The CAA Tournament: When you can figure out a way to compare your alma mater to the guy in Can't Buy Me Love. (Does this mean we'll be McDreamy in a few days?)
For the first time in seven years, Pillowfight Friday will include the Flying Dutchmen. Is this what “Can’t Buy Me Love” would have been like if it aired (mostly) in reverse and the cool kid ended up dorky?
(For the record, the cool kid here is Hofstra as a whole, not me. I’ve always been early Ronald Miller)
Anyway, the 11th-seeded Flying Dutchmen will try to mount the unprecedented five-wins-in-five-days path to a CAA championship this afternoon, when they face 14th-seeded North Carolina A&T in a first-round CAA Tournament game that also serves a rematch of the regular season finale. You have to admit, it would be a very Hofstra thing to win five games in as many days after winning just six games, none consecutively, during CAA regular season play! (Yes, I’m beginning to talk myself into this, it’s the most wonderful tiiiime of the yeaaaar)
As has somehow remained the routine throughout conference play (so far so good), I ran down the boilerplate material from Saturday’s win in Thursday’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from that win as well as CAA Tournament historical nuggets regarding immediate rematches, Hofstra’s tourney history and the history of the no. 11 seed (not great!) as well as a preview of the Aggies. Enjoy!
SENIOR MOMENTS
The Dutchmen continued their uncanny success on Senior Day with Saturday’s win, which improved them to 26-5 in home finales in the DD Era (1994-present). The Dutchmen have won five straight home finales since 2019, when they fell to James Madison 104-99 in overtime, The other losses were absorbed in 1994 (Army won 87-76), 2002 (Towson won 61-60), 2013 (Delaware won 57-56) and 2017 (UNC Wilmington won 83-76). However, there were no seniors on the roster in 2002, which means the Dutchmen didn’t TECHNICALLY lose on Senior Day that year.
Not surprisingly, teams with Speedy Claxton either playing on the court or strolling the sideline have fared well on Senior Day. Claxton’s teams are now 12-2 on Senior Day — 4-0 when he was in uniform from 1997 through 2000 and 9-2 since he joined the coaching staff for the 2013-14 season, including 4-0 as a head coach.
FINALES WITH A FLOURISH
With last Saturday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 17-7 in regular season finales during the CAA era (2001-pres). However, said era began with three straight losses in the regular season finale for the Dutchmen, whose won eight straight regular season finales before dropping the final game of the 2012-13 regular season. The Dutchmen also lost their CAA regular season finale in 2015 and 2021 — which happened two weeks earlier than scheduled because of pandemic-related cancellations — and 2024.
NOT-SO-STUPID SMARCH WEATHER
With last Saturday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 4-3 in regular season games played in March in the CAA era. The Dutchmen earned regular season finale wins in March in 2008 (56-48 over Drexel on Mar. 1), 2014 (82-71 over James Madison on Mar. 1) and 2019 (92-70 over Delaware on Mar. 2) and lost regular season finales in March in 2003 (77-46 to Old Dominion on Mar. 1), 2013 (67-64 to Towson on Mar. 2) and 2024 (87-76 to Charleston on Mar. 2).
JEAN’S FAST START…
Jean Aranguren scored the first six points for the Dutchmen last Saturday. He’s the first Hofstra player to score the team’s first six points in a game since Tyler Thomas had the first six points in a 62-57 win over Iona on Dec. 6, 2023. Ironically, in that it’s a coincidence, Thomas finished with just eight points that night. The last player to open the game by scoring Hofstra’s first seven points or more was also Thomas, who had the Dutchmen’s first seven points in a 70-46 win over UNC Wilmington on Jan. 19, 2023.
…BEGINS THE EARLY 1-2 PUNCH
In a bit of quirkiness that we like around these parts, Cruz Davis followed Aranguren by scoring the Dutchmen’s next six points Saturday. The 12 points combined by Aranguren and Davis are the most to open a game by a pair of Hofstra teammates since Nov. 16, when Davis (nine points) and TJ Gadsden (seven points) combined for the Dutchmen’s first 16 points in a 75-71 overtime win over UMass.
FIRST HALF FADE
The Dutchmen’s struggles at the end of the first half cropped up again last Saturday, when they were outscored 6-2 over the final two minutes. The Dutchmen were 1-of-5 from the field with three turnovers in that span, during which the Aggies were 2-of-4 from the field (with one missed dunk). Overall this season in CAA play, the Dutchmen have been outscored 61-46 in the final two minutes of the first half in 18 league games, during which their opponent has shot 20-of-46 from the field (43.5 percent) in the last two minutes and scored on their final possession seven times. The Dutchmen have shot 19-of-53 from the field (35.8 percent) in the last two minutes of the first half and scored on their last possession five times, but just once in the last 10 games.
