Not that Mr. Thompson.
Will this be the perfect weekend the Flying Dutchmen have been seeking the entire CAA season? Well, they’re going to Campbell, which after two games seems to be the Braves to the Dutchmen’s Mets, so let’s just be happy they already have a win in hand thanks to Thursday’s defeat of Not Twitter Guy. Also, Campbell? Again?
As will hopefully be the routine now that conference play has begun, I ran down the boilerplate material from Thursday’s win in Friday’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from that win as well as a preview of the Camels. Enjoy!
NO AFTEREFFECTS FROM OVERTIME…FINALLY
By beating Not Twitter Guy, the Dutchmen won the game immediately after an overtime game for the first time this season. The Dutchmen fell to Florida State (Nov. 19), Tarleton State (Nov. 30) and William & Mary (Jan. 2) following wins over UMass (Nov. 16) and Rice (Nov. 29) and an overtime loss to Quinnipiac (Dec. 29). Perhaps this is connected to the Dutchmen having four days off, their most following an overtime game, in between the games against Campbell and Not Twitter Guy. Or maybe its just a quirky coincidence!
DOUBLE DIGITS FINALLY ENOUGH
The Dutchmen led by as many as 13 points in the first half and by as many as 14 points in the second half before closing out a relatively uneventful win. That’s not always the case for the Dutchmen, who are 3-3 in their last six games despite leading by double digits in each contest. The six straight games with a double-digit lead is the Dutchmen’s longest such streak since a six-game streak from last Feb 10-29, during which the Dutchmen went 5-1.
ONE POSSESSION OBSESSION
The Dutchmen never trailed by more than one possession for the third straight game Thursday night, when Not Twitter Guy held a trio of two-point leads before Cruz Davis drained the 3-pointer to put the Dutchmen ahead for good at 7-6 with 15:20 left in the first half. The Dutchmen are 2-1 in the last three games despite trailing for a grand total of eight minutes and two seconds over 125 minutes of basketball. Delaware led for 3:52 and never held a lead of more than three points in the Dutchmen’s 93-68 win Jan. 23 while Campbell led for 4:12 and never led by more than three points in the Camels’ 69-67 win last Saturday. The Dutchmen last went 2-1 over a three-game span in which they never trailed by more than one possession from Dec. 29 through Jan. 5, when they sandwiched wire-to-wire wins over Delaware and Hampton around a buzzer-beating 81-79 loss to North Carolina A&T in which the Aggies took their biggest lead with their game-winning shot.
LET’S STAY TOGETHER (STUCK IN THE SIXTIES)
A ‘60s song title about a 60s-related stat! The Dutchmen held their opponent under 70 points for the eighth straight game Thursday, a span in which they are just 4-4. This is the longest such streak for the Dutchmen since they held opponents under 70 points in eight straight games from Feb. 4 through Mar. 5, 2023, a span in which they went 8-0. The Dutchmen last held their opponents under 70 points in nine consecutive games from Jan. 1-31, 2013, when a depleted roster went 2-7 despite the defensive stinginess.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
The Dutchmen allowed Not Twitter Guy to shoot just 28.8 percent (17-of-59) Thursday night. It was the fourth time this season the Dutchmen have held a team to under 30 percent shooting and the third time they’ve done so against a Division I foe. In addition to limiting Division III St. Joseph’s (NY) to 25 percent shooting in a 114-46 win on Dec. 6, the Dutchmen held Quinnipiac to 29.3 percent shooting in a 75-69 loss on Dec. 29 and held Northeastern to 21.3 percent shooting in a 55-37 win on Jan. 4
DEUCES TO TWOS
The Dutchmen were particularly stingy inside the 3-point line Thursday night, when they held Not Twitter Guy to just 24.1 percent shooting (7-of-29) on its 2-point attempts. The seven two-pointers are the fewest surrendered by the Dutchmen since way back on Jan. 26, 2013, when they gave up five two-pointers in a 57-51 loss (loss?!) to UNC Wilmington.
WE’RE NUMBER ONE (at stopping number two)
No potty humor here! As Loyal Reader EvanJ noted, the Dutchmen lead the nation in opponents two-point field goal percentage at a stingy 40.9 percent, just ahead of Duke (41 percent). A CAA team has not ranked amongst the top 20 nationally in opponents two-point field goal percentage since Charleston was 17th at 43.4 percent during the 2013-14 season.
