The Dutchmen need a win more than words can say (wait that's Alias).
The Flying Dutchmen continued digging for rock bottom on Thursday, when they blew a 16-point first half lead and fell to Towson, 86-80, at the Arena. It was the sixth straight loss for the Dutchmen, who are tied for last place in the CAA. The Dutchmen will again look to snap the skid — and avoid matching the program’s worst-ever CAA start — this afternoon, when they host Northeastern. Here’s a quick look back at the loss to the Tigers and a look ahead to the Huskies.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
The Dutchmen led by 16 with 6:46 remaining in the first half, got outscored 50-19 over the next 17:59 but took a one-point lead with 2:59 left before being outscored 14-7 the rest of the way by Towson. At one point in the second half, the Tigers scored on 11 straight possessions. Freshman Eli Pemberton scored a career-high 26 points but only two other players, Deron Powers (19 points) and Justin Wright-Foreman (18 points), got into double figures for the Dutchmen. Powers added a game-high six assists. Rokas Gustys and Brian Bernardi combined for just 13 points in 62 minutes of action while reserves contributed only four points in 33 minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Towson 1/19)
3: Eli Pemberton
2: Deron Powers
1: Justin Wright-Foreman
SEASON STANDINGS
Justin Wright-Foreman 27
Eli Pemberton 24
Deron Powers 23
Rokas Gustys 18
Brian Bernardi 12
Ty Greer 9
Jamall Robinson 5
Hunter Sabety 2
IT REALLY DOES STILL CONTINUES TO GETS LATE EARLY OUT HERE
The Dutchmen fell to 1-6 in CAA play on Thursday. It is the second-worst start through seven games in the CAA era for the Dutchmen, who opened 0-7 in 2011-12 and finished 3-15 in league play.
Of the 22 teams to open 1-6 or 0-7 between 2001-02 — when the "America East four” saved, err joined the CAA — and 2015-16, none have recovered to finish .500 in league play. Only three of these teams recovered to win as many as six CAA games. William & Mary finished 7-11 in 2012-13 while James Madison (2001-02) and Northeastern (2010-11) each went 6-12. The 22 teams combined to finish with an average of 3.5 wins in CAA play.
A CLUB NOBODY WANTS TO JOIN
Through Friday, the Dutchmen and Delaware are two of the 16 Division I teams to open 0-6 or 1-6 in league play this season.
THE 50/50/50 CLUB
Towson scored 54 points in the second half Thursday as it overcame an eight-point halftime deficit. It was the highest-scoring half by a Hofstra opponent this season and the third time the Dutchmen have given up at least 50 points in a half. Columbia scored 53 second-half points in the Dutchmen’s 88-86 win on Dec. 29 while Elon scored 50 points in the first half of a 96-80 victory on Jan. 12. In addition, three other opponents — Sacred Heart, Vermont and Florida Atlantic — have scored 49 points in half against the Dutchmen this season.
DOUBLE DIGIT DILEMMA
The Dutchmen blew a double-digit lead in a loss for the first time this season and the 12th time in the Joe Mihalich Era. The 16-point lead was the second-biggest blown lead for the Dutchmen in a loss under Mihalich, behind the 20-point margin the Dutchmen built up in a 70-67 loss to UNC Wilmington on Feb. 4, 2016.
THE SKID HITS SIX
With six straight losses, the Dutchmen have lost more CAA games in the last 19 days as they did all of last season. The losing streak is the longest for the Dutchmen since a seven-game losing streak during the 2012-13 season.
BUZZER BEATING BLUES
The Dutchmen’s losing streak began when Daniel Dixon hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift William & Mary to a 95-93 win on Jan. 2. It was the third buzzer-beating defeat the Dutchmen have suffered since the 1995-96 season. The first such loss, a 71-68 defeat at the hands of Northeastern on Jan. 26, 1996, began a nine-game losing streak for the Dutchmen (who were really called the Dutchmen back then) in Jay Wright’s second season at the helm. The second such defeat, a 55-52 loss to Drexel on Jan. 23, 2013, was the third loss in a seven-game streak.
The Dutchmen have led for 51:16 out of a possible 200 minutes since Dixon’s shot dropped through the net. More than half of that “lead time” (26:43) came Thursday against Towson.
OVER THE AIR
Hofstra will provide both a video and radio feed of today’s game at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies, under 11th-year head coach Bill Coen, are 12-7 this season and 5-2 in CAA play. But Northeastern has dropped two straight, including a 69-62 loss on Thursday to Delaware, which was previously winless in the CAA.
The Dutchmen and Huskies had two mutual foes during non-league play. The Dutchmen routed SUNY-Stony Brook 96-58 and lost to Vermont 87-73 while the Huskies fell to the Patriots 77-75 and beat the Catamounts 59-57. Northeastern’s non-conference wins included road victories at UConn and Michigan State.
In CAA play, the Dutchmen and Huskies have each beaten Delaware and lost to Towson. The Huskies have beaten William & Mary and James Madison, each of whom handed the Dutchmen a defeat.
