A nifty card, but not the 1986 Fleer that's gonna put your kids through college.
The Flying Dutchmen followed up their stirring championship run in the Gulf Coast Showcase with an even more impressive win last Thursday, when they never trailed South Florida in an 82-63 victory. The Dutchmen will look to continue their winning streak tonight, when they trek to New Ro to see our friends at Iona. Here’s a look back at the win over the Bulls and a look ahead to the Gaels.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
The big three of Darlinstone Dubar, Tyler Thomas and Jaquan Carlos all had big games for the Dutchmen, who opened up a double-digit lead for good by the first media timeout and cruised from there to the most lopsided win a CAA team has ever authored against a team from the American (more quirkiness to come on that one!). Dubar, Thomas and Carlos combined for 10 points in a 12-4 run that removed any suspense and put the Dutchmen ahead 27-11 midway through the first half. The Dutchmen opened up their first 20-point lead with 7:54 left, led 44-23 at the half and led by as many as 32 before South Florida made it semi-respectable over the final 10 minutes of garbage time. Dubar (24 points, 11 rebounds) and Carlos (11 points, 10 assists) each posted double-doubles while Thomas had a ho-hum 25 points while going 7-of-13 from 3-point land. Glue guy Bryce Washington (10 points, four rebounds) flirted with a Woolworth’s (ask your parents) while Silas Sunday added seven first-half points.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. South Florida, 11/30)
3: Darlinstone Dubar
2: Tyler Thomas
1: Jaquan Carlos
SEASON STANDINGS
Tyler Thomas 16
Darlinstone Dubar 13
Jaquan Carlos 8
Jacco Fritz 3
KiJan Robinson 1
Bryce Washington 1
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
Yes! The Dutchmen beat Towson State (don’t look at me, that was the school name back then) 83-63 on Jan. 23, 1996, beat Maryland State 83-62 during the 1952-53 season and have earned three 82-62 wins, most recently over Binghamton on Dec. 17, 2011. But they’d never wedged an 82-63 win in there before last Thursday. Neat!
This is the Dutchmen’s fourth unicorn score victory of the season. The Dutchmen recorded 12 unicorn score victories last season after recording 11 unicorn score victories in 2021-22, no unicorn scores in 2020-21, 13 unicorn scores in 2019-20 and 10 unicorn scores in 2018-19. 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.
11/6/23: 101-48 over St. Joseph’s (NY)
11/20/23: 102-68 over Buffalo
11/22/23: 97-92 (OT) over High Point
11/30/23: 82-63 over South Florida
WHO HAD THE KEITH HERNANDEZ?
Darlinstone Dubar, already the only player this season with multiple Keith Hernandezes, became the first player with back-to-back Keith Hernandezes when he gave the Dutchmen the lead for good by hitting a layup 18 seconds into the game. That’s a whopping 39:55 earlier than his tie-breaking basket against High Point 13 seconds into overtime on Nov. 22 as well as the earliest Keith Hernandez since Tyler Thomas sank a 3-pointer 28 seconds into the CAA tournament quarterfinal against William & Mary on Mar. 5.
Darlinstone Dubar go-ahead layup vs. St. Joseph’s (NY), 11/6/23 (14:30 left 1H)
Jaquan Carlos tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Buffalo, 11/20/23 (19:33 left 1H)
Tyler Thomas tie-breaking free throw vs. Wright State, 11/21/23 (4:16 left 2H)
Darlinstone Dubar tie-breaking jumper vs. High Point, 11/22/23 (4:47 left OT)
Darlinstone Dubar tie-breaking layup vs. South Florida, 11/30/23 (19:42 left 1H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Darlinstone Dubar 3
Tyler Thomas 1
Jaquan Carlos 1
ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since last season)
Tyler Thomas 11
Darlinstone Dubar 8
Aaron Estrada 4
Warren Williams 3
Jaquan Carlos 2
German Plotnikov 2
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 SEVEN GAMES
With last Thursday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 5-2. This ties the 2023-24 team for the 15th-best record in school history through seven games. This is the second straight season in which the Dutchmen have opened 5-2 and the 15th time overall in school history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through seven games:
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 3-4
1976-77: 6-1
1999-2000: 3-4
2000-01: 5-2
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 4-3
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 3-4
2004-05: 7-0 (most recent 7-0 start)
2005-06: 5-2
2006-07: 4-3 (over .500 for good)
2015-16: 5-2
2018-19: 4-3 (marked first win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 5-2
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 4-3
1961-62: 6-1
1962-63: 5-2
1963-64: 6-1
Some other notable seven-game starts:
2021-22: 3-4 (most recent 3-4 start)
2020-21: 4-3 (most recent 4-3 start)
2013-14: 2-5 (most recent 2-5 start)
2012-13: 3-4 (under .500 for good because…well, you know)
2011-12: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
2008-09: 6-1 (most recent 6-1 start)
2002-03: 1-6 (most recent 1-6 start)
1994-95: 2-5 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-6 (VBK’s last team)
1982-83: 6-1 (first loss in 7th game)
1978-79: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
1973-74: 1-6 (win snapped the most recent season-opening six-game losing streak, the Dutchmen have never begun 0-7)
1960-61: 7-0
1959-60: 7-0
1955-56: 7-0
1954-55: 7-0
1951-52: 7-0
1947-48: 7-0
1943-44: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
Hofstra has never been 0-7 through seven games. It’s the first record they’ve never experienced! Let’s keep it that way.
