Any excuse to show you how much Nuno SHREDS.
The Flying Dutchmen dodged disaster #Alliteration Saturday, when they squandered most of a 16-point second-half lead before clamping down over the final two minutes of a 76-71 win over Delaware. The Dutchmen will look to make it two in a row tonight, when they begin the weirdest road trip of the year (seriously, Boston to Buies Creek, N.C. on the same leg, who came up with that) by visiting Northeastern. Here’s a look back at the win over the Blue Hens and a look ahead to the Huskies.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Tyler Thomas scored a game-high 22 points, but his fellow starters Jaquan Carlos, Darlinstone Dubar, Jacco Fritz and Bryce Washington came up with the big plays on both ends of the floor down the stretch to help the Dutchmen hang on. Thomas had 12 points in a game-opening 18-10 run for the Dutchmen but was scoreless over the next 20-plus minutes, a span in which Carlos, Dubar, Fritz, Washington and German Plotnikov combined to outscore Delaware 37-33. Thomas hit consecutive jumpers to give the Dutchmen their biggest lead at 59-43 with 12:39 left, but the Blue Hens went on a 23-11 run that ended with them scoring on six straight possessions. Delaware appeared to close within 70-68 when Washington was whistled for goaltending on a jumper by Niels Lane, but the call was overturned during the under-four media timeout and Lane missed a 3-pointer before Jyare Davis turned the ball. Thomas and Christian Ray exchanged baskets and Thomas missed a 3-pointer, after which Dubar stole the ball from Davis and hit a layup. Gerald Drumgoole Jr. followed with a 3-pointer for the Blue Hens, but Dubar responded with another jumper and Delaware missed four shots in the final minute. Dubar scored 18 points, including the 1,000th point of his Hofstra career in the first half, while Fritz had the Christian Laettner by finishing with 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Dubar and Fritz had nine rebounds apiece while Carlos (10 points, nine assists) also just missed a double-double. I smell a quirky stat! Washington had seven points, all in the final 2:32 of the first half.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Delaware, 1/6)
3: Darlinstone Dubar
2: Jacco Fritz
1: Tyler Thomas
SEASON STANDINGS
Darlinstone Dubar 31
Tyler Thomas 31
Jaquan Carlos 15
Jacco Fritz 8
Bryce Washington 3
Silas Sunday 1
KiJan Robinson 1
A tie atop the charts!
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! The Dutchmen had three previous 76-71 victories, most recently when they upset Richmond — which was no. 23 I the coaches’ poll — on Dec. 22, 2020. That was also a game in which a Hofstra player (Jalen Ray) recorded his 1,000th point for the Dutchmen, Quirky!
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?
Tyler Thomas made it two straight Keith Hernandezes — these spanning two years! — by hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer to put the Dutchmen up 5-3 with 17:46 left in the first half. It’s the third-earliest Keith Hernandez of the season and vaulted Thomas into a tie with Darlinstone Dubar atop the season standings.
