People are traveling from two towns over to see the Farmer who saved the day last Saturday!
Before we proceed with Keep It Perky, best wishes to Speedy Claxton, who missed Saturday’s 66-63 win over UNC Wilmington due to personal reasons. Hope to see him back on the sidelines Thursday, when the Flying Dutchmen visit Towson.
Thanks to Jean Aranguren’s go-ahead nostalgic 3-point play with 31.1 seconds left and four subsequent defensive stands, the Dutchmen, under acting head coach Mike DePaoli, evened their CAA record at 2-2 by outlasting UNC Wilmington in a slobberknocker that should be put into a time capsule and preserved so future generations can appreciate what a truly ugly but truly great CAA game looked like.
As will hopefully remain the case throughout the CAA season (3-for-3 so far!), here’s the postgame boilerplate material in Keep It Perky form. The individual news and notes from Saturday afternoon and preview of Towson will be posted early tomorrow morning.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
The Flying Dutchmen squandered a double-digit second-half lead and scored just two field goals in the final eight minutes, but Jean Aranguren produced the winning points with his nostalgic 3-point play and Khalil Farmer clamped down on Donovan Newby over the next three possessions. There were five ties and two lead changes in a nearly nine-minute stretch in the first half before Aranguren’s 3-pointer with 2:57 gave the Dutchmen a 25-24 lead and started a 36-24 run in which the Dutchmen took a pair of 11-point leads. The Dutchmen then went scoreless for more than four minutes, a span in which the Seahawks scored just six points, before Farmer’s 3-pointer extended the lead to 61-54. The Dutchmen endured five straight empty trips while UNC Wilmington went on a 9-0 run and took a 63-61 lead on Newby’s free throws with 55 seconds left. Aranguren followed with his nostalgic 3-point play, which was generated when he drove the lane and drew the foul on Bo Montgomery. Newby (30 points) was draped by Farmer and missed a potential go-ahead layup on the Seahawks’ next trip, but the ball glanced off Aranguren’s hands. Newby missed another another layup with 11 seconds left but Michael Graham missed the front end of a one-and-one. Following a timeout at halfcourt, the Seahawks again worked the ball into the paint to Newby, whose jumper over Farmer bounced off the rim before Farmer was fouled. Farmer drained both free throws and Cruz Davis blocked a long 3-pointer by Josh Corbin at the buzzer. Aranguren scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half and added four assists. Farmer, who played just nine minutes combined in the previous three games, had 13 points in 38 minutes while seeing time at power forward with German Plotnikov sidelined. Graham (11 points, 11 rebounds) posted a double-double off the bench despite posting a plus/minus of minus-17 while Silas Sunday, who started in place of Graham, had six points and seven rebounds and finished with a plus/minus of plus-20. Davis had seven points and seven assists.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. UNC Wilmington, 1/11)
3: Jean Aranguren
2: Khalil Farmer
1: Michael Graham
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 36
Cruz Davis 20
Jaquan Sanders 12
Michael Graham 10
KiJan Robinson 9
Khalil Farmer 5
German Plotnikov 3
TJ Gadsden 3
Silas Sunday 2
Eric Parnell 2
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! Not much of a surprise there, but I wish the most recent of the three previously known 66-63 victories wasn’t the win over South Dakota State on Nov. 16, 2012 — the first of three wins in as many days in the blasted Gazelle Group tournament that provided the final good moments of the 2012-13 season. *shudders*
The Dutchmen have recorded four unicorn score victories this season and 57 unicorn score victories 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?
Jean Aranguren moved into some rare company Saturday, when he converted the nostalgic 3-point play to put the Dutchmen ahead for good at 64-63 with 31.1 seconds left. It’s the third last-minute Keith Hernandez of the season and the second Keith Hernandez recorded via a nostalgic 3-point play (Warren Williams recorded the first against Delaware on Jan. 14, 2023). It was also the fifth Keith Hernandez of the season for Aranguren, which already vaults him into sole possession of third place in the all-time standings (or at least since the 2022-23 season).
