A trapped Seymour Skinner scored as many points for many stretches Saturday as the Dutchmen and the Huskies!
I apparently need to travel out of state and not watch games live more often. The Flying Dutchmen at least temporarily stepped back from the edge of disaster Saturday afternoon, when they authored their stingiest defensive performance in more than three decades Saturday afternoon and beat Northeastern 55-37 in the rock fight to end all rock fights.
As will hopefully remain the case throughout the CAA season (2-for-2 so far!), here’s the postgame boilerplate material in Keep It Perky form. The individual news and notes from Saturday afternoon and preview of Charleston will be posted Thursday. Without further ado, the Northeastern Keep It Perky! (Which is less grisly than the William & Mary one)
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Cruz Davis scored 22 points and Jean Aranguren (14 points, 10 rebounds) posted another double-double for the Flying Dutchmen, who endured three scoreless droughts of more than 3:50 apiece in the first half and hit two field goals in the final six minutes of the second half — and won by 18 points anyway! It helped the Dutchmen limited Northeastern to 21.3 percent shooting and held the Huskies without a point for more than six minutes late in the first half before holding them scoreless for three droughts lasting at least three minutes in the second half, including a stretch of 4:03 to end the game as they ended up with the fewest points for a Hofstra opponent since January 1989. The Dutchmen were 1-of-9 from the field with eight (!!) turnovers in a span of more than nine minutes, but Northeastern only mustered an 11-2 run to take a 15-10 lead. The teams combined for three field goals in the final 5:30 as the Huskies carried a 19-18 NO, NO NANETTE BIAS lead into the half. The Dutchmen finally mounted some offense in the second half, which began with Aranguren sinking a free throw after Northeastern was assessed a technical for using a player who wasn’t listed in the scorebook (really). That began a 7-0 run for the Dutchmen, who never trailed again. Northeastern got within a basket twice more, the last when Rashad King drained a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 32-30 with 8:54 left, before the Dutchmen ended the game on a 23-7 run in which Davis (12 points) and Aranguren (eight points) accounted for 20 points. Davis finished with 16 points in the second half while Aranguren had 10 points in the final 20 minutes. Aranguren also had four of the Dutchmen’s six assists. Michael Graham, who was benched for the second half of last Thursday’s loss to William & Mary, scored all five of hits points in the second half Saturday and finished with eight rebounds. German Plotnikov (six points, four rebounds, one block, one steal) had another solid glue guy game in a season-high 39 minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Northeastern, 1/4)
3: Cruz Davis
2: Jean Aranguren
1: Michael Graham
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 30
Cruz Davis 20
Jaquan Sanders 12
KiJan Robinson 9
Michael Graham 7
TJ Gadsden 3
Khalil Farmer 3
German Plotnikov 2
Silas Sunday 2
Eric Parnell 2
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
Yes! And in what has got to be a first for anyone tracking unicorn scores (shut up there might be other weirdos out there), the Dutchmen scored fewer than half as many points in this unicorn score victory as they did in their previous unicorn score victory — the 114-48 win over St. Joseph’s way back on Dec. 9. Quirky!
Not surprisingly, all nine instances of the Dutchmen coming within four points of a 55-37 victory happened prior to the 1952-53 season. The closest the Dutchmen came to a 55-37 win was during the 1942-43 season, when they beat Fort Totten 55-36. I can’t decide if I’d rather have the unicorn score or the oldest known repeat score in program history.
Anyway! This is the Dutchmen’s fourth unicorn score of the season.
11/4/24: 89-62 over Old Westbury
11/8/24: 90-76 over Iona
12/6/24: 114-48 over St. Joseph’s
1/4/25: 55-37 over Northeastern
This is also the Dutchmen’s 57th unicorn score victory since the start of the 2018-19 season, when we first started tracking unicorn scores.
2024-25: Four 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?
Michael Graham became the second player this season with multiple Keith Hernandezes Saturday, when he sank the tie-breaking layup to put the Dutchmen ahead for good at 21-19 with 19:14 left in the game. Graham’s second Keith Hernandez was dramatically less, uhh, dramatic than his first, which was a buzzer-beater to defeat Arkansas State on Dec. 1.
