Hofstra and Temple are starting all over again after more than 40 years apart, Daryl & John. Can't you guys do the same after just a couple years?
The Flying Dutchmen will go back in time for a second straight game today. But instead of playing a game that’s not broadcast, televised or streamed anywhere, the Dutchmen will head back to the old East Coast Conference for their first clash against Temple in 43 years. It’s real and it’s spectacular to me, Litos.
Anyway, as will hopefully be the case more often than not (you never know!), I ran down the boilerplate postgame material from Monday’s nobody-saw-or-heard-it 80-67 win over Norfolk State in Saturday’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from that win as well as a preview of the Owls (really, another Owls opponent). Enjoy!
TWO FOR 20 (part one)
It’s not just a good deal at Applebees! Cruz Davis and KiJan Robinson shared the team lead in scoring Monday, when they both finished with 20 points, It’s the second time this season two players have scored at least 20 points for the Dutchmen. Davis (21 points) and Jean Aranguren (20 points) led the way for the Dutchmen in a 75-71 overtime win over Massachusetts on Nov. 16. The Dutchmen are 18-5 under Speedy Claxton when at least two players score 20 points in a game.
TWO FOR 20 (part two)
Cruz Davis and KiJan Robinson formed an unusual 1-2 punch Monday, when they both scored 20 points even though Davis was the lone starter in the tandem. Robinson is the first reserve to join a teammate as a 20-point scorer since Jan. 15, 2022, when Aaron Estrada had 30 points and Jalen Ray added 23 points off the bench in an 82-77 win over Delaware.
JEAN FITS
Jean Aranguren continued bouncing back from a brief slump Monday, when he had 19 points while leading the Dutchmen with seven rebounds and six assists. Aranguren has 55 points, 16 assists and 16 rebounds in his last four games after scoring just two points with three assists and five rebounds in two games against Houston and Rice from Nov. 22-29.
BOARDS AND DIMES
Jean Aranguren led the Dutchmen in rebounding and assists for the second tie this season Monday, when he had seven rebounds and six assists. Aranguren also led the Dutchmen in both categories Nov. 8, when he finished with nine rebounds and nine assists in a 90-76 win over Iona.
CRUZ-IN
Cruz Davis continued his strong season Monday, when he scored 20 points and added four assists, two rebounds and two steals. It was the fourth 20-point effort this season for Davis, who hadn’t scored more than 16 points in game the previous two seasons at Iona and St. John’s Davis has scored in double figures in seven of his first 11 games this season — and scored at least seven points in three other games — after reaching double figures five times in his first 28 games the previous two seasons.
HERE’S TO YOU MR. ROBINSON
KiJan Robinson continued his emergence as a star Monday night, when he scored 20 points while going 4-of-9 from 3-point land over a career-high 33 minutes. Robinson, who scored a career-high 28 points while going 8-of-9 from beyond the arc in the 114-46 win over St. Joseph’s (NY) on Dec. 6, didn’t score more than 13 points or drain more than three 3-pointers in any of his first 41 career games. He has scored in double figures five times this season after doing so just twice last season.
KIJAN THE MICROWAVE
It’s awfully high praise to compare anyone to Justin Wright-Foreman, but KiJan Robinson’s sophomore season might be the best breakout season for a Hofstra player since Wright-Foreman’s emergence as a sophomore. Robinson is the first Hofstra player with consecutive 20-point efforts off the bench since Jan. 2-5, 2017, when Wright-Foreman had 30 points in the infamous 95-93 overtime loss to James Madison before he finished with 25 points in a 62-54 loss to James Madison. Wright-Foreman made one more appearance off the bench before entering the starting lineup for good.
GRAHAM SHOPPING AT THE FIVE-AND-DIME
Michael Graham had another solid game Monday, when he finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Graham has finished with at least 10 points and five rebounds in three games this season after doing so just four times the previous two seasons for Loyola Marymount.
CAN’T MISS GRAHAM
Michael Graham continued his sharp shooting Monday night, when he scored 11 points while going 5-of-5 from the field. Graham is the second Hofstra player this season to enjoy a perfect shooting night (minimum five field goal attempts) and the first since Silas Sunday went 5-for-5 in the 90-76 win over Iona on Nov. 8. In addition, Graham has made his last 14 field goals dating back to the second half of the 68-66 win over Arkansas State on Dec. 1.
BLOCK PARTY
Michael Graham tied a season-high by recording four blocks Monday night. Graham also had four blocks in the 90-76 win over Iona on Nov. 8. The four blocks are the most in a single game for Graham since Feb. 29, when he finished with seven blocks for Loyola Marymount in a 96-62 win over San Diego.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
With TJ Gadsden inactive Monday, German Plotnikov — the lone returning player who made a start last season for the Dutchmen — entered the starting lineup for the first time this season and finished with two points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 31 minutes. Plotnikov has scored in five straight games after scoring just once in the first six games.
