"Hey Chris do do do you remember Kal Daniels? What? You mean not all Charleston coaches possess uncanny recall of the 1980s Reds?"
Winning ugly sure is better than losing pretty! The Flying Dutchmen, in the midst of perhaps the most challenging season-opening four-game slate in the CAA, steadied the ship #Punny Saturday by clamping down on Northeastern for a 55-37 win. The Dutchmen will attempt to continue traveling back in time to the pre-shot clock days tonight, when they host two-time defending champion Charleston, which has a new head coach in Chris Mack but is off to a familiar 2-0 start.
As will hopefully be the routine now that conference play has begun, I ran down the boilerplate material from Saturday’s win in Wednesday’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the (very quirky) individual news and notes from that win as well as a preview of the Cougars as the Dutchmen look to get a potential early tie-breaking advantage on the future A-10 members (you know it’s true). Enjoy!
THIRTY-SOMETHING: NOT JUST A TV SHOW ANYMORE!
As you no doubt know by now, the 37 points scored by Northeastern were the fewest allowed by the Dutchmen since Jan. 18, 1989, when the Dutchmen beat Rider 48-34 at the Physical Fitness Center two days before George H. W. Bush was inaugurated as our 41st President. Simpler times, a mere 1,112 games ago! The night before, “thirtysomething” aired “Politics,” the sixth episode of its second season. Timely!
The Dutchmen allowed fewer than 40 points just once in between the gems against Rider and Northeastern — way back on Dec. 9, 2009, when they edged Manhattan 44-39. I did not think I’d be referencing that game twice this season, but here we are.
The 37 points allowed by the Dutchmen last Saturday are tied for the ninth-fewest allowed by a Division I team against a Division I opponent this season.
WINNING UNDER THE SPEED LIMIT
With Saturday’s victory, the Dutchmen became the second Division I team this season to win two games in which it scored 55 points or fewer. Marist, which is the alma mater of at least three of my high school friends, beat New Hampshire 54-49 on Nov. 23 before edging Mount St. Mary’s 53-50 on Dec. 6. The Dutchmen, of course, beat Seton Hall, 49-48, at Nassau Coliseum on Nov. 13. That remains the only Division I game this season in which the winning team scored fewer than 50 points. Hmm, I wonder how long it’s been since the Dutchmen have scored 55 points or fewer in two victories in the same season?
IT’S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME
Why, I’m glad I brought it up! The Dutchmen have scored 55 points or fewer in two victories in the same season for the first time since the 1996-97 season, when they opened up by beating Stony Brook 55-42 on Nov. 22 before edging Florida International 55-54 in their next game three days later. Those were also the first two games for…that’s right, Speedy Claxton, the hotly recruited freshman point guard, who had a combined 35 points in the victories! I love it when the quirkiness comes together.
TEEN DREAMS (or nightmares)
The Dutchmen trailed 19-18 at the half Saturday afternoon. It’s the first time since Jan. 21, 2009, when the Dutchmen trailed William & Mary 17-15, that both the Dutchmen and their opponent scored fewer than 20 points in the first half. That was 514 games ago! Not surprisingly, the 27 combined first-half points Saturday were also the fewest for the Dutchmen and their opponent since the aforementioned game against William & Mary.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Let’s face it, you’re not going to win by scoring 55 points unless you’re coupling the offense with a terrific defense. The Dutchmen limited Northeastern to 21.3 percent shooting (13-of-61), including just 12 percent (3-of-20) from 3-point land. The overall shooting percentage was the lowest by a Hofstra opponent since way back on Dec. 22, 2004, when the Dutchmen held Columbia to 19.3 percent shooting (11-of-57), while the 3-point shooting percentage was the lowest by a Hofstra opponent since Feb. 16. 2023, when Hampton shot 11.1 percent (2-of-18) in the Dutchmen’s 73-43 win.
In addition, the Huskies’ 13 field goals and three 3-pointers were the fewest surrendered by the Dutchmen against a Division I foe since last Feb. 10, when North Carolina A&T made 14 field goals, including three 3-pointers, in the Dutchmen’s 81-49 win. Division III St. Joseph’s (NY) had 13 field goals and four 3-pointers Dec. 6, when the Dutchmen earned a 114-46 victory.
FROM THE 40S TO THE 110S (and almost everywhere in between)
This one was hard to title, but fun to research, The Dutchmen have nine wins this season but have already won while finishing with scores in the the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 110s. They are the first team to post wins in seven different factors of 10 since the 2021-22 season ,when Akron, Belmont, Loyola Chicago and Sam Houston State all pulled off the feat. But only Sam Houston State (12 wins) required fewer than 20 wins to pull off this basketball bingo.
No team has won games while finishing with scores in eight different factors of 10 since the 2020-21 season, when Kansas City won while scoring in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 100s and 130s. But there’s a bit of an asterisk there, as the Kangaroos’ four highest-scoring wins came against non-Division I foes during the pandemic-ravaged season.