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 SEVENTY-FOUR
With the win last Thursday, Speedy Claxton improved to 51-23 (.689) as head coach. That’s the second-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 74 games at the helm. The last 20 games mark the highest Claxton has been in the all-time game-to-game standings since he became head coach in 2021-22.
Paul Lynner 55-19 (.743, 74th game was the 15th game of his third season in 1964-65)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 51-23 (.689, 74th game was the seventh game of his third season in 2023-24)
Butch van Breda Kolff I 48-26 (.649, 74th game was the 22nd game of his third season in 1957-58)
Dick Berg 38-36 (.514, 74th game was the 19th game of his third season in 1982-83)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 35-39 (.473, 74th game was the 17th game of his third season in 1990-91)
Joe Mihalich 35-39 (.473, 74th game was the seventh game of his third season in 2015-16)
Mo Cassara 34-40 (.459, 74th game was the nine game of his third season in 2012-13)
Roger Gaeckler 28-46 (.378, 74th game was the second game of his fourth season in 1975-76)
Jay Wright 28-46 (.378, 74th game was the 19th game of his third season in 1996-97)
Tom Pecora 26-48 (.351, 74th game was the 13th game of his third season in 2003-04)
With the 2012-13 team unfortunately at the start of its eight-game post-arrests losing streak, Joe Mihalich has surpassed Mo Cassara for good in the all-time standings.
The records are incomplete for Jack McDonald’s first stint from 1936 through 1943 as well as the tenures of Jack Smith (1943-46) and Frank Reilly (1947-55).
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.
WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN
The Dutchmen never trailed last Thursday. It was their second wire-to-wire win of the season and first since the 102-68 win over former ECC rival Buffalo (it’s true, you could look it up). The Dutchmen had nine wire-to-wire wins last season — their most since at least the 2005-06 season, which is as far back as play-by-play logs go at the Hofstra site.
AMERICAN PRIDE
With the victory long in hand, the Dutchmen allowed South Florida to whittle a 32-point deficit to 19 points over the final 11 minutes. But that was still enough for the Dutchmen to record the most lopsided victory ever by a CAA school over a team from the American Athletic Conference. Prior to last Thursday, a CAA school had twice beaten an American school by 18 points. Charleston defeated East Carolina 53-35 on Dec. 15, 2016 while Towson beat Tulane (and old pal Ron Hunter) 73-55 on Dec. 21, 2018. I’m sure that win over an American school, even a rebuilding one like South Florida, will be the biggest the CAA records all season! Hold on, I am being told something. (See ya, Villanova, Kentucky and Xavier, way to go, Drexel, UNC Wilmington and Delaware)
TAKING CARE OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS
The Dutchmen continued their early-season trend of getting revenge for long-ago defeats that frankly may only be remembered by weirdos like me, but hey, that’s why I’m here! South Florida, which entered last Thursday 3-0 all-time against Hofstra, is the second school against whom the Dutchmen have earned their first all-time win this season. The Dutchmen were 0-2 against Wright State before the wild 97-92 overtime win in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Classic on Nov. 22. The Dutchmen last beat two teams for the first time ever (minimum of two previous games) in 2015-16, when they beat Florida State and St. Bonaventure after entering the season 0-3 against both schools.
(More importantly, the win over South Florida finally avenged Olivia Galati and the best team to ever play sports at Hofstra, the 2012 softball squad that fell a base hit shy of beating South Florida and advancing to the College World Series)
FOUR TIMES THREE
The win last Thursday was the fourth straight for the Dutchmen, who have authored a four-game winning streak in non-conference play in each of the last three seasons. The Dutchmen haven’t won at least five straight games in non-conference play since Nov. 28-Dec. 22, 2018, when they closed out pre-CAA action with seven straight wins. They extended the winning streak to 16 games by winning their first nine games in CAA action. I was told there’d be no math.