JEAN FITS
Jean Aranguren had his second straight solid game last Saturday when he just missed a double-double by leading the Dutchmen with 20 points and nine rebounds while adding four assists. Aranguren was 8-of-15 from the field — including 2-of-5 from 3-point land — in scoring his most points since Feb. 6, when he scored a career-high 35 points in a 77-68 loss to Northeastern. He has 37 points on 15-of-31 shooting, including 3-of-10 from beyond the arc, in the last two games after he scored 64 points on 25-of-70 shooting, including 3-of-18 from 3-point land in five games from Feb. 8-22. Aranguren has scored in double figures 25 times in 32 games this season after reaching double figures just nine times in 33 games last season with Iona.
ARANGUREN’S DOUBLE TROUBLE
Jean Aranguren led the Dutchmen in scoring and rebounding for the fourth time this season last Saturday — but for the first time in a win. Aranguren previously paced the Dutchmen in scoring and rebounding in the 60-42 loss to Temple on Dec. 15, the 77-68 loss to Northeastern on Feb. 6 and the 59-56 loss to Stony Brook last Thursday.
MESSED AROUND AND NEARLY GOT A TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Well, maybe not THAT close. But Cruz Davis at least got into the triple-double neighborhood last Saturday, when he finished with 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting — including 1-of-5 from 3-point land — to go along with seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists. It marked the fourth time this season Davis has finished with at least 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a game — the most such games by a Hofstra player in a single season since, that’s right, Speedy Claxton, who also had four games with at least 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 1999-2000. Davis has reached double figures 20 times in 31 games this season after scoring at least 10 points just five times over the previous two seasons for Iona and St. John’s. The Dutchmen are now 11-9 when Davis scores in double figures.
POTENT PARNELL
Is Eric Parnell the new Microwave GOOGLE IT CRAIN? Parnell continued his late-season emergence last Saturday, when he scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting while adding two rebounds in a career-high 29 minutes. The four 3-pointers tied a career-high for Parnell, who also had four 3-pointers in a 114-48 win over Division III St. Joseph’s on Dec. 6. Parnell had two 3-pointers in each half Saturday and hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips in the first half to turn a 14-12 lead into an 18-14 lead the Dutchmen would never relinquish (that’s a Keith Hernandez!). He has 22 points over 63 minutes in the last three games — a span that includes a scoreless performance against Stony Brook last Thursday — after scoring just 35 points over 82 minutes in the first 11 games in which he played.
GRAHAM CRACKIN’
Michael Graham had a strong game in his home finale last Saturday, when he overcame a scoreless first half to finish with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting while adding six rebounds and two blocks. Graham, who had nine points in the first six minutes of the second half, reached double figures for the first time since Feb. 8, when he had 13 points in an 80-75 loss to Stony Brook. He had just 19 points in the five subsequent games. Graham is shooting 62.1 percent (64-for-103) in 18 CAA games, a stretch that includes two games against William & Mary in which he didn’t attempt a shot as well as a 3-of-12 game against Northeastern on Feb. 6. The Dutchmen are now 10-11 when Graham plays at least 20 minutes, including 5-9 in CAA play.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov, the lone returning player who made a start last season for the Dutchmen, continued his solid stretch in his potential home finale last Saturday, when he finished with seven points on 2-of-9 shooting — including 3-of-6 from 3-point land — while adding seven rebounds, three steals, one assist and one block over 39 minutes. It was the second straight seven-rebound game for Plotnikov, who ended one rebound shy of his career-high set in a 101-48 win over Division III St. Joseph’s (NY) on Nov. 6, 2023. He also had multiple steals for the third straight game and the seventh time in the last 11 games after he recorded multiple steals just eight times in his first 82 career games. Plotnikov, who made his seventh straight start Saturday, has scored in 22 of the last 23 games in which he’s played after scoring just once in the first six games.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
Silas Sunday had another solid game in his usual backup center role last Saturday, when he had six points on 3-of-4 shooting while adding nine rebounds and three blocks in 17 minutes. Six points and nine rebounds, that’s nice! The nine rebounds were the most for Sunday since he pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds in the 60-42 loss to Temple on Dec. 15. The three-block game was the second straight for Sunday and the fifth time he’s recorded three blocks in a single contest. Sunday has played 17 minutes in each of the last two games, his biggest two-game workload since he played a total of 40 minutes against Temple and Quinnipiac from Dec. 15-29, He has played at least 10 minutes in 25 of 31 games this season after logging 10 minutes 17 times in 32 games last season.