Even quirkier: The Dutchmen are the first team to win while finishing with scores in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 110s — thus skipping the 100-109 range entirely — since UC Irvine did so in 2013-14. And given how the offense has gone the last few weeks, I tend to doubt the Dutchmen are hitting 100 points anytime soon! But maybe they can win a game in the 30s, hmm…
BACK IN THE TOP 200
As was the case the last time the Dutchmen fell out of the top 200 at KenPom.com in February 2017, a resounding win over Northeastern got the Dutchmen back into their familiar environs Saturday. The 18-point victory vaulted the Dutchmen — who’d fallen out of the top 200 following last Thursday’s 74-56 loss to William & Mary — from 203rd on Saturday morning to 177th at KenPom entering tonight’s game. That’s two spots higher than the Dutchmen’s preseason ranking. Taking a roundabout way to gradual improvement, no wonder I’m a Flying Dutchmen fan.
CRUZ-IN
OK, time for some individual notes. Cruz Davis bounced back from a rough CAA opener in impressive fashion last Saturday, when he scored a game-high 22 points. It was the fifth 20-point effort of the season for Davis, who has scored in double figures in nine of his first 13 games this season after doing so just five times in his first 28 games the previous two seasons with Iona and St. John’s.
A LOT ON A DAY OF A LITTLE
The 22 points by Cruz Davis were the most by a Hofstra player in a game in which the Dutchmen scored fewer than 60 points since Jan. 5, 2017 — i.e. one day shy of eight years ago Saturday — when Justin Wright-Foreman continued his emergence by scoring 25 points off the bench in a 62-54 loss to James Madison.
JEAN FITS
Jean Aranguren had another solid game Saturday, when he finished with 14 points while leading the Dutchmen with 10 rebounds and four assists. It was the third double-double of the season for Aranguren, who has scored in double figures in five straight games and 12 times in 15 games overall after reaching double figures just nine times in 33 games last season with Iona.
BOARDS AND DIMES
Jean Aranguren led the Dutchmen with 10 rebounds and four assists last Saturday. It marked the fourth time this season Aranguren has led the team in rebounds and assists, the most times a player has led the Dutchmen in rebounds and assists since Jaquan Carlos also did it four times during the 2022-23 season.
GRAHAM CRACKIN’
Michael Graham had a much-needed bounce-back game Saturday, when he finished with five points, eight rebounds, two blocks and one steal in 28 minutes. Graham sat out the entire second half of last Thursday’s 74-56 loss to William & Mary. The Dutchmen are now 6-1 this season when Graham plays at least 20 minutes.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov, the lone returning player who made a start last season for the Dutchmen, made his fifth straight start Saturday, when he finished with six points, four rebounds, one block and one steal while playing a career-high 39 minutes. Plotnikov’s previous single-game high for minutes was 38, established in a 80-74 win over Stony Brook last Jan. 22. Plotnikov, who started over Jaquan Sanders on Saturday after starting over TJ Gadsden in the previous three games, has played at least 30 minutes in each of his starts after exceeding 20 minutes just three times in the first 10 games. He has also scored in each of the last nine games after scoring just once in the first six games.
TJ TO THE EXTREME
TJ Gadsden returned to the starting lineup Saturday, when he had two points and three rebounds in 20 minutes. Gadsden, who started for the first time since Dec. 1, has played 20 minutes in each of the last two games, his first stretch of consecutive 20-minute games since he played at least 20 minutes in five straight games from Nov. 8 through Nov. 19. But Gadsden has scored in double figures just once this season — he had 12 points off the bench against William & Mary last Thursday — after scoring at least 10 points in 11 of 25 games last season for Canisius.
HERE’S TO YOU, MR. ROBINSON
KiJan Robinson returned to his usual busy role off the bench Saturday, when he had two points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 27 minutes. It was the most extensive playing time since Dec. 15 for Robinson, who played a combined 24 minutes in the previous two games against Quinnipiac and William & Mary. However, Robinson has scored nine points or fewer in each of his last four games after reaching double figures four times in seven games from Nov. 18 through Dec. 9.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
Silas Sunday had a quirkily efficient game Saturday when he played just 12 scoreless minutes but still pulled down two rebounds while finishing with two blocks and two steals as well as perhaps the coolest assist of the year. After stealing the ball from Harold Woods in the paint, the 7-foot Sunday dribbled a couple times before sending a perfect bounce pass to Cruz Davis, who finished off the fast break with a layup with 6:24 left. The scoreless effort was the second straight for Sunday, who scored in nine of 10 games from Nov. 16 through Dec. 29.
KHALIL’S CAMEO
Khalil Farmer saw limited action for the second straight game Saturday, when he hit his lone shot form the field to finish with two points in six minutes. Farmer has played just seven minutes in the last two contests after seeing at least 10 minutes of playing time in eight straight games from Nov. 22 through Dec. 29.
DECADY’S BAD LUCK
Freshman Joshua DeCady had a big second half last Thursday, but his chance to build some momentum didn’t last long Saturday, when he exited after he was hit in the face by Alexander Nwagha while sinking his lone field goal attempt with 9:19 left in the first half. Silas Sunday missed the free throw in place of DeCady, who played just three minutes after he saw a career-high 22 minutes in the 74-56 loss to William & Mary.