HALFWAY WHERE?
With Thursday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 4-5 in the CAA. This marks the first time the Dutchmen have reached the halfway point of the CAA season with a losing league record for the first time since 2016-17, when they were 2-7 at the halfway point before finishing 7-11. Every other school that’s been in the CAA since at least the 2016-17 season has reached the halfway point of a full league schedule (i.e. discounting the pandemic-wracked 2020-21 season) with an under-.500 league record since then.
CRUZ-IN
As Cruz Davis goes, so go the Dutchmen? Davis followed up his bizarre buffet against Campbell (which followed his one-man wrecking crew performance against Delaware) with a difference-making performance Thursday night, when he scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half while also finishing with four assists and three rebounds. Davis hit his first four shots after halftime and finished 5-of-10 from the field in the final 20 minutes. The Dutchmen are now 9-4 when Davis scores in double figures and 7-1 when he leads or shares the team lead in scoring.
GRAHAM CRACKIN’
Michael Graham continued his resurgence Thursday night, when he scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting while pulling down 13 rebounds in 30 minutes against the school for whom he played his first two collegiate seasons. It was the second double-double in a row for Graham, his fourth in the last seven games and his fifth of the season. Graham had just three double-doubles in his previous two seasons at Loyola Marymount. Graham has 87 points on 42-of-63 shooting to go along with 92 rebounds in eight games since he was benched for the second half of the CAA opener against William & Mary on Jan. 2. With the win Thursday, the Dutchmen improved to 9-5 this season when Graham plays at least 20 minutes.
DECADY’S DANCE
Where did this come from? Little-used freshman Joshua DeCady scored 15 points in 20 minutes Thursday night and was especially effective in the first half, when he scored 14 points, including 11 during a 21-10 run NICE FOOTBALL SCORE that lasted a little under five minutes and gave the Dutchmen a 25-14 lead. DeCady, who also tied a career-high with five rebounds, had 11 points and nine rebounds over 52 minutes in the first seven games in which he played in January. He was also 2-of-3 from 3-point land after entering the game 0-for-2 from beyond the arc.
FROM ZERO TO FIFTEEN
Joshua DeCady scored 15 points over 20 minutes on Thursday night after being held scoreless in two minutes in last Saturday’s game against Campbell. DeCady is the first Hofstra player to score at least 15 points in the game immediately after he was held scoreless since German Plotnikov, who was scoreless against Hampton last Feb. 10 before he scored 20 points against North Carolina A&T on Feb. 15.
JEAN FITS
You don’t see a player get overshadowed on an evening in which he had a double-double, but the exploits of Cruz Davis, Michael Graham and Joshua DeCady allowed Jean Aranguren to remain a bit under the radar even as he finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and one block in another solid all-around game. It was the fifth double-double of the season for Aranguren, who didn’t post a double-double as a freshman at Iona last season. Aranguren has scored in double figures in 12 straight games and 19 times in 22 games overall after reaching double figures just nine times in 33 games last season with Iona.
THE 10/10/5 CLUB
Jean Aranguren made a bit of history Thursday night, when he finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. It was the third time this season Aranguren has collected at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. He’s the first Hofstra player with at least three such games in a season since at least the 1994-95 season, which is the first season in which Hofstra started including game-by-game assist totals in the following season’s media guide. Aranguren and Juan’ya Green are the only players to enjoy three games with at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the last 31 seasons, Speedy Claxton had two such games (29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in a 84-45 win over Northeastern on Jan, 4, 2000 and 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a 71-54 win over Maine on Feb. 22, 1998). You know you’re doing something pretty good when you're doing it more than Speedy Claxton did it.
DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE FUN
Michael Graham (15 points, 13 rebounds) and Jean Aranguren (11 points, 12 rebounds) each posted double-doubles in Thursday night’s win It was the second time this season Graham and Aranguren each posted a double-double in the same game. But the double-doubles by Graham (16 points, 13 rebounds) and Aranguren (19 points, 11 rebounds) went for naught Jan. 9, when the Dutchmen fell to Charleston 67-61. The two double-doubles in a victory were the first by a pair of Hofstra teammates since Dec. 18, 2021 when Aaron Estrada (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Why Can’t Arkansas Get Guys Like Abayomi Iyiola (15 points, 15 rebounds) posted double-doubles in the 89-81 upset of then-no. 24 Arkansas.