SANDERS SLUMPING
Jaquan Sanders’ slump deepened even further Monday, when he was again the only Hofstra player to finish without a point after he missed his lone shot, a 3-pointer, over a season-low 12 minutes. Sanders is the first Hofstra starter to go scoreless in consecutive games since Jaquan Carlos was blanked from Feb. 18-25, 2023 against Stony Brook and Northeastern. He has scored 29 points over his last six games, a span in which Sanders is 11-of-51 from the field, including 5-of-32 from 3-point land. He opened the season by scoring 73 points while going 24-of-54 from the field, including 17-of-40 from beyond the arc, in his first five games. Sanders has hit one 3-pointer or fewer in each of the last five games after draining at least two 3-pointers in each of the first five games.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
Silas Sunday continued to be a productive backup to Michael Graham Monday night, when he had four points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. It was the second straight game in which Sunday pulled down six rebounds, leaving him one shy of his season-high set against Tarleton State on Nov. 30.
FREEBIES FOR FARMER
Khalil Farmer had another solid game off the bench Monday, when he scored four points on 4-of-4 shooting from the free throw line in 14 minutes. He’s the second Hofstra player this season to collect all his points at the free throw line (minimum four points) and the first since Cruz Davis was 5-of-5 from the line in the 61-59 loss to Tarleton State on Nov. 30. Farmer has played at least 11 minutes in each of the last six games after playing at least 11 minutes 10 times in 23 appearances last season.
OVER THE AIR
This afternoon’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required, click here for options) as well as on MSG Networks if you are in the New York area or somehow paid one billion dollars (approx) for the Gotham Sports app. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
TEMPLE AND THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Temple, under second-year head coach Adam Fisher, is 5-4 this season after beating non-Division I Holy Trinity, 110-81, on Tuesday night.
Temple was picked to finish sixth in the 13-team American. The Owls (yup, another team nicknamed the Owls from the American) return six players from last year’s squad. Newcomer Jamal Mashburn Jr. (yup, son of the Kentucky and NBA star, you are very old, AARP card etc etc), a graduate student and preseason all-conference first team selection who began his career with one season at Minnesota and three seasons at New Mexico, leads Temple with 22.0 points per game. Redshirt senior Steve Settle III, in his second season at Temple after three seasons at Howard, is averaging 12.6 points per game and leads the Owls with 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. True sophomore Zion Stanford is averaging 12.1 points per game. Fellow true sophomore Quante Berry is averaging 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
In addition, former Hofstra reserve Christian Tomasco has appeared in three games as a walk-on for Temple. If he gets into the game today, he’ll be the first former Hofstra player to oppose the Dutchmen since Jordan Allen had 11 points for Sacred Heart in the Dutchmen’s 80-73 win on Dec. 28, 2015.
Per KenPom.com, Temple ranks 123rd nationally in offensive efficiency (109.2 points per 100 possessions) and 193rd in defensive efficiency (107.3 points per 100 possessions) while ranking 134th in tempo (69.2 possessions per 40 minutes).
The Dutchmen and Owls have a whopping five common opponents this season. That must be a non-conference record. Both teams have beaten Massachusetts, whom the Dutchmen edged 75-71 in overtime Nov 16 and Temple defeated 87-80 on Nov. 23. And both teams have lost to Florida State, which beat the Dutchmen 79-61 and knocked off the Owls 78-69 in consecutive games from Nov. 19-22. Temple also beat Monmouth 103-74 on Nov. 8 and defeated Drexel 69-61 three days later. The Dutchmen are slated to play Monmouth and Drexel once apiece in CAA action. And the Dutchmen beat the American’s Rice 68-63 in overtime Nov. 29.
The Dutchmen are 6-11 all-time against Temple in a series that dates back to the 1964-65 season. But the two teams haven’t opposed each other since way back on Jan. 16, 1982, when Temple earned a 61-58 win at the Physical Fitness Center. Temple’s seven-season stint in the East Coast Conference ended with a move to the Atlantic 10 in 1982-83, which was also the first year at the helm for the late legendary John Chaney.
Temple will be the second school Hofstra faces this season for the first time in more than 40 years. The Dutchmen beat Seton Hall 49-48 on Nov, 13 in the first game between the schools since the 1969-70 campaign.
The Flying Dutchmen are 19-25 all-time against schools currently in the American, which has been a symbol of rapid realignment since it formed once the Big East dropped football following the 2012-13 season. The only current American schools the Dutchmen have played when that opponent was in the American are Rice, whom the Dutchmen beat in the first-ever meeting between the schools Nov. 29, and South Florida, against whom the Dutchmen improved to 1-3 all-time with an 82-63 win on Nov. 30, 2023.
This marks the third straight season in which the Dutchmen have faced at least one American team. Cincinnati earned its final win as a member of the American Mar. 18, 2023, when the Bearcats ended the Dutchmen’s season with a 79-65 win in the second round of the NIT at the Arena.
At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 143rd — a leap of 26 spots since Monday — while Temple is ranked 141st. That’s close! KenPom.com predicts a 72-70 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 6-3 against the spread this season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Hall & Oates bias! (Long before they decided to torpedo their beautiful musical partnership in their late 70s, Daryl Hall and John Oates met at Temple)
We used to beat you all the time in pretend football bias! (A comedian once had an amusing bit about Hofstra beating Temple in football, which can’t be replayed here or anywhere else because, well, you know)
Elite Eight bias! (Temple fell in the Elite Eight five times under John Chaney)
Bobby Higginson bias! (The one-team-only Tigers outfielder, in case it ever comes up in Immaculate Grid, went to Temple)
Jamal Mashburn can’t possibly have a son almost done with college already bias! (But he does!)
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