SILENT SANDERS
Jaquan Sanders’ season took another unexpected turn Saturday, when he came off the bench for the first time and was scoreless in just two-plus minutes of action. Sanders entered with 10:02 left in the first half and recorded one rebound before taking a seat for good with 7:44 remaining. The two minutes were obviously a season-low for Sanders, who has 47 points over his last nine games, a span in which he is 17-of-74 from the field, including 10-of-48 from beyond the arc. 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 drained at least two 3-pointers in each of the first five games.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’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 and/or somehow paid one billion dollars (approx) for the Gotham Sports app. Of course, if you live in New York and/or paid one billion dollars (approx) for the Gotham Sports app you are totally out of luck at the moment. Hooray for more carriage disputes! Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING CHARLESTON
The Cougars, under first-year head coach Chris Mack (I hope he likes obscure members of the 1980s Cincinnati Reds), are 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the CAA after beating Towson 77-69 last Saturday. Charleston, which routed Hampton 94-67 last Thursday, has yet to trail in CAA play and has won four straight overall.
Tonight’s game concludes a three-game stretch in which the Dutchmen opposed Bill Coen, the CAA’s most tenured coach ever, in between facing the league’s two newest coaches in Mack and William & Mary’s Brian Earl. Mack led Xavier to three Sweet Sixteens and one Elite Eight from 2009-10 through 2017-18 before spending four seasons at Louisville, which of course is where our old pal Pat Kelsey ended up last spring. Seriously Chris do you mind if we just yell KAL DANIELS in your ear or ask you to write out a fake Reds lineup for no apparent reason?
The Dutchmen and Cougars had no common opponents in non-league play. It’s just the second time this season the Dutchmen are opposing a foe with whom they have no common opponents yet following their game Nov. 22 against Houston, which is also nicknamed the Cougars. Quirky!
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 177th at KenPom.com. As noted earlier, the win over Northeastern got the Dutchmen back into the top 200 after they fell out of the top 200 last week for the first time in almost eight years. The Cougars, who were picked to finish second, are ranked 126th, a gain of 12 spots from their preseason ranking.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank last in the CAA in offensive efficiency (98.3 points per 100 possessions) but first in defensive efficiency (99.3 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 65.0 possessions per 40 minutes, the 12th-most in the league. Strange numbers, especially on offense. The Cougars rank fourth in the CAA in offensive efficiency (106.9 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (103.4 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 73.1 possessions per 40 minutes, the most in the league and the 16th-most in the nation entering today. A clash of contrasting styles, to say the least.
The Cougars return five players from last year’s team following the exit of Kelsey, who was followed to Louisville by Reyne Smith and James Scott. But Mack scored a big early victory by retaining senior Ante Brzovic, who was named the CAA preseason player of the year and is making a case for the real thing by averaging a team-high 19.1 points and 8.5 rebounds to go along with 3.6 assists per game, which ranks second. Brzovic, who is in his third season at Charleston after opening his career with one season at Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State, became the first player this season to earn multiple CAA Player of the Week awards last week, when he had 37 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists in the wins over Hampton and Towson.
True sophomore Deywilk Tavarez, who opened his career at Delaware State, is averaging 12.7 points per game. Graduate student Derrin Boyd, who opened his career with two seasons at NAIA Georgetown College before playing two seasons at Lipscomb, is averaging 12.3 points per game. Junior AJ Smith, who spent the previous two seasons at The Citadel, is averaging 11.8 points per game. I have to think going from The Citadel to Charleston is fun. Senior CJ Fulton, who began his career with two season at Lafayette and joins Brzovic as the lone rotation member back from last season, leads the Cougars with 5.6 assists per game. True sophomore Lazar Djokovic, who spent last season at Xavier, ranks second on the Cougars with 4.8 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts a 69-68 loss for the Dutchmen. Not nice. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1-point favorites. Not sure I’ve seen this favorite discrepancy between the computers and the wise guys. The Dutchmen are 7-6 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. CHARLESTON
Hofstra is 10-10 against Charleston in a series that began with the Cougars joining the CAA prior to the 2013-14 season. The Cougars evened the series by sweeping the Dutchmen last season, when Charleston earned a 73-61 win in the CAA opener at the Arena Jan. 4, 2024 before concluding the regular season Mar. 2 with an 87-76 victory in South Carolina. It was the first sweep of the Dutchmen for Charleston since 2017-18.
Nine of the last 13 games between the teams have been decided by six points or fewer. Charleston was the only team Hofstra didn’t face during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.
Tonight marks the lone scheduled regular season meeting between the Dutchmen and Cougars. This also marks the first of four straight games against likely CAA contenders whom the Dutchmen will only oppose once this season. Ahh, unbalanced schedule.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Still one degrees of separation from Pat Kelsey bias! (Kelsey was an assistant under Chris Mack at Xavier from 2009-11)
Still on the Pete Gillen tree bias! (Mack and Kelsey both played under Gillen at Xavier)
Oliver Marmol bias! (The Cardinals manager and sneakily funny guy played three season at Charleston before being drafted by St. Louis)
Seriously don’t you like Kal Daniels or something bias! (Mack is also from Cincinnati so he’s got to want to just talk random Reds at some point, right?)
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