I really wanted to post a picture of the scary-ass mascot, but when the opportunity to post a Pat Leahy football card I surely had as a six-year-old presents itself, well, sorry scary-ass Billikens.
Tyler Thomas got the Stephon Curry treatment? No problem Wednesday night for the Flying Dutchmen, who managed to grind it out with a balanced scoring attack and stave off pesky Iona in a wire-to-wire 62-57 win. The Dutchmen will look to extend their winning streak this afternoon, when they visit the Atlantic 10’s Saint Louis. Here’s a look back at the win over the Gaels and a look ahead to the Billikens and their scary-ass mascot.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Tyler Thomas’ streak of double-digit scoring efforts was snapped as he was limited to eight points — including none in the second half, when Thomas still came up with a trio of key assists to help the Dutchmen close out the win in the clash of local rivals. Thomas actually scored the Dutchmen’s first six points with a pair of 3-pointers (albeit during a stretch in which the Dutchmen were 2-of-13 from the field with a turnover) and scored his final bucket to end a game-opening 22-12 run. The Dutchmen opened up another 10-point lead at 28-18 before Iona ended the half by scoring the final eight points, a span in which the Dutchmen missed three shots and committed two turnovers. Darlinstone Dubar and Bryce Washington combined to score all the Dutchmen’s points in a 15-6 run that extended the lead to 45-34 with 11:33 left. Iona responded with a 9-3 run, but Thomas had assists on the Dutchmen’s final two 3-pointers — by Jacco Fritz (!!!) and Jaquan Carlos — and Carlos and KiJan Robinson combined to go 3-of-4 from the line in the final half-minute, when the Gaels twice pulled within four points. Dubar (12 points, 10 rebounds) had another double-double while Fritz had nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Carlos (11 points, seven assists) also flirted with a double-double, though he committed six turnovers. Thomas also nearly posted a double-double by finishing with eight rebounds. Washington scored 11 points in just 19 minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Iona, 12/6)
3: Jacco Fritz
2: Darlinstone Dubar
1: Bryce Washington
SEASON STANDINGS
Tyler Thomas 16
Darlinstone Dubar 15
Jaquan Carlos 8
Jacco Fritz 6
Bryce Washington 2
KiJan Robinson 1
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! Not too surprising, considering how low-scoring games used to be. But somewhat surprisingly, this is only the second 62-57 win in program history. The Dutchmen edged New Hampshire on Dec, 27, 2008 in a game in which Tom Pecora exited during the first half due to illness.
The Dutchmen have earned four unicorn score victories this season after recording 12 unicorn score victories last season, 11 unicorn score victories in 2021-22, no unicorn score victories in 2020-21, 13 unicorn score victories in 2019-20 and 10 unicorn score victories 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.
WHO HAD THE KEITH HERNANDEZ?
Jacco Fritz joined the all-time Keith Hernandez club by hitting the tie-breaking jumper to put the Dutchmen up 10-8 with 12:37 left in the first half. Fritz is the first newcomer to the Keith Hernandez club since Warren Williams had the tie-breaking nostalgic 3-pointer against Delaware on Jan. 14.
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)
Jacco Fritz tie-breaking jumper vs. Iona, 12/6/23 (12:37 left 1H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Darlinstone Dubar 3
Jacco Fritz
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
Jacco Fritz 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 EIGHT GAMES
With Wednesday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 6-2. This ties the 2023-24 team for the 12th-best record in school history through eight games. This is the second straight season in which the Dutchmen have opened 6-2 and the 13th time overall in school history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through eight games:
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 4-4
1976-77: 6-2
1999-2000: 4-4
2000-01: 6-2
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 5-3
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 4-4
2004-05: 8-0 (most recent 8-0 start)
2005-06: 6-2
2006-07: 5-3
2015-16: 6-2
2018-19: 5-3 (marked second win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 6-2
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 4-4
1961-62: 7-1
1962-63: 6-2
1963-64: 7-1
Some other notable eight-game starts:
2021-22: 4-4 (most recent 4-4 start)
2020-21: 5-3 (most recent 5-3 start)
2013-14: 2-6 (most recent 2-6 start)
2012-13: 3-5 (most recent 3-5 start)
2008-09: 7-1 (most recent 7-1 start)
2002-03: 1-7 (most recent 1-7 start)
1994-95: 2-6 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-7 (VBK’s last team)
1960-61: 8-0
1959-60: 8-0
1955-56: 8-0
1951-52: 8-0
1947-48: 8-0
The Dutchmen have never opened 0-8.