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)
Tyler Thomas tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Norfolk State, 12/16/23 (13:45 left 2H)
Tyler Thomas go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Delaware, 1/6/24 (17:46 left 1H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Tyler Thomas 3
Darlinstone Dubar 3
Jacco Fritz 1
Jaquan Carlos 1
ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since last season)
Tyler Thomas 13
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 FIFTEEN GAMES
With Saturday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 8-7. This ties the 2023-24 team for the 42nd-best record in school history through 15 games. This is the second straight season the Dutchmen have opened 8-7 and the first time the Dutchmen have opened 7-7 since 1995-96 — so long ago, I was still in school! — and the seventh time overall in school history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 15 games:
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 8-7
1976-77: 10-5
1999-2000: 10-5
2000-01: 11-4
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 11-4 (most recent 11-4 start)
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 10-5
2004-05: 10-5
2005-06: 12-3
2006-07: 11-4
2015-16: 10-5 (most recent 10-5 start)
2018-19: 12-3 (most recent 12-3 start, win in 15th game marked ninth win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 8-7 (most recent 8-7 start)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 10-5
1961-62: 14-1 (most recent 14-1 start)
1962-63: 10-5
1963-64: 12-3
Some other notable 15-game starts:
2021-22: 9-6 (most recent 9-6 start)
2013-14: 4-11 (most recent 4-11 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2011-12: 6-9 (most recent 6-9 start)
2007-08: 3-12 (most recent 3-12 start)
2001-02: 7-8 (most recent 7-8 start)
1995-96: 7-8 (lost buzzer-beater to Northeastern to fall under .500 for good, OH NO)
1994-95: 3-12 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-14 (VBK’s last team, only 1-14 start in program history)
1973-74: 2-13 (only 2-13 start in program history)
1968-69: 5-10 (only 5-10 start in program history)
1960-61: 13-2 (only 13-2 start in program history)
1959-60: 14-1 (Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in 14th game was third win of season-ending 13-game winning streak)
One season was completed in fewer than 15 games: The 1937-38 team finished 10-4.
Hofstra has never been 15-0 or 0-15 through 15 games.
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 EIGHTY-TWO
With Saturday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 54-28 (.659) as head coach. That’s the third-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 82 games at the helm.
Paul Lynner 57-25 (.695, 82nd game was the 23rd game of his third season in 1964-65)
Frank Reilly 56-26 (.683, 82nd game was the 11th game of his fourth season in 1950-51)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 54-28 (.659, 82nd game was the 15th game of his third season in 2023-24)
Butch van Breda Kolff I 52-30 (.634, 82nd game was the seventh game of his fourth season in 1957-58)
Dick Berg 42-40 (.512, 82nd game was the 27th & final game of his third season in 1982-83)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 40-42 (.488, 82nd game was the 25th game of his third season in 1990-91)
Joe Mihalich 40-42 (.488, 82nd game was the 15th game of his third season in 2015-16)
Mo Cassara 36-46 (.439, 82nd game was the 17th game of his third season in 2012-13)
Roger Gaeckler 32-50 (.390, 82nd game was the 10th game of his fourth season in 1975-76)
Jay Wright 31-51 (.378, 82nd game was the 27th and final game of his third season in 1996-97)
Tom Pecora 29-53 (.354, 82nd game was the 21st game of his third season in 2003-04)
Twenty games under .500 through three years, it’ll probably never work out for that Jay Wright guy.
The records are incomplete for Jack McDonald’s first stint from 1936 through 1943 as well as the tenure of Jack Smith (1943-46). But not Frank Reilly (1947-55) anymore!
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.
DOWN BUT NOT FOR LONG (part one)
The Dutchmen trailed for just 1:49 Saturday, when Christian Ray hit a 3-pointer 25 seconds into the game for Delaware before Darlinstone Dubar hit a third-chance jumper and Tyler Thomas drained a 3-pointer after the teams combined for three empty trips. It was the first time the Dutchmen won a game in which the opponent never led again after its first basket since Nov. 27, 2022, when the Dutchmen trailed Quinnipiac 3-2 in a 72-70 win. That has to be delicately phrased since Delaware led for multiple possessions, but you get the spirit of the thing.
DOWN BUT NOT FOR LONG (part two)
The Dutchmen led for the final 37:46 Saturday after never trailing in either of last season’s wins over Delaware. And that sweep came after the Dutchmen closed out a sweep in the 2021-22 series with an 80-66 win on Feb. 12, 2022 in which they trailed just once — at 1-0 — and led for the final 39:01. So this means the Dutchmen have trailed for just 2:08 over the last 160 minutes of game action against Delaware. Now that’s quirky!
NEARLY THE TRIPLE DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The Dutchmen had one of the all-time great quirky final boxes Saturday, when no players had a double-double but THREE players came within one rebound or point of a triple-double. Darlinstone Dubar (18 points, nine rebounds) and Jacco Fritz (15 points, nine rebounds) each missed the double-double by a board while Jaquan Carlos (nine points, 10 assists) missed it by a point.
