, Tarleton State ranks 362nd in the nation — out of 364 Division I teams! — in experience with just 0.26 years of average D-I experience on the roster as well as 337th in continuity with just 5.6 percent of the minutes back from last year’s team.
True sophomore guard Bubu Benjamin, one of two returning players from last year’s team, leads the Texans with 15.0 points per game and ranks second with 4.7 rebounds per game. Junior forward Chris Mpaka, a transfer from Indian Hills junior college, is averaging 8.8 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game. True sophomore Izzy Miles, Tarleton State’s other returnee, is averaging a team-high 2.0 assists per game. Senior Freddy Hicks, who opened his career with three seasons at Tarleton State and played last season at Arkansas State before returning to the Texans, was a first-team all-WAC preseason pick but has yet to play this year.
Per KenPom.com, Tarleton State ranks 346th nationally in offensive efficiency (95.2 points per 100 possessions) and 220th in defensive efficiency (107.5 points per 100 possessions) while ranking 228th in tempo (67.9 possessions per 40 minutes).
The Dutchmen and Texans have two common opponents this season. In addition to opening play in the Bahamas against Iona, whom the Dutchmen beat 90-76 on Nov. 8, Tarleton State also lost to Florida State 72-52 on Nov. 12, seven days before the Seminoles beat the Dutchmen 79-61. It’s super weird that Florida State is playing Hofstra and four of the Dutchmen’s opponents this season, right?
This marks the first meeting between Hofstra and Tarleton State in men’s basketball and just the second all-time meeting between the schools in any sport. The Flying Dutchwomen softball team fell to Tarleton State, 6-4, in the Longhorn Invitational on Mar. 1.
In what must also be a first, today marks the Flying Dutchmen’s first-ever #Redundant game against a current member of the Western Athletic Conference. Of course, that’s because the WAC is an ever-amorphous being whose membership includes just two schools (Southern Utah and UT Arlington) that haven’t made the leap to Division I this century.
Another way to look at it: The Dutchmen last played a WAC team Nov. 23, 2006, when they fell to Hawaii in the Great Alaska Shootout. Long time ago! The Dutchmen are 1-4 all-time against former WAC members with a win over Air Force, single losses to Hawaii and Texas-El Paso and two losses to Brigham Young.
At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 152nd while Tarleton State is ranked 314th. KenPom.com predicts a 70-61 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 9-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 4-2 against the spread this season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
You get to play I-AA football, that’s not fair bias! (Tarleton State, whose football program is in its fifth season at the I-AA level, is playing Drake in the opening round of the playoffs today, sigh, must be nice)
Your coach used to coach at Kentucky bias! (Billy Gillispie was hired at Kentucky after just five seasons as a Division I coach but lasted only two seasons with the Wildcats)
You used to be called the Plowboys bias! (Per Wikipedia, which is never wrong)
James Dearth bias! (The former Jets tight end and long snapper went to Tarleton State and is now an assistant track & field coach for the Texans)
Not those Texans bias! (Self-explanatory)