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-FIVE
With Wednesday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 52-23 (.693) as head coach. That’s the second-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 75 games at the helm. The last 21 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 55-20 (.733, 75th game was the 16th game of his third season in 1964-65)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 52-23 (.693, 75th game was the eighth game of his third season in 2023-24)
Butch van Breda Kolff I 48-27 (.640, 75th game was the 23rd and final game of his third season in 1957-58)
Dick Berg 38-37 (.507, 75th game was the 20th game of his third season in 1982-83)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 36-39 (.480, 75th game was the 18th game of his third season in 1990-91)
Joe Mihalich 36-39 (.480, 75th game was the eighth game of his third season in 2015-16)
Mo Cassara 34-41 (.453, 75th game was the 10th game of his third season in 2012-13)
Roger Gaeckler 29-46 (.387, 75th game was the third game of his fourth season in 1975-76)
Jay Wright 29-46 (.387, 75th game was the 20th game of his third season in 1996-97)
Tom Pecora 26-49 (.347, 75th game was the 14th game of his third season in 2003-04)
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 Wednesday night, It was their second straight wire-to-wire win and their third of the season overall, The Dutchmen last earned at least two straight wire-to-wire wins from Feb. 4-11, when they never trailed in three consecutive wins over Stony Brook, Northeastern and Monmouth. 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.
A NARROW WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN
The Dutchmen, as you no doubt have noticed by now, won Wednesday's game 62-57. That’s their smallest margin of victory in a game in which they never trailed since Jan. 17, 2021, when the Dutchmen edged Delaware 68-67 when Ebby Asamoah’s potential game-winning 3-pointer was hoisted just after the buzzer. Phew to that.
GRIND IT OUT
The Dutchmen made a quirky bit of history Wednesday, when they scored their fewest points in a victory in the Speedy Claxton Era. Prior to Wednesday, the Dutchmen had scored fewer than 70 points in a win under Claxton just four times. The 62 points the Dutchmen scored Wednesday were their fewest in a victory since Jan. 2, 2021, when the Dutchmen edged William & Mary 61-56. Pretty close to 62-57!
D-STONE’S DOZEN IS ENOUGH
And here’s an even quirkier bit of history: Darlinstone Dubar led the Dutchmen with 12 points Wednesday night. That’s the fewest points the leading scorer has scored in victory for the Dutchmen since way back on Nov. 26, 2011, when Dwan McMillan and Stephen Nwaukoni each scored 12 points in a 63-53 win over Cleveland State. That was 220 wins ago!
THE DEFENSE DIDN’T REST
The Dutchmen allowed fewer than 60 points for the first time this season and have now won 45 straight games when surrendering fewer than 60 points. The Dutchmen last lost when giving up fewer than 60 points on Feb. 10, 2014, when they fell to James Madison, 59-53.
FANTASTIC FIVE
It didn’t take long for the Dutchmen to ensure they would remain in a pretty cool club this season. The win on Wednesday was the fifth straight for the Dutchmen, who have now won at least five straight games in each of the last six seasons dating back to 2018-19 — a span that, of course, includes the 2020-21 season, which was drastically shortened by a pandemic. Through Friday, the Dutchmen are one of just 16 Division I teams with a winning streak of five games or longer in each of the last six seasons. Some pretty good company here!
HOFSTRA
Arizona
Auburn
Baylor
Belmont
Clemson
Creighton
Gonzaga
Houston
Liberty
Louisiana Tech
San Diego State
Santa Clara
UC Irvine
Utah State
Wisconsin
Twenty-seven other teams entered the season with at least one five-game winning streak in each of the previous five seasons — including Saint Louis! Quirky! The only team with a chance at extending its membership in this club today is Kansas, whose game against Missouri is slated to tip off at 5:15 PM EST, which should be shortly after the Hofstra-Saint Louis game concludes.