FARMER AID
Khalil Farmer entered the starting lineup for the third time this season Thursday night, when he scored three points and pulled down a rebound while being limited to 17 minutes by foul trouble. Ironically, in that it’s a coincidence, Farmer played fewer minutes as a starter Thursday than he did while coming off the bench over the previous four games, when he averaged 23.8 minutes per contest. Farmer has scored in 15 of the last 17 games in which he’s played after he didn’t score in his first two games of the season.
TJ TO THE EXTREME
TJ Gadsden had another quiet game in his hot-and-mostly-cold season Thursday night, when he had five points, one rebound and one assist in 19 minutes. Gadsden has scored seven points or fewer in each of his last four games and has scored in double figures just twice this season after scoring at least 10 points in 11 of 25 games last season for Canisius.
SANDERS RETURNS
Jaquan Sanders saw his most extensive action in almost a month Thursday night, when he scored five points on 2-of-9 shooting while adding two assists and one rebound in 24 minutes. Sanders entered Thursday with just three points over 13 minutes in the last four games in which he’d played dating back to Jan. 4. He missed three additional games in that span. Sanders has just 26 points on 9-of-41 shooting, including 7-of-33 from 3-point land, in the last nine games in which he’s played dating back to Dec. 6 after opening the season by averaging 11.3 points and shooting 34 percent fro the field, including 33 percent from 3-point land, over the Dutchmen’s first nine games.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
Silas Sunday continued to fare well while spelling Michael Graham Thursday night, when he scored two points while adding four rebounds and one block in 10 minutes. Sunday has scored in 17 of the 22 games in which he’s played this season after scoring 15 times in 32 games last season. Due in large part to Graham’s emergence, Sunday has played 12 minutes or fewer in nine of the last 10 games after logging more than 12 minutes in nine of the Dutchmen’s first 12 games this season.
WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, MR. ROBINSON?
Same song headline, different vibes! KiJan Robinson may have continued slipping in the rotation Thursday night, when he was scoreless while missing his lone field goal attempt, a 3-pointer, in just a season-low four minutes. It was the second scoreless performance in the last four games for Robinson, who was held scoreless just twice in the Dutchmen’s first 18 games. Robinson has scored five points over 30 minutes in the last four games after averaging 8.1 points and 21 minutes per game over the first 18 games of the season.
WHY CAN’T NOT TWITTER GUY GET GUYS LIKE…
Michael Graham, who opened his collegiate career with two seasons at Not Twitter Guy, fared well against his former team Thursday night, when he finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds over 30 minutes. Graham is the fifth Hofstra player to oppose a former team this season, following in the footsteps of former Iona players Jean Aranguren, Cruz Davis and Silas Sunday as well as former Seton Hall player Jaquan Sanders, and the 10th to do so since 2011-12. This total is sure to increase in the portal/instant transfer era.
Stevie Mejia 3 pts/2 assists/1 rebound/1 steal vs. Rhode Island, 11/25/11
Dion Nesmith 10 pts/5 assists/2 rebounds vs. Monmouth, 11/8/13
Kenny Wormley 0 pts/3 assists vs. Siena, 11/25/17
Tareq Coburn 4 pts/4 rebounds vs. St. Bonaventure, 12/7/19
Tareq Coburn 9 pts/2 rebounds/2 assists vs. St. Bonaventure, 12/19/20
Abayomi Iyiola 18 pts/14 rebounds/1 assist vs. Arkansas, 12/18/21
Silas Sunday 2 pts/2 rebounds vs. Iona, 12/6/23
Jean Aranguren 18 pts/9 rebounds/9 assists vs. Iona, 11/8/24
Cruz Davis 15 pts/5 rebounds/5 assists vs. Iona, 11/8/24
Silas Sunday 14 points/4 rebounds vs. Iona, 11/8/24
Jaquan Sanders 12 points/4 rebounds vs. Seton Hall, 11/13/24
Michael Graham 15 points/13 rebounds vs. Not Twitter Guy, 1/30/25
OVER THE AIR
This afternoon’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required, click here for options) Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING CAMPBELL
The Fighting Camels, under 12th-year head coach Kevin McGeehan, are 11-11 overall and 6-3 in the CAA after routing William & Mary, 96-55, on Thursday night. It was the fourth straight win for Campbell, which has outscored the Dutchmen and the Tribe by a whopping 149-89 since falling behind the Dutchmen 34-16 with two minutes left in the first half last Saturday. Three of Campbell’s wins in the streak have been by at least 23 points. Why do drugs when you can just try to figure out college basketball instead?