If my usage of the Play Index at College Basketball Reference is correct, this is, not surprisingly, the first time since at least 2010-11 (the first year of the Play Index era) that the Dutchmen have had three players come within one point, rebound or assist of a double-double. The closest the Dutchmen have come to a trio of almost double-doubles may have happened Feb. 22, 2020, when Desure Buie (27 points, nine assists) missed it by an assist, Eli Pemberton (25 points, nine rebounds) missed it by a rebound and Tareq Coburn (11 points, eight rebounds) missed it by two boards in a 78-62 win over Delaware.
There are two other earlier instances, both during the 2015-16 season, of the Dutchmen having two players who came within one point, rebound or assist of a double-double. Juan’ya Green (23 points, nine assists) missed it by an assist while Malik Nichols (nine points, 11 rebounds) missed it by a point in an 89-83 win over St. Bonaventure on Nov. 28, 2015. Green (17 points, nine assists) missed it by an assist while Denton Koon (11 points, nine rebounds) missed it by a rebound in an 86-82 overtime loss to James Madison on Jan. 16, 2016, when Rokas Gustys (25 points, 20 rebounds) had a double-double.
Lastly, the Dutchmen just missed having three double-doubles in an 83-75 win over Iona on Dec. 29, 2011, when David Imes (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Nathaniel Lester (21 points, 10 rebounds) each had a double-double and Dwan McMillan (10 points, nine assists) missed it by an assist.
DUBAR JOINS CLUB 1K
Darlinstone Dubar’s impressive season hit another high point (not High Point) Saturday, when he joined the 1,000-point club by sinking a 3-pointer with 7:20 left in the first half. Dubar is the 41st Hofstra player to score 1,000 points, the 23rd to do so in the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-present) and the 10th since 2013-14, the first year of the Joe Mihalich/Mike Farrelly/Speedy Claxton era and the beginning of this golden age of Hofstra hoops.
Those 10 players have actually all reached the 1,000-point club since 2015-16. At least one player has reached the milestone in eight of the last nine seasons — every season but 2021-22, the first season following the pandemic and a season in which Tareq Coburn (971 points at Hofstra) and Isaac Kante (682 points at Hofstra) each transferred with at least one year of eligibility left.
Dubar now has 1,008 points, which leaves him 11 points shy of surpassing John Irving for 40th place and 15 points shy of moving past James Shaffer into 39th place.
36.) Derrick Flowers 1,069
37.) Darius Burton 1,060
38.) Percy Johnson 1,045
39.) James Shaffer 1,022
40.) John Irving 1,018
41.) DARLINSTONE DUBAR 1,008
HOW THEY GOT TO 1,000 POINTS
Because I’m a weirdo, I wondered what the breakdown was for the fashion in which players recorded their 1,000th point at Hofstra. I could only get the 16 most recent members of the club dating back to 2005-06, the furthest back play-by-play data goes at Hofstra’s site. Dubar is the fourth player to reach 1,000 points with a 3-pointer while nine players did so via a layup or jumper and three more did so via a free throw. The list!
3-POINTER
Darlinstone Dubar, 1/6/24
Aaron Estrada, 1/28/23
Eli Pemberton, 12/1/18
Loren Stokes, 12/30/05
2-POINT BASKET
Jalen Ray, 12/22/20
Desure Buie, 1/4/20
Justin Wright-Foreman, 1/7/18
Rokas Gustys, 1/5/18
Brian Bernardi, 1/2/17
Mike Moore, 2/11/12
Charles Jenkins, 2/28/09
Carlos Rivera, 1/27/07
Antoine Agudio, 3/20/06
FREE THROW
Ameen Tanksley, 2/25/16 (completing a nostalgic 3-point play)
Juan’ya Green, 2/7/16
Nathaniel Lester, 2/1/12
D-STONE DEALING
Darlinstone Dubar continued his impressive season Thursday, when he finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. Dubar has scored in double figures in all 15 games this season, which is his longest single-season stretch of consecutive double-figure efforts, and in 17 straight games overall dating back to the 88-86 overtime win over Rutgers in the first round of the NIT on Mar. 14.