D-STONE’S DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB
Somebody get Darlinstone Dubar some Dubble Bubble (ask your parents). Dubar posted his second straight double-double Wednesday night, when he had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Dubar, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds in the 82-63 win over South Florida on Nov. 30, is the first Hofstra player with double-doubles in consecutive games since Abayomi Iyiola did so against John Jay and Arkansas from Dec. 12-18, 2021 and the first to do so against Division I foes since Isaac Kante had back-to-back double-doubles against William & Mary on Jan. 2-3, 2021. Dubar now has as many double-doubles in the last two games as he did in his first 73 games at Hofstra.
D-STONE DEALING
Darlinstone Dubar now has the longest active streak of double-digit scoring performances after he finished with a team-high 12 points Wednesday night. Dubar has scored in double figures in all eight games this season, which is his longest single-season stretch of consecutive double-figure efforts, and in 10 straight games overall dating back to the 88-86 overtime win over Rutgers in the first round of the NIT on Mar. 14.
THOMAS TAMED
A constant stream of double-teams ended Tyler Thomas’ streak of double-digit scoring performances at 22 games on Wednesday night, when he was limited to eight points. Thomas previously scored in single digits on Jan. 16, when he was limited to five points in a 68-47 loss to Towson. He has scored in double figures in 31 of his last 33 games and 36 times in 43 games overall since joining the Dutchmen last season.
CRAZY EIGHTS
Tyler Thomas had an atypically quiet offensive game Wednesday night but still finished with four assists and eight rebounds. The eight rebounds tied a season-high for Thomas, who also had eight boards against George Washington on Nov. 14 and against High Point on Nov. 22.
PUTTING ON THE FRITZ
Jacco Fritz, returning to a familiar locale, had perhaps his best game of the season Wednesday night, when he had nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks. The three blocks set a season-high and tied a career-high for Fritz, who had three blocks for Canisius against Niagara on Mar. 6, 2020 and against Saint Peter’s on Jan. 1, 2021. The nine rebounds tied a season-high (set previously against Wright State on Nov. 21) while the nine points were his second-most this year behind a 14-point effort against Wright State.
GETTING IT DONE IN NEW ROCHELLE
Jacco Fritz continued thriving in road games against Iona on Wednesday night, when he came up just shy of a third straight double-double in New Rochelle. Fritz had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Canisius in the Golden Griffins’ 72-65 loss at Iona on Feb. 25, 2022 before he had 10 points and 13 rebounds in a 90-60 loss on Dec. 4, 2022. Someone might be hoping for a CBI rematch in New Rochelle! (Please, no, not that)
THE BIG GUY FROM DOWNTOWN
Jacco Fritz almost surely made some quirky history Wednesday night, when the 6-foot-10 center sank a long 3-pointer from the top of the key with 6:27 left to extend the Dutchmen’s lead to 51-43. It was not only the first 3-pointer of the season for Fritz but the first 3-pointer by someone 6-foot-10 or taller in the Defiantly Dutch Era (1993-pres)! And given how few 3-pointers were shot by anyone, never mind 6-foot-10 players, in the first seven years of the 3-point shot, I think we can safely assume Fritz is the tallest player to ever hit a 3-pointer for the Dutchmen, Now that’s quirky! I believe the only 6-foot-10 or taller players to even attempt a 3-pointer for the Dutchmen are Greg Washington, whose very last shot as a collegian was an errant 3-pointer just before the buzzer in the CBI game against Evansville on Mar. 15, 2011, and Lars Grubler, who has a missed 3-pointer on his ledger at College Basketball Reference. We report on the truly weird stuff here, folks.
CARLOS SHOPS AT 7/11
Jaquan Carlos had an up-and-down game Wednesday night, when he committed a career-high six turnovers but also had 11 points and seven assists. It was the third straight game in which he had at least 11 points and seven assists, the fourth time he reached those very specific figures this season and the sixth time he’s done so in his career.