NOT HALF BAD
The Dutchmen shot a blistering 50 percent (15-of-30) from 3-point land last Thursday, their most successful performance from beyond the arc since they shot 61.9 percent (13-of-21) in the 94-46 win over William & Mary in the CAA tournament quarterfinals on Mar. 5.
DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE FUN
Darlinstone Dubar (24 points, 11 rebounds) and Jaquan Carlos (11 points, 10 rebounds) became the first pair of teammates to record double-doubles in the same game for the Dutchmen since Feb. 4, when Carlos (10 assists, 10 rebounds) and Tyler Thomas (29 points, 11 rebounds) each posted double-doubles in a 79-58 win over Stony Brook.
THE 20/20 CLUB
Tyler Thomas (25 points) and Darlinstone Dubar (24 points) each scored at least 20 points in the same game for the second time this season. Dubar scored a career-high 30 points while Thomas added 21 points in the 102-68 win over Buffalo on Nov. 20. The Dutchmen had two 20-point scorers in the same game six times last season.
D-STONE DEALING (part one)
Darlinstone Dubar’s impressive season continued last Thursday, when he posted his third career double-double by finishing with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Dubar has scored in double figures in all seven games this season, which is tied for the longest single-season stretch of consecutive double-figure efforts in his career, and in nine straight games overall dating back to the 88-86 overtime win over Rutgers in the first round of the NIT on Mar. 14. He has scored at least 16 games six times this season and eight times over his current streak after scoring at least 16 points in a game 13 times in his first 65 games with the Dutchmen.
D-STONE DEALING (part two)
Darlinstone Dubar recorded at least 10 rebounds in a game for the third time in his career last Thursday. All three 10-rebound efforts have come in his double-doubles. Dubar had 11 points and 12 rebounds against Molloy on Nov. 24, 2021 before again recording 11 points and 12 rebounds against Princeton on Nov. 7, 2022.
NO DOUBTING THOMAS
Tyler Thomas had little difficulty extending his streak of double-digit scoring performances last Thursday, when he scored a game-high 25 points. It was the 22nd straight double-digit effort for Thomas, who has scored at least 10 points in 31 of his last 32 games and 36 times in 42 games overall since joining the Dutchmen last season. He has scored at least 20 points six times in seven games this season and 18 times overall.
LUCKY SEVENS (part one)
Tyler Thomas did most of his damage from outside last Thursday, when he went 7-of-13 from 3-point land. The seven 3-pointers were one shy of Thomas’ career-high, set in the season-opening win over St. Joseph’s (NY) on Nov. 6, as well as his most against a Division I foe while playing for Hofstra. Thomas sank seven 3-pointers for Sacred Heart against Merrimack on Jan. 7, 2021 and again against Rhode Island on Dec. 7, 2021.
LUCKY SEVENS (part two)
Here’s another sign of how the game has changed and how the 3-pointer is now the preeminent weapon in college basketball. Following Tyler Thomas’ big game last Thursday, a player has drained at least seven 3-pointers in a game 19 times in the Dutchmen’s last 434 games dating back to Feb. 13, 2010, when Cornelius Vines tied the then-school record by hitting seven 3-pointers against UNC Wilmington. Vines, Frank Walker (Dec. 10, 1987) and Jason Hernandez (Jan. 28, 2000) were the only Hofstra players to hit seven 3-pointers in a game in the first 674 games of the 3-point shot era, which began in 1986-87.
NUMBER 23 IS NUMBER ONE
Now this is cool. As games begin today, Tyler Thomas leads the country in scoring at 25.0 points per game. Xavier Johnson of Southern Illinois ranks second at 24.2 points per game while Zach Edey of former Hofstra opponent Purdue ranks third at 23.7 ppg. Johnson scored 32 points in Southern Illinois’ 70-68 upset of Oklahoma State last night and doesn’t; play again until next Tuesday. Edey scored 25 points in Purdue’s 87-68 win over Iowa on Monday and is off until Saturday, when the Boilermakers play…Aaron Estrada and Alabama. I love it when a good stat comes together. Props to fellow scribe James (Bucky) Dent, who covers Southern Illinois for the Southern Illinoisan newspaper, for pointing out the Hofstra-Southern Illinois tandem atop the charts.
JC’S DOUBLE-DOUBLE MIX
Jaquan Carlos posted his second career double-double last Thursday, when he had 11 points and 10 assists. He also recorded a double-double against Stony Brook on Feb. 4, when he finished with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Has any Hofstra player ever posted a double-double with three different combinations? I don’t know but if Carlos wants to go have 10-plus points and 10-plus rebounds tonight that’d be great!