PERFECTLY PUTTING ON THE FRITZ
Jacco Fritz pulled the Christian Laettner Saturday afternoon, when he scored 15 points while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Fritz is the second Hofstra player in the CAA era (2001-present) to make at least five field goals and three free throws without a miss but the first to do so against a Division I opponent. Jacquil Taylor had 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the 107-54 win over Division III Rosemont on Dec. 22, 2018.
Fritz is just one of five Division I players to enjoy a perfect shooting game from both the field (minimum six attempts) and free throw line (minimum three attempts) this season. His 25 minutes played are the fewest of anyone to pull off the feat. Oklahoma State’s Brandon Garrison scored 20 points (7-of-7 shooting, 6-of-6 from the free throw line) Saturday while Howard’s Bryce Harris had 23 points (10-of-10 from the field, 3-of-3 from the line) against Mount St. Mary’s on Nov. 25 before Tennessee Tech’s Rylee Samons had 20 points (6-of-6 from the field, 3-of-3 from the line) had 20 points against non-Division I Alice Lloyd on Dec. 3 and Massachusetts’ Josh Cohen finished with 28 points (8-of-8 from the field, 9-of-9 from the line) against Portland on Dec. 23.
TWENTY AGAIN IN TWENTY-FOUR FOR THOMAS
Tyler Thomas produced another 20-point game Saturday, when he finished with 22 points. Thomas has scored at least 20 points in 23 of his his 50 games with the Dutchmen dating back to last season. He has scored in double figures in 38 of his last 40 games and 43 times overall in the last two seasons.
INEFFICIENT THOMAS
However, for a second straight game, Tyler Thomas’ 20-something point effort was not the most efficient one. Thomas finished 8-of-26 from the field, including 4-of-15 from 3-point land. It was the second straight game in which Thomas hoisted 26 shots, including 15 from 3-point land He was 9-of-26 overall and 3-of-15 from beyond the arc in last Thursday’s 73-61 loss to Charleston. Prior to last Thursday, a Hofstra player hadn’t taken at least 26 shots in regulation since Jan. 5, 2019, Justin Wright-Foreman had 30 shots — and drained the buzzer-beating 34-footer — in a 75-72 win over Northeastern. Thomas is also the first Hofstra player in the Play Index era to take at least 15 3-pointers in consecutive games.
CARLOS SHOPS AT THE FIVE-AND-DIME
Jaquan Carlos finished with nine points and 10 assists Saturday afternoon. It was the 11 time this season Carlos has collected at least 10 points and five assists in a game. The Dutchmen are 7-4 in those games.
BRYCE THE GLUE GUY
Bryce Washington had his best game in weeks Saturday, when he finished with seven points, four rebounds and one assist while playing 30 minutes. Washington had just four points, nine rebounds and one assist in 55 minutes over the previous three games, a span in which the Dutchmen went 0-3. The Dutchmen are 8-1 this season when Washington scores at least seven points.
PLOTNIKOV IS THE BENCH BRIGADE
Reserves German Plotnikov, KiJan Robinson and Silas Sunday combined for all 27 minutes by non-starters Saturday, when Plotnikov had five points. The 3-pointer by Plotnikov with 3:27 left in the first half provided the first points by a Dutchman reserve since Dec. 30, when Plotnikov sank a 3-pointer with 4:54 left in the 84-79 loss to St. John’s. Wow! Spanning two years!