The Dutchmen, who were picked sixth in the CAA preseason poll, enter today ranked 183rd at KenPom.com and 190th in the RPI. The Huskies, who were picked seventh, are ranked 111th at KenPom.com and 97th in the RPI.
Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 2-point favorites.
The Dutchmen rank third among CAA teams in scoring (78.2 ppg) but are allowing 77.7 ppg, the most in the league.
The Dutchmen rank fifth in the CAA in field goal percentage (44.8%) and second in 3-point field goal percentage (37.6%) They are allowing opposing teams to shoot 45.4 percent overall, eighth in the league, and 39.5 percent from beyond the arc, which is last.
The Huskies rank sixth in scoring (74.1 ppg) and are allowing 69.2 ppg, which ranks fifth in the CAA.
The Huskies are second in the CAA in field goal percentage (47.9%) and first in 3-point field goal percentage (39.8%). They are seventh in field goal percentage defense (44.3%), percentage points behind William & Mary, and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage defense (34.7%).
ALL-TIME VS. NORTHEASTERN
Hofstra is 19-20 against Northeastern in a series that began during the 1949-50 season. All but three of the meetings have come in conference play since the 1994-95 season, when Hofstra joined the North Atlantic Conference. The Dutchmen swept the series in narrow fashion last year, when they pulled out a 96-92 triple overtime win in Boston before earning a 65-60 victory at the Arena. Northeastern swept the season series the previous four years.
THE WRIGHT STUFF AS A SOPHOMORE
After scoring just 44 points as a freshman, Justin Wright-Foreman has emerged as one of the Dutchmen’s top scorers this season. He was the 27th Hofstra freshman in the CAA era to score fewer than 100 points but already has more points as a sophomore than any of his predecessors. Wright-Foreman surpassed David Imes last Saturday to officially take the biggest leap of any Hofstra sophomore since 2001-02.
JUSTIN WRIGHT-FOREMAN 275 points 2016-17 (44 as a freshman)
David Imes 251 points 2010-11 (25 as a freshman)
Ziggy Sestokas 219 points 2006-07 (29 as a freshman)
Greg Washington 169 points 2008-09 (33 as a freshman)
Gibran Washington 158 points 2002-03 (76 as a freshman)
REPLACING THE MISSING SCORING—AND THEN SOME
The Dutchmen lost a whopping 50.3 ppg from last year’s squad via the graduations of Juan’ya Green (17.8 ppg), Ameen Tanksley 15.9 ppg), Denton Koon (11.4 ppg) and Malik Nichols (5.2 ppg). But they have “found” 55.6 ppg this season via five players who didn’t play for the team in 2015-16, plus the emergence of sophomore Justin Wright-Foreman.
Eli Pemberton (14.0)
Deron Powers (13.5)
Justin Wright-Foreman (12.6)***
Ty Greer (8.0)
Jamall Robinson (4.0)
Hunter Sabety (3.5)
***The Wright-Foreman average subtracts the 1.2 ppg he averaged last season to better account for the “found” points.
WRIGHT-FOREMAN IS THE FINISHER
Sophomore guard Justin Wright-Foreman continued to thrive in the second half Saturday, when he scored nine of his 18 points in the second half. Of his 275 points this season, 187 have been scored in the second half.
PEMBERTON HITS THE TOP 10
Eli Pemberton, who was the first Hofstra freshman since Antoine Agudio (2004-05) to open his career by scoring in double digits in his first five games, is already the 19th Dutchmen freshman in the CAA era to score at least 100 points in his debut season. Pemberton currently ranks eighth on the CAA-era freshman scoring list and is 15 points away from moving past Halil Kanacevic.
1.) Antoine Agudio, 452 (2004-05)
2.) Charles Jenkins, 436 (2007-08)
3.) Kenny Adeleke, 433 (2001-02)
4.) Loren Stokes, 374 (2003-04)
5.) Chaz Williams, 325 (2009-10)
6.) Jamall Robinson, 312 (2013-14)
7.) Halil Kanacevic, 294 (2009-10)
8.) ELI PEMBERTON, 280 (2016-17)
9.) Carlos Rivera, 226 (2003-04)
10.) Nathaniel Lester, 189 (2007-08)
GUSTYS MOVES INTO THE TOP FIVE
Junior forward Rokas Gustys pulled down eight rebounds on Saturday to move past Kenny Adeleke into fifth place on the program’s all-time list. Gustys, who is 17 rebounds away from surpassing Gary Cheslock for fourth place, has more rebounds than anyone who has played at Hofstra in the last 35 seasons.
3.) Gary Cheslock, 857 (1978-81)
4.) ROKAS GUSTYS, 841 (2014-present)
5.) Kenny Adeleke, 837 (2001-04)
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Frank Barone kept the ball bias! (Ray’s Dad wouldn’t give back the football a Hofstra kicker booted for a record 65-yard field goal)
We wouldn’t have dropped football if not for you bias! (Northeastern dropped football in November 2009, just nine days before Hofstra concluded its “two-year study.”)
Matt Janning still looks like Nathan Scott bias! (The Huskies’ do-everything star really did look like the guy from One Tree Hill)
Extreme bias! (c’mon folks you know my favorite band)
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