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)
Michael Graham tie-breaking layup vs. Arkansas State, 12/1/24 (:00 left 2H)
Jean Aranguren tie-breaking layup vs. St. Joseph’s, 12/6/24 (19:30 left 1H)
KiJan Robinson go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Norfolk State, 12/9/24 (10:33 left 1H)
Michael Graham tie-breaking layup vs. Northeastern, 1/4/25 (19:14 left 2H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 4
Michael Graham 2
KiJan Robinson 1
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 4
Warren Williams 3
Michael Graham 2
Silas Sunday 2
Jacco Fritz 2
Jaquan Carlos 2
German Plotnikov 2
KiJan Robinson 1
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 FIFTEEN GAMES
With Saturday afternoon’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 9-6 this season. This ties the 2024-25 team for the 35th-best record in school history through 15 games. It’s the first time the Dutchmen have opened 9-6 since 2021-22 and the ninth time overall in school history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 15 games:
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 8-7
1976-77: 10-5
1999-2000: 10-5
2000-01: 11-4
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 11-4 (most recent 11-4 start)
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 10-5
2004-05: 10-5
2005-06: 12-3
2006-07: 11-4
2015-16: 10-5 (most recent 10-5 start)
2018-19: 12-3 (most recent 12-3 start, win in 15th game marked ninth win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 8-7 (most recent 8-7 start)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 10-5
1961-62: 14-1 (most recent 14-1 start)
1962-63: 10-5
1963-64: 12-3
Some other notable 15-game starts:
2023-24: 8-7 (most recent 8-7 start)
2013-14: 4-11 (most recent 4-11 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2011-12: 6-9 (most recent 6-9 start)
2007-08: 3-12 (most recent 3-12 start)
2001-02: 7-8 (most recent 7-8 start)
1995-96: 7-8 (lost buzzer-beater to Northeastern to fall under .500 for good, OH NO)
1994-95: 3-12 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-14 (VBK’s last team, only 1-14 start in program history)
1973-74: 2-13 (only 2-13 start in program history)
1968-69: 5-10 (only 5-10 start in program history)
1960-61: 13-2 (only 13-2 start in program history)
1959-60: 13-1 (Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in 14th game was third win of season-ending 13-game winning streak)
One season was completed in fewer than 15 games: The 1937-38 team finished 10-4.
Hofstra has never been 15-0 or 0-15 through 15 games.
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 FIFTEEN
With Saturday afternoon’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 75-40 (.652) as head coach. That’s tied for the third-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 115 games at the helm.
Butch van Breda Kolff I 80-35 (.696, 115th game was the 13th game of his fifth season in 1959-60)
Frank Reilly 79-36 (.687, 115th game was the 15th game of his fifth season in 1951-52)
Paul Lynner 75-40 (.652, 115th game was the fifth game of his fifth season in 1966-67)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 75-40 (.652, 115th game was the 15th game of his fourth season in 2024-25)
Joe Mihalich 63-52 (.548, 115th game was the 14th game of his fourth season in 2016-17)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 61-54 (.530, 115th game was the first game of his fifth season in 1991-92)
Dick Berg 59-56 (.513, 115th game was the fifth game of his fifth season in 1984-85)
Roger Gaeckler 54-61 (.470, 115th game was the 13th game of his fifth season in 1976-77)
Tom Pecora 52-63 (.452, 114th game was the 24th game of his fourth season in 2004-05)
Jay Wright 51-64 (.443, 115th game was the second game of his fifth season in 1998-99)
Claxton and Paul Lynner remained tied for third, but VBK I snaps a tie with Frank Reilly as the ’59-60 team wins the second game of its season-ending 13-game winning streak that will of course end without an NCAA Tournament bid. Spoiler alert, but my guess is VBK I is atop the charts for good since he’s only going to lose eight more games in his entire tenure. Everything else remains the same all the way down to the bottom, where Tom Pecora remains one game ahead of fellow perpetual slacker Jay Wright. 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.
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