Keep It Perky: Quinnipiac postgame

As Super '70s Sports might have said before he sold out to the bad man: I come from the future and you would not believe the (stuff) I've seen.

Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? No, not even when Tom Pecora ruins the end of our year.

The Flying Dutchmen closed out 2024 Sunday afternoon, when a late comeback fell short in a 75-69 overtime loss to Pecora and Quinnipiac. The real season kicks off #WrongSport #DidWeEverHaveFootballAtHofstra tomorrow, when the Dutchmen host William & Mary. So it’s a really good time to return to producing the postgame boilerplate material in a separate Keep It Perky while saving the individual news and notes and preview of the next game for, well, the next one.

As always, for a reminder of how Keep It Perky came to be as a concept and a name (shout out Jess K.), click here for the inaugural Keep It Perky from the win over Stony Brook on Feb. 1. And for now…the Quinnipiac Keep It Perky!

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Jean Aranguren (23 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals) had another big game and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 2:26 of regulation as the Flying Dutchmen completed their comeback from an eight-point deficit, but Cruz Davis missed a potential game-winning jumper just before the buzzer before the Dutchmen squandered a pair of leads in overtime. The Dutchmen led 26-18 with under eight minutes left in the first half, but a fourth-chance basket by Quinnipiac (Tom Pecora basketball forever) sparked a 33-17 run over a span of more than 17 minutes. A 3-pointer by Davis began the comeback bid by the Dutchmen, who tied the game at 61-61 on Aranguren’s free throws with 1:59 left. The teams traded empty possessions before Amarri Monroe dunked and Aranguren hit two more free throws within a22-second span in the final minute. A German Plotnikov block of a Monroe layup gave the Dutchmen the ball with 12 seconds left, but Davis lofted an airball with two seconds remaining. Aranguren and Davis hit layups to give the Dutchmen a pair of short-lived leads in overtime and Cruz sank a pair of free throws to tie the game one more time at 69-69 #Nice with 1:40 left, but Aranguren and Davis combined to miss three potential game-tying or go-ahead baskets as Quinnipiac ended the game on a 6-0 run. The Dutchmen lost despite going 17-of-17 from the free throw line and limiting Quinnipiac to 29.3 percent shooting from the field, though those advantages was negated by the fact they were out-rebounded 51-29 and collected just three offensive rebounds. Michael Graham (eight points, 13 rebounds) flirted with a double-double and added three blocks. Davis had nine of his 14 points in the final 15 minutes, though he was just 4-of-17 shooting. Plotnikov and KiJan Robinson had six points each while Jaquan Sanders’ slump continued as he was held to three points on 1-of-7 shooting.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Quinnipiac, 12/29)

3: Jean Aranguren

2: Michael Graham

1: Cruz Davis

SEASON STANDINGS

Jean Aranguren 28

Cruz Davis 17

KiJan Robinson 9

Jaquan Sanders 9

Michael Graham 6

Khalil Farmer 3

Silas Sunday 2

Eric Parnell 2

TJ Gadsden 2

THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER THIRTEEN GAMES

With Sunday’s loss, the Dutchmen fell to 8-5 this season. This ties the 2024-25 team for the 29th-best record in school history through 13 games. It’s the first time the Dutchmen have opened 8-5 since 2021-22 and the 15th time overall in school history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 13 games:

NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1975-76: 6-7

1976-77: 9-4

1999-2000: 8-5

2000-01: 9-4

2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 9-4 (most recent 9-4 start)

NIT TEAMS

1998-99: 8-5

2004-05: 10-3

2005-06: 10-3

2006-07: 9-4

2015-16: 9-4 

2018-19: 10-3 (most recent 10-3 start, win in 13th game marked seventh win in the 16-game winning streak)

2022-23: 7-6

NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1958-59: 9-4

1961-62: 12-1

1962-63: 9-4

1963-64: 12-1 (most recent 12-1 start)

Some other notable 13-game starts:

2023-24: 7-6 (most recent 7-6 start)

2013-14: 4-9 (most recent 4-9 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)

2012-13: 3-10 (most recent 3-10 start, final loss in eight-game losing streak)

2011-12: 6-7 (most recent 6-7 start)

2002-03: 2-11 (most recent 2-11 start)

2001-02: 6-7 (Tom Pecora’s first team, under .500 for good)

1996-97: 5-8 (most recent 5-8 start)

1994-95: 2-11 (Jay Wright’s first team)

1993-94: 1-12 (VBK’s last team, most recent 1-12 start)

1991-92: 7-6 (over .500 for good)

1986-87: 7-6 (last time over .500)

1966-67: 7-6 (last time over .500)

1959-60: 12-1 (Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in 13th game was second win of season-ending 13-game winning streak)

1955-56: 12-1 (suffered first loss in 13th game)

Hofstra has never been 13-0, 11-2 or 0-13 through 13 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 THIRTEEN

With Sunday’s loss, Speedy Claxton fell to 74-39 (.655) as head coach. That’s tied for the third-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 113 games at the helm.

Frank Reilly 78-35 (.688, 113th game was the 13th game of his fifth season in 1951-52)

Butch van Breda Kolff I 78-35 (.696, 113th game was the 11th game of his fifth season in 1959-60)

Paul Lynner 74-39 (.652, 113th game was the third game of his fifth season in 1966-67)

SPEEDY CLAXTON 74-39 (.655, 113th game was the 13th game of his fourth season in 2024-25)

Butch van Breda Kolff II 61-52 (.536, 113th game was the 28th game of his fourth season in 1991-92)

Joe Mihalich 61-52 (.536, 113th game was the 12th game of his fourth season in 2016-17)

Dick Berg 57-56 (.509, 113th game was the third game of his fifth season in 1984-85)

Roger Gaeckler 53-60 (.464, 113th game was the 11th game of his fifth season in 1976-77)

Jay Wright 50-63 (.446, 113th game was the 31st and final game of his fourth season in 1997-98)

Tom Pecora 50-63 (.438, 113th game was the 23rd game of his fourth season in 2004-05)

Claxton falls into a tie for third with Paul Lynner as the latter’s ’66-67 team earns its first win, but the big news here is the ’59-60 team’s season-opening 10-game winning streak ends to drop VBK I into a tie for first with Frank Reilly. Spoiler alert: The Dutchmen will not lose again in ’59-60, so Reilly’s share of the top spot won’t last long. Also, the ’59-60 Dutchmen didn’t make the NCAA Tournament, presumably because of Tom O’Connor.

Anyway, VBK II and Joe Mihalich remain tied for a second straight game while Jay Wright loses the ’97-98 finale as he falls into a tie for last with fellow perpetual slacker Tom Pecora, who finally reaches the 50-win milestone. 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.