The Camels’ 41-point win was the largest margin of victory in a CAA game this season, the largest margin of victory in a CAA game since the Dutchmen beat William & Mary 94-46 in the CAA Tournament quarterfinals on Mar. 5, 2023 and the largest margin of victory in a CAA regular season game since the Dutchmen beat Delaware, 91-46, on Dec. 28, 2018.
The Dutchmen and Fighting Camels had no common opponents in non-league play. In CAA play, both teams have lost to Charleston. Hofstra beat UNC Wilmington, which defeated Campbell, and fell to Drexel and William & Mary, each of whom the Camels beat.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 164th at KenPom.com. The Fighting Camels, who were picked to finish 13th, are ranked 193rd, their highest ranking since joining the CAA and a whopping 103-spot improvement from their preseason ranking as well as a 94-spot improvement since CAA play began and a 73-spot leap since Jan. 18, the day their winning streak began.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank 13th in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (100.3 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (96/7 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 64.2 possessions per 40 minutes, the 11th-most in the league. The Fighting Camels rank seventh in the CAA in offensive efficiency (1069 points per 100 possessions) and first in defensive efficiency (96.7 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 66.3 possessions per 40 minutes, the eighth-most in the league.
The Fighting Camels return seven players from last year’s team. True sophomore Colby Duggan is averaging 14.1 points per game while senior Jasin Sinani, who is in his third season at Campbell after opening his career at Milwaukee, ranks second with 13.1 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game while leading the team with 2.7 assists per game. Graduate student Terren Frank, who began his career with one season apiece at TCU and Vanderbilt before playing two seasons at Idaho, is averaging 8.3 points per game and 2.1 assists per game and returned Thursday after missing nine games with a dislocated finger. Graduate student Nolan Dorsey, who began his career with one season at New Mexico and two seasons at Holy Cross but did not play last year, leads Campbell with 6.0 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts a 62-61 loss for the Dutchmen. Even the computers know how painful games against Campbell have become. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1 1/2-point favorites. Interesting difference there between the computer models and the books. The Dutchmen are 10-10 against the spread this season.
FEBRUARY = CRUNCH TIME
The Flying Dutchmen have fared well in February, which, as you likely know, begins today. Since joining the CAA in 2001-02, the Dutchmen are 120-70 (.632) in regular season games played on or after Feb. 1, including 8-2 last February and March.
HELLO, WE MEET AGAIN
The Dutchmen are playing Campbell for the second time this season just seven days after facing the Camels for the first time. However, that means these games span two months! Outside of the pandemic-wracked 2020-21 season, when the regular season schedule consisted entirely of back-to-back games against the same opponent, this is the shortest period of time in which the Dutchmen have completed a season series against an opponent since joining the North Atlantic Conference way back in 1994-95. And it’s Campbell! Not Delaware, Drexel, Towson or Northeastern. But Campbell! Related: Campbell is the first CAA school the Dutchmen oppose for a second time this season. Campbell! Not Delaware, Drexel, Towson or Northeastern.
ALL-TIME VS. CAMPBELL
Hofstra is *carries the one, drops the remainder* 0-2 against Campbell in a series that began last season. As you may remember, the Dutchmen put five players in double figures but lost 69-67 in overtime last Saturday, when the Fighting Camels overcame a 18-point first-half deficit, forced overtime on Jasin Sinani’s 3-pointer just before the regulation buzzer and won the game on Colby Duggan’s turnaround jumper with a second left in the extra session. Campbell earned a 69-68 win in the initial clash between the teams on Jan. 13, 2024, so the first to 69 is going to win Saturday! Hopefully that’s nice.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Zach Neto bias! (The Angels shortstop went to Campbell)
Ryan Thompson bias! (The pitcher — who has performed for the Rays and Diamondbacks, in case it ever comes up in a certain grid game — also went to Campbell)
Most of your guys look like they began their careers with Dalton Bolon bias! (It’s true)
Your coach was a guidance counselor bias! (Dug deep into Kevin McGeehan’s bio for that one)
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