BRYCE THE GLUE GUY
Bryce Washington continued his solid season last Thursday, when he had 10 points and four rebounds. It was the second time this season Washington’s scored at least 10 points after he did so just twice in 28 games in his Hofstra debut last year. He also has at least four rebounds in five games after pulling down at least four rebounds in just three games last season.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
Silas Sunday finished with seven points, four rebounds and one block in just nine minutes last Thursday. Sunday posted most of his production during a stretch of 3:14 in the first half, when he scored six points — via baskets on three consecutive possessions — while also pulling down two rebounds and recording his block. The seven points were one shy of Sunday’s career-high, set against St. Joseph’s (NY) in the season opener on Nov. 6, and the most he’s recorded against a Division I foe.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game will be carried on ESPNPlus, which you have if you have the Disney Bundle, which you have if you have a child under the age of 18. Hofstra will also provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
IONA AND THE MAAC
Iona, under first-year head coach Tobin Anderson after finally moving on from that no-name Rick Pitino, is 3-5 this season and 1-1 in the MAAC after beating Fairfield, 78-67, in a league game last Friday.
Iona, which won the MAAC Tournament and reached the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last eight seasons last year before Pitino took a step down to St. John’s, was picked to finish second in the 11-team MAAC.
Anderson, who replaced Pitino after leading 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson to a pair of wins — including the seismic upset of Purdue — in last year’s NCAA Tournament, is presiding over perhaps the biggest overhaul in Division I. The Gaels’ lone returnee from last year’s roster, 7-foot-1 graduate student Shema Osborn, was a preseason all-MAAC first team selection but has yet to play due to a leg injury.
Graduate student guard Idan Tretout, who opened his career with three seasons at Harvard, leads Iona with 16.0 points per game. Junior guard Greg Gordon, a transfer from Dyersburg State Community College in Tennessee, is averaging 12.3 points per game while leading the Gaels with 6.3 rebounds per game. Graduate student Wheza Panzo, who played the previous four seasons at Stetson, ranks third on Iona with 12.1 points per game while fellow graduate student guard Joel Brown, who played the previous four seasons at California, has a team-high 3.6 assists per game.
At KenPom.com, Iona is ranked 163rd nationally in offensive efficiency (105.3 points per 100 possessions) and 199th in defensive efficiency (105.9 points per 100 minutes) while ranking 162nd in tempo (69.6 possessions per 40 minutes)
The Dutchmen and Gaels have three common opponents this season. Iona opened the season Nov, 6 with a 71-69 loss to Charleston, began the Gulf Coast Showcase Nov. 20 by falling to High Point 82-68 and beat Buffalo, 89-64, in the Gulf Coast Showcase’s seventh-place game on Nov. 22. Had the bracket broken right, this could be the second game of the year between the Dutchmen and Iona!
Iona leads the all-time series 22-21, though the Dutchmen won the most recent meeting by edging the Gaels 83-79 on Nov. 11, 2022. That marked Hofstra’s first win in the current series against Iona as well as the Dutchmen’s first-ever win against Pitino, who beat Hofstra with Providence on Dec. 29, 1986 and Louisville on Nov. 12, 2013 before winning the first two games of the current Hofstra-Iona series on by identical 82-74 scores on Dec. 5, 2020 and Nov, 16, 2021. The Dutchmen get another chance at squaring away family business against Pitino and St. John’s on Dec. 30!
Iona is Hofstra’s third-most frequent non-conference opponent behind only Manhattan (66 games) and Wagner (53 games). Though apparently Delaware (101 games) will be a non-conference opponent soon enough. Sigh.
Hofstra is 105-118 all-time against current MAAC schools. Iona is the only MAAC team on the Dutchmen’s schedule this season, making this just the third time in the last 18 seasons the Dutchmen aren’t playing at least two MAAC foes.
At KenPom.com this afternoon, Hofstra is ranked 101st while Iona is ranked 172nd. KenPom.com predicts a 76-75 win for the Dutchmen. That’s close! Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 2 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 3-3 against the spread this season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Cinderella bias! (There have been few March Madness tales better than the one Tobin Anderson presided over with Fairleigh Dickinson in March)
Fellow Connecticut guys bias! (Tobin Anderson was a star at Wesleyan University, located in Middletown, while our good friend and Iona fan Guy Falotico lives in the state)
You’re too good for Rick Pitino who needs him anyway bias! (Duh)
We've got Silas Sunday now bias! (Sunday spent last season at Iona)
Jeff Ruland bias! (The two-time NBA All-Star played three years at Iona and later spent nine seasons as the Gaels’ head coach)
No comments:
Post a Comment