BRYCE THE GLUE GUY
Bryce Washington continued his solid season Wednesday night, when he scored 11 points, including eight during the Dutchmen’s key second half surge. It was the third double-digit scoring effort of the season for Washington, his most in a season since his freshman season with Pennsylvania way back in 2018-19, when he scored in double figures eight times in 30 games. A LOT has happened since then.
FAMILIAR FACES
Silas Sunday, who played last season at Iona, had two points and two rebounds in in six minutes Wednesday night. Sunday is the first Hofstra player to oppose a former school since Abayomi Iyiola racked up a double-double (18 points, 14 rebounds) in the 89-81 upset over nationally ranked Arkansas on Dec. 18, 2021.
MAKING IT COUNT
Griffin Barrouk sank his only shot Wednesday night, a 3-pointer late in the first half. He’s the first player to go 1-for-1 from the field with a 3-pointer since…Griffin Barrouk did it against Saint Mary’s on Nov. 19, 2022.
SPREADING THE SCORING
KiJan Robinson closed out the scoring for the Dutchmen by splitting a pair of free throws in the waning seconds Wednesday night, With Robinson’s point, all nine players who saw the floor against Iona scored for the Dutchmen. It’s the first time every player who saw the floor for the Dutchmen scored since all eight players got into the scoring column in the 88-86 overtime win over Rutgers in the first round of the NIT on Mar. 14.
OVER THE AIR
This afternoon'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.
SAINT LOUIS AND THE ATLANTIC 10
Saint Louis, under eighth-year head coach Travis Ford, is 5-5 this season after suffering its third straight loss Wednesday, when the scary-ass Billikens fell to Drake, 75-69.
Saint Louis was picked to finish sixth in the 15-team Atlantic 10 (math is really hard). Senior guard Gibson Jimerson, who was named to the preseason all-Atlantic 10 first team, leads the Billikens with 15.8 points per game, though junior guard Sincere Parker was averaging 17.3 points over four games before suffering an ankle injury that has him sidelined indefinitely. Senior guard Terrence Hargrove is averaging 13.7 points per game and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. Senior forward Tim Dalger, who spent the previous two seasons at Tulsa, is averaging 10.8 ppg and 4.7 rpg.
At KenPom.com, Saint Louis is ranked 155th nationally in offensive efficiency (105.5 points per 100 possessions) and 267th in defensive efficiency (108.4 points per 100 minutes) while ranking 68th in tempo (71.4 possessions per 40 minutes).
The Dutchmen and Billikens have one common opponent this season. George Washington which beat Hofstra 71-60 on Nov. 14, is slated to visit Saint Louis on Feb. 24.
This is the first meeting between Hofstra and Saint Louis in men’s basketball and just the fourth meeting in any sport. The Flying Dutchwomen field hockey team earned a 3-2 win in the St. Louis Invitational during the 1997 season while the softball team beat Saint Louis twice during the 2016 Florida Gulf Coast University Invitational, when the Dutchmen earned a 9-1 win on Feb. 19 and 10-2 in a game shortened to five innings on Feb. 20. I sure hope all my yammering about settling the family business doesn’t come back to haunt me today!
Hofstra is 39-110 all-time against current Atlantic 10 schools, a membership that includes former conference foes George Mason as well as La Salle (ECC) and VCU (CAA). This marks the 11th straight season in which Hofstra has faced at least one A-10 school.
At KenPom.com this afternoon, Hofstra is ranked 95th while Saint Louis is ranked 205th. KenPom.com predicts a 78-75 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 3 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 4-3 against the spread this season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Your mascot is freaky as hell bias! (Seriously what is that thing)
Pat Leahy bias! (The long-, Long- LONGTIME kicker for the Jets played soccer at Saint Louis)
Andy Benes bias! (The longtime pitcher went to Saint Louis but after his big league career ended)
Larry Hughes bias! (Hughes played one yaer at Saint Louis before spending 15 years in the NBA)
John Stamos is a fan of yours bias! (Per Wikipedia, which is never wrong)
No comments:
Post a Comment