FARMER AID
Khalil Farmer tied a career-high with his third straight start Saturday, when he was held scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in just 11 minutes. It was just the fifth scoreless game of the season for Farmer, who entered Saturday with 24 points and 13 rebounds over 73 minutes after posting just 18 points and eight rebounds over 127 minutes in his previous seven games from Jan. 30 through Feb. 20. It was also the second scoreless start of the season for Farmer, who was held scoreless over 29 minutes in a 75-52 loss to Campbell on Feb. 1, Jaquan Sanders (two scoreless starts) is the only other Hofstra player with multiple scoreless starts this season.
DECADY’S CAMEO
Joshua DeCady continued to see limited duty last Saturday, when he had one rebound in four minutes. DeCady has scored 12 points over 74 minutes in his last nine games since he scored a career-high 15 points over 20 minutes in the 74-63 win over Not Twitter Guy on Jan. 31. He has played in a career-high 12 straight games after appearing in just 12 of the Dutchmen’s first 19 games.
AN AWARDS SHUTOUT
This is a little surprising, especially since Jean Aranguren is ranked third on the KenPom.com all-CAA team, but a 6-12 team in a 14-school league is facing an uphill battle to get some postseason recognition. No Hofstra player was named to an all-CAA team Thursday, which marks the first time ever #redundant the Flying Dutchmen have been shutout in the CAA postseason awards. This is just the second time in 24 seasons the Dutchmen didn’t have a player earn first- or second-team all-CAA honors, but Stevie Mejia was named to the all-defensive team during the nightmarish 2012-13 campaign.
The shutout ends the Dutchmen’s streak of having at least two players named to an all-CAA team at seven straight seasons, which was the longest such streak in the CAA entering this year. Hofstra still leads the CAA with six Player of the Year honorees and nine total award-winners, which is pretty impressive considering the Dutchmen didn’t join the league until 2001-02.
ANOTHER STREAK ENDS
The Dutchmen finished in sole possession of 11th place with a 6-12 (.333) record, which is their lowest CAA finish since the 2011-12 team finished 11th in a 12-team league and their worst winning percentage since the 2013-14 team went 5-11 (.313). It also, obviously, ended the Dutchmen’s streak of seven straight top-four finishes, which was the longest such streak in the CAA since William & Mary was a top-four seed for seven straight years from 2014 through 2020. The Dutchmen’s streak was also the sixth-longest active streak in Division I entering this season.
THE DUTCHMEN IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PLAY
The Flying Dutchmen enter today 21-22 in CAA Tournament play since 2002, 30-27 in conference tournament play in the NAC/America East/CAA era (1994-present) and 33-27 in conference tournament play in the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-present), which, let’s face it, is the only era that matters because it includes the ECC. Hello Litos.
In the CAA, the Dutchmen fell in the title game three times — in 2006, 2016 and 2019 — before finally breaking through and winning it all by beating Northeastern 70-61 in the title game on Mar. 10, 2020. It was a nice 24 hours.
In addition to the one title game win and three title game losses as a CAA member, the Dutchmen have fallen in the semifinals six times — including last year, when they lost to Stony Brook 63-59, bro, the pain — while being eliminated in the quarterfinals nine times and losing on Pillowfight Friday four times since 2002.
Dating back to 1994, the Dutchmen have won four championships (1994 ECC, 2000 America East, 2001 America East, 2020 CAA), fallen in the title game three times, lost in the semifinals nine times, fallen in the quarterfinals 10 times and been eliminated in an outbracket game five times (we didn’t call it Pillowfight Friday back in the NAC).
THE DUTCHMEN AS THE ELEVEN SEED
This is the second time the Dutchmen have earned the 11th seed in the CAA Tournament, though this is just the 10th time the CAA Tournament has included at least 12 teams. The Dutchmen’s first foray as the no. 11 seed didn’t go so well in 2012, when they were routed 85-50 by sixth-seeded Georgia State. That remained the most lopsided loss in CAA Tournament history until Monmouth beat Hampton, 100-64, in a first-round game in 2023. (That record lasted fewer than 48 hours before the Dutchmen defeated William & Mary, 94-46, in a quarterfinal game)
THIS ONE GOES DOWN TO ELEVEN
This won’t come as much of a surprise, but the no. 11 seed is just 4-13 all-time in the CAA Tournament and has never advanced beyond the semifinals. Towson made the lone trip to the semis in 2009, when the Tigers upset sixth-seeded Drexel and third-seeded Northeastern before falling to second-seeded George Mason. James Madison and William & Mary each won their first-round games in the 2010 and 2011 tourneys before Hofstra’s defeat in 2012 began a three-game losing streak for the no. 11 seed, albeit one spread out over 12 years. Northeastern fell to sixth-seeded Delaware 77-74 in overtime in 2023 before Not Twitter Guy lost to Hampton, 56-55, last March.
A FAMILIAR FOE
The Dutchmen and North Carolina A&T are opposing one another in a CAA Tournament game immediately after opposing one another in the regular season finale. Good news for the Dutchmen: The team that won the regular season finale is 10-7 in the immediate tournament rematch. Bad news: The team that lost the regular season finale has won the last four rematches — including Charleston, which routed the Dutchmen, 92-76, in the 2003 quarterfinals. The Dutchmen beat James Madison in 2015 while William & Mary beat James Madison in 2016 and Northeastern defeated Towson in 2020. The last team to win its regular season finale and first CAA Tournament game against the same foe was Northeastern, which knocked off Drexel to close out the CAA regular season slate in 2013-14 before eliminating the Dragons in a quarterfinal clash.
This marks the sixth time since joining the CAA that the Dutchmen have opened the CAA Tournament against the team they faced in the regular season finale, In addition to falling to Charleston in 2022 and beating James Madison in 2015, the Dutchmen lost to Towson but beat the Tigers in the rematch in 2002 and won both the regular season finale and first-round rematch against UNC Wilmington in 2009 and Georgia State in 2010. James Madison, with seven such games, is the only team to open the CAA Tournament with an immediate rematch more frequently than Hofstra.
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 NORTH CAROLINA A&T
The Aggies, under second-year head coach Monte Ross (hey that name sounds familiar!), finished the regular season 7-24 overall and 3-15 in CAA play. They fell to the 14th seed by virtue of last Saturday’s 70-49 loss to the Dutchmen and Stony Brook’s 71-66 win a few hours later over Not Twitter Guy
The Dutchmen and Aggies had no common opponents in non-conference play. In CAA play, both teams lost their lone meetings with Drexel, Monmouth and Towson. The Dutchmen beat Not Twitter Guy, with whom the Aggies split, and UNC Wilmington, which won its lone game against North Carolina A&T. Hofstra swept Delaware, which won its lone meeting with the Aggies, and split with Northeastern, which beat North Carolina A&T. The Dutchmen were swept by Stony Brook (sigh) and Campbell, each of whom split with the Aggies. Hofstra also was swept by William & Mary, which won its lone meeting against North Carolina A&T, and lost to Hampton and Charleston, each of whom swept the Aggies.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 221st at KenPom.com, which is their highest ranking since the morning of Feb, 15. The Aggies, who were picked to finish 10th, are ranked 331st, 41 spots lower than their preseason ranking and 81 spots lower than their season-high the morning of Nov. 20 but an improvement of five spots from their season-low the morning of Feb. 6.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank 13th in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (100.2 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (101.1 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 63.7 possessions per 40 minutes, the 11th-most in the league. The Aggies rank 14th and last in the CAA in offensive efficiency (97.4 points per 100 possessions) and are 12th in defensive efficiency (110.1 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 66.9 possessions per 40 minutes, the fourth-most in the league.
Not counting the suspended Landon Glasper, the Aggies return seven players from last year’s team. True sophomore Jahnathan Lamothe, who spent last season at Maryland, is North Carolina A&T’s top active scorer at 13.6 points per game while ranking second with 7.4 rebounds per game and 2.6 assists per game. True sophomore Nikolaos Chitikoudis is averaging 11.1 points per game and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game. True sophomore Camian Shell, a preseason all-CAA honorable mention selection, is averaging 7.4 points per game and leads the Aggies with 3.6 assists per game. Lamothe, Chitikoudis, Shell, Bryson Ogletree, Efstratios Kalliontzis and Jalal McKie are the only players to see the floor for North Carolina A&T in the last eight games.
KenPom.com predicts a 69-62 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 7 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 13-16 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. NORTH CAROLINA A&T
Hofstra is 3-1 all-time against North Carolina A&T. The Dutchmen won the lone regular season meeting meeting between the schools this year way back on Saturday, when Jean Aranguren (20 points, nine rebounds) just missed a double-double and Cruz Davis (14 points, eight assists, seven rebounds) flirted with a triple-double in a 70-49 win at the Arena, The series began Nov. 14, 2018, when Justin Wright-Foreman scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures in a 92-72 win at the Arena.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
You’re still getting publicity from Division I-AA football bias! (North Carolina A&T football alum Brad Holmes is the Detroit Lions’ general manager)
Pepe Silvia bias! (Who knows if Charlie was actually trying to say Pennsylvania there, but Monte Ross was an assistant coach at four Pennsylvania schools)
We had more subs playing pickup games in high school than you will today bias! (The Aggies might really be down to five players today)
Seriously that bald guy is doing great at Georgia Tech bias! (Duncan Powell really only needed one year to become an all-time CAA guy)