SUNDAY’S CLUB TRILLION (almost)
With Jacco Fritz and German Plotnikov each navigating foul trouble Saturday, Silas Sunday played five minutes but didn’t register a stat in any other category. Sunday is the first Hofstra player to play at least five minutes and finish with no points, rebounds, assists, steals or fouls since Griffin Barrouk played eight almost Club Trillion minutes in the 85-81 win over Charleston on Jan. 28, 2023.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game will be carried live on CBS Sports Network, which is channel 215 in the Optimum/Altice Are Our Overlords Universe. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies, under 18th-year head coach Bill Coen, are 5-10 overall and 0-2 in the CAA after falling to Monmouth, 81-62 on Monday night. The loss was the third straight and the fifth in the last six games for Northeastern.
The Dutchmen and Huskies had one common opponents in non-conference play. The Dutchmen lost to Princeton 74-67 on Nov. 10 while Northeastern fell to the Tigers, 80-66, on Nov. 25. Princeton played five CAA teams!
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 117th at KenPom.com. The Huskies, who were picked to finish seventh, are ranked 228th.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank fourth in the CAA in offensive efficiency (107.6 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (102.9 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 67.2 possessions per 40 minutes, the 10th-most in the league. The Huskies rank eighth in the CAA in offensive efficiency (105.8 points per 100 possessions) and 10th in defensive efficiency (110.3 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 67.0 possessions per 40 minutes, the 11th-most in the league.
Graduate student Chris Doherty, who began his career at Notre Dame in 2018 (!!!) and was a preseason all-CAA honorable mention selection, leads the Huskies with 12.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Graduate student Luka Sakota, who played his first three seasons at Harvard, is averaging 10.3 points per game but has missed the last two games due to injury. Sophomore guard Masai Troutman is averaging 10.2 points per game while redshirt senior Joe Pridgen, who played one season apiece at Holy Cross and UNC Wilmington before transferring to Northeastern, is averaging 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts a 73-70 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 6-point favorites. Interesting gap there. The Dutchmen are 6-8 against the spread this season after Delaware covered the 5 1/2-point spread Saturday despite trailing for the final 37:46. That’s a quirky backdoor cover, kids.
ALL-TIME VS. NORTHEASTERN
Hofstra is 30-25 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 season series for the second straight season and the third time in four years last season, when Jaquan Carlos flirted with a triple-double (10 points, nine assists, nine rebounds) in a 72-53 victory in Boston on Feb. 8 before Tyler Thomas scored 23 points on Feb. 25, when the Dutchmen clinched the CAA’s regular season championship with an 84-52 victory.
THE BARONE BOWL
The Barone Bowl was established by me and Northeastern graduate Mike Brodsky during the 2009-10 season, after Northeastern and Hofstra dropped football within two weeks of one another (Hofstra’s decision, of course, was reached after a multi-year study, wink wink nudge nudge).
The Barone Bowl pays homage to the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond in which a Hofstra kicker boots a 68-yard field goal against Northeastern but Frank Barone catches the ball and refuses to give it up. Apparently that wasn’t the type of publicity either school liked. Anyway.
Thanks to the regular season sweep last season, the Dutchmen finally lead the Barone Bowl series, 16-15. It’s the first time the Dutchmen have led the series since they had a 3-2 edge at the end of the 2010-11 season. Northeastern won the next eight games between the schools and Hofstra has won 13 of the last 18 clashes. This, unfortunately, is a purely symbolic trophy, one which you will not find displayed by either school. But you can find me and Brodsky talking about it on Twitter! Along with Immaculate Grid, which he’s much better at than me.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Ex-Patriots coach Bill Belichick never won anything without Tom Brady bias! (It’s weird calling Belichick the ex-Patriots coach)
Twitter bias! (Per Wikipedia, which is never wrong, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, who has apparently wasted more of our time than any person on Earth, attended but didn’t graduate from Northeastern)
Nuno Bettencourt had the best guitar solo of 2023 bias! (I mean, it’s true, listen for yourselves)
Matt Janning was the Wayne Gretzky of the CAA bias! (Tom Pecora always said Janning had the pass before the assist…what a player)
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