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)
Jean Aranguren go-ahead nostalgic 3-point play vs. UNC Wilmington, 1/11/25 (:31.1 left 2H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 5
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
Jean Aranguren 5
Aaron Estrada 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 SEVENTEEN GAMES
With Saturday afternoon’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 10-7 this season. We’re gonna win the AFC and NFC South! This ties the 2024-25 team for the 32nd-best record in school history through 17 games. It’s the first time the Dutchmen have opened 10-7 since 2022-23 and the 12th time overall in school history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 17 games:
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 9-8
1976-77: 12-5
1999-2000: 12-5
2000-01: 13-4 (marked fifth win in program-record 18-game winning streak)
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 12-5 (most recent 12-5 start)
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 11-6
2004-05: 11-6
2005-06: 13-4
2006-07: 12-5
2015-16: 12-5
2018-19: 14-3 (most recent 14-3 start, win in 17th game marked 11th win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 10-7
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 12-5
1961-62: 15-2 (loss in 17th game snapped 14-game winning streak, most recent 15-2 start)
1962-63: 11-6
1963-64: 14-3
Some other notable 17-game starts:
2023-24: 8-9 (most recent 8-9 start)
2020-21: 11-6 (most recent 11-6 start)
2016-17: 9-8 (most recent 9-8 start, last time over .500)
2014-15: 13-4 (most recent 13-4 start)
2013-14: 6-11 (most recent 6-11 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2012-13: 5-12 (most recent 5-12 start)
2008-09: 10-6 (most recent 10-6 start)
2007-08: 4-13 (most recent 4-13 start)
2003-04: 7-10 (most recent 7-10 start)
1994-95: 3-14 (most recent 3-14 start, Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 2-15 (only 2-15 start, worst 17-game start in school history, VBK’s last team)
1987-88: 4-13 (loss in 17th game was seventh loss of program-record 13-game losing streak)
1985-86: 8-9 (last time under .500)
1964-65: 9-8 (last time over .500)
1959-60: 16-1 (most recent 16-1 start & Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in 17th game was sixth win of season-ending 13-game winning streak)
1957-58: 13-4 (loss in 17th game snapped 10-game winning streak)
1939-40: 9-8 (over .500 for good)
1936-37: 7-10 (season complete)
Hofstra has never been 17-0, 1-16 or 0-17 through 17 games.
One season was completed in fewer than 17 games:
1937-38 (10-4)
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 SEVENTEEN
With Saturday afternoon’s, Speedy Claxton improved to 76-41 (.650) as head coach. (The win counts on his record, since Mike DePaoli was the acting head coach in a temporary absence for Claxton) That’s tied for the third-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 117 games at the helm.
Butch van Breda Kolff I 82-35 (.701, 117th game was the 15th game of his fifth season in 1959-60) 68-34
Frank Reilly 81-36 (.692, 117th game was the 17th game of his fifth season in 1951-52) 66-34
Paul Lynner 76-41 (.650, 117th game was the seventh game of his fifth season in 1966-67) 73-37
SPEEDY CLAXTON 76-41 (.650, 117th game was the 17th game of his fourth season in 2024-25) 66-34
Joe Mihalich 63-54 (.538, 117th game was the 16th game of his fourth season in 2016-17) 54-47
Butch van Breda Kolff II 61-56 (.521, 117th game was the third game of his fifth season in 1992-93) 61-53
Dick Berg 60-57 (.513, 117th game was the seventh game of his fifth season in 1984-85) 56-54
Roger Gaeckler 55-62 (.470, 117th game was the 15th game of his fifth season in 1976-77) 45-57
Tom Pecora 54-63 (.462, 117th game was the 27th game of his fifth season in 2004-05) 34-56
Jay Wright 51-66 (.436, 117th game was the fourth game of his fifth season in 1998-99) 50-63
The standings remain the same as they were through 116 games, though Tom Pecora wins his 117th game at the helm to move three games ahead of fellow perpetual slacker Jay Wright, who loses his 117th game at the helm. 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment