The IIIrd matchup of the season between Springfield and Shelbyville is for (almost) all the marbles!
Remember how you thought Tyler Thomas’ season-saving, game-winning shot in the final second against Stony Brook on Feb. 1 was a great way to close out the season series and further ratchet up the intensity in the Long Island rivalry? Boy do I have a surprise for you!
It’s the Flying Dutchmen-Seawolves III: In 3-D tonight, with a berth in the CAA championship game on the line. Intense! The third clash of the season was set up last night, when the Dutchmen gradually pulled away for a 73-58 win over Delaware after Stony Brook advanced to the semis by virtue of their 91-88 double overtime win over Drexel. A Long Island team? Winning a CAA Tournament game in double overtime? In this economy?
We already ran down the boilerplate postgame material from the Delaware win in this morning’s Keep It Perky. This afternoon will be all about the Dutchmen and Speedy Claxton notching another 20-win season, the team-related quirkiness and individual news from the victory over the Blue Hens and a preview of the Shelbyville Seawolves. Enjoy!
TWENTY'S THE MAGIC NUMBER…
…for pitchers (well, back when wins mattered) and college basketball programs. And I’ll fully acknowledge I didn’t expect to be typing this note when the Dutchmen were 8-9 overall and down 18 points to Hampton on Jan. 18. But Sunday’s win — the 12th in the last 14 games — assured the Dutchmen of the 26th 20-win season in program history, including the 17th in the Division I era (dating back to 1966-67), the 12th since joining the CAA in 2001-02, the fifth in the last six seasons and the third in as many seasons for Speedy Claxton. Pretty good run!
No other current CAA school has as many 20-win seasons as a member of the CAA and only Charleston (13 20-win seasons, including eight as a member of the Southern Conference) has more 20-win seasons since 2001-02. And among former CAA members, only VCU (16 20-win seasons and with 19 wins this season) has as many or more 20-win seasons since 2001-02. Once again, pretty good.
SELECT COMPANY
With their 20th win of the season Sunday, the Dutchmen became just the 27th Division I program to record at least five 20-win seasons in the last six campaigns — a stretch that, of course, includes the 2019-20 season, when the NCAA Tournament wasn’t played due to the pandemic, and the 2020-21 season, which was shorter than usual for most schools due to the pandemic. Hofstra is one of just 13 mid-majors (defined by me as everyone outside the power six conferences, the American and the West Coast Conference) to win at least 20 games in at least five of the last six seasons. Here’s the list, starting with the mid-majors and then including all the other schools from those other boring big leagues.
HOFSTRA
Belmont***
Colgate
Dayton
Drake***
Liberty***
Louisiana Tech
Loyola Chicago
San Diego State***
Toledo
UNC Greensboro
Utah State
Vermont
Auburn
Baylor***
Colorado
Creighton***
Duke
Gonzaga***
Houston***
Kansas***
Memphis***
Oregon***
Saint Mary’s
San Francisco
UAB
Virginia
***—has won 20 games in each of the last six seasons except Liberty, which is at 18 wins heading into the Conference USA Tournament
In addition, 12 schools won at least 20 games in four of the previous five seasons and are still playing in or have yet to begin their conference tournaments.
SPEEDY’S SELECT COMPANY
Speedy Claxton was one of 13 first-year head coaches to win 20 games in his debut season in 2021-22. And now he’s just the third third-year head coach to win 20 games in his third season in 2023-24, following in the footsteps of Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd (33 wins in 2021-22, 28 wins in 2022-23 and 24 wins so far this season) and North Carolina’s Hubert Davis (29 wins in 2021-22, 20 wins in 2022-23 and 25 wins so far this season). The only other third-year head coach with a chance to record a third straight 20-win season is Indiana’s Mike Woodson, who went 21-14 and 23-12 in his first two years and has directed the Hoosiers to an 18-13 record entering the Big 10 Tournament.
SPEEDY’S ALL BY HIMSELF
Speedy Claxton established his own exclusive club Sunday, when he became the first coach in Hofstra history to win 20 games in each of his first three seasons at the helm. The only other coach to win 20 games in each of his first two seasons is Paul Lynner, who did so back in 1962-63 and 1963-64. Not too shabby.
THE DEFENSE DOESN’T REST
As you may have surmised by now, the Dutchmen won while surrendering fewer than 60 points Sunday night. The Dutchmen are 10-0 this season when allowing fewer than 60 points and have won 57 straight games when surrendering fewer than 60 points dating back to Feb. 10, 2014, when they fell to James Madison, 59-53.
A SECOND-HALF TEAM
The Dutchmen again scored more points in the second half than on the first half Sunday night, when they followed up a 35-point first half with a 38-point second half. The Dutchmen are now averaging 39.7 points per second half (1,270 points overall) and 34.7 points per first half (1,111 points overall). In a quirky twist, the Dutchmen’s first- and second-half averages have remained the same following the last three games. The Dutchmen have scored more points in the first half than in the second half just six times in CAA play and nine times overall this season. (These figures don’t include the nine points the Dutchmen scored in overtime of the 97-92 win over High Point on Nov. 22)
TWO TWENTY-SOMETHINGS
Darlinstone Dubar (23 points) and Tyler Thomas (20 points) each scored at least 20 points Sunday night. It was the ninth time this season two Hofstra players have scored at least 20 points and the sixth time Dubar and Thomas were the tandem, though the first time since a 69-68 loss to Campbell on Jan. 13. The Dutchmen are 5-4 this season when two players score at least 20 points. And to update a note established last season by Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov and WRHU alums Kevin Dexter and Rob Joyce, the Dutchmen now 34-16 since the start of the 2013-14 season (Joe Mihalich’s first season) when at least two players score 20 points.
DUBAR MOVIN’ ON UP
Darlinstone Dubar continued climbing the all-time Hofstra scoring list Sunday, when he scored 23 points to increase his career total to 1,317 points and leapfrog past Kenny Adeleke and Desure Buie into 19th place. Dubar is 14 points away from surpassing Dave Bell for 18th place and 28 points away from moving past Barry White for 17th place.
17.) Barry White 1,444
18.) Dave Bell 1,330
19.) DARLINSTONE DUBAR 1,317
20.) Desure Buie 1,310
21.) Kenny Adeleke 1,296
22.) TYLER THOMAS 1,288
23.) Mike Tilley 1,286
24.) Roberto Gittens 1,240
THOMAS MOVIN’ ON UP TOO
Tyler Thomas, who joined Dubar in the 1,000-point club on Jan. 25, resumed climbing the all-time Hofstra scoring list Sunday, when he scored 20 points to increase his career total to 1,288 points and move past Mike Tilley into 22nd place. Thomas is nine points away from surpassing Kenny Adeleke for 21st place and 23 points away from moving past Desure Buie for 20th place. Let’s hope tonight turns into a rough week for Buie and Adeleke on the all-time standings, shall we?
19.) DARLINSTONE DUBAR 1,317
20.) Desure Buie 1,310
21.) Kenny Adeleke 1,296
22.) TYLER THOMAS 1,288
23.) Mike Tilley 1,286
24.) Roberto Gittens 1,240
(This is the first time I’ve been tracking two 1,000-point scorers playing at the same time, which is sorta neat but also sorta depressing because in the NIL era the first time may be the last time, eat Arby’s)
D-STONE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Darlinstone Dubar reverted to his double-double form at the perfect time Sunday night, when he finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The double-double was the eighth of the season for Dubar but his first since Jan. 22, when he had 30 points and 11 rebounds in the 80-74 win over Stony Brook. Dubar entered this season with just two double-doubles in his first two seasons with the Dutchmen. He is the first Hofstra player with at least eight double-doubles in a season since Isaac Kante recorded eight double-doubles during the 2019-20 campaign.
D-STONE’S TOURNAMENT DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Darlinstone Dubar, as you may have just read, posted a double-double Sunday night, when he had 23 points and 11 rebounds. At least one Hofstra player has recorded a double-double in CAA Tournament play in six of the last seven seasons.
Rokas Gustys 12 pts/10 rebounds vs. UNC Wilmington (QFs), 3/4/18
Jacquil Taylor 16 pts/11 rebounds vs. James Madison (QFs), 3/10/19
Eli Pemberton 19 pts/12 rebounds vs. Drexel (QFs), 3/8/20
Tareq Coburn 13 pts/12 rebounds vs. Delaware (SFs), 3/9/20
Isaac Kante 14 pts/13 rebounds vs. Delaware (QFs), 3/7/21
Aaron Estrada 22 pts/10 rebounds vs. William & Mary (QFs), 3/5/23
Darlinstone Dubar 23 pts/11 rebounds vs. Delaware (QFs), 3/10/24
D-STONE’S BACK
Darlinstone Dubar’s resurgence continued with Sunday’s strong effort (once again, he had 23 points and 11 rebounds). He has scored in double figures in 31 of 32 games this season after doing so 42 times over 67 games in his first two seasons with the Dutchmen. Dubar has scored 124 points in the last six games since his streak of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts was snapped at 27 games when he was limited to nine points in a 79-77 loss to Drexel on Feb. 15.
D-STONE NEARLY PULLS THE LAETTNER
Darlinstone Dubar did a pretty nifty Christian Laettner impersonation (minus stepping on someone’s chest) Sunday night, when he scored his 23 points while going 9-of-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Dubar hit his first eight shots (including one 3-pointer) and each of his first two free throw attempts before a 3-pointer rimmed in and out with 9:36 left.
CRAZY EIGHTS
Darlinstone Dubar was perfect from inside the 3-point line Sunday night, when he was 8-of-8 on his 2-point field goal attempts. Dubar is the first Hofstra player to be perfect from inside the arc (minimum eight attempts) since Tyler Thomas was 8-of-8 on his 2-point field goal attempts in the 88-86 overtime win over Rutgers in the first round of the NIT last Mar. 14.
BACK TO THE EIGHTIES
Darlinstone Dubar finished 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the field Sunday night. It was the second time in three games Dubar has made at least 80 percent of his shots. He was 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) from the field in a 69-58 win over UNC Wilmington on Feb. 29. Prior to Dubar, the last Hofstra player to shoot at least 80 percent in two games at any point in his career was Rokas Gustys, who was 9-of-10 against James Madison in an 86-82 overtime loss on Jan, 16, 2016 and 9-of-11 against UNC Wilmington in the 80-73 overtime loss in the CAA championship game on Mar. 7, 2016. Bad times and a long time ago!
JAQUAN THE STAT-STUFFER
Jaquan Carlos, as newly minted MAAC Coach of the Year Tom Pecora (LOL Fordham) used to say about Loren Stokes, stuffed the stat sheet Sunday night, when he finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. The 18 points were tied for his third-highest single-game total behind a 19-point effort against UNC Wilmington in a 79-73 overtime loss in the CAA Tournament semifinals last Mar. 6 and his 23-point game in an 80-74 win over Stony Brook on Jan. 22. He also had 18 points against High Point in 97-92 overtime win on Nov. 22.
In addition, the solid all-around game Sunday marked the sixth time this season Carlos has finished with at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists and the 10th time he’s done so in the last two seasons. That’s tied with Justin Wright-Foreman for the third-most such games among Hofstra players since the 2010-11 season, the start of the Play Index era at College Basketball Reference, behind only Juan’ya Green (23) and Aaron Estrada (17).
CARLOS KEEPS CRACKING HIS SLUMP
Jaquan Carlos continued emerging from his slump Sunday night, when he finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Carlos has 67 points, 36 rebounds and a whopping 50 assists in his last six games after collecting just 40 points, 27 rebounds and 29 assists in his previous six games from Jan. 27-Feb. 15.
TYLER THOMAS THE THIRD OPTION?
Hey, that’ll work. Tyler Thomas had an off-game by his standards Sunday night, when he scored 20 points while going 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from the field, including 3-of-9 from 3-point land. The overall shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage were each the lowest for Thomas since Jan. 25, when he was 4-of-17 (23.5 percent from the field) and 1-of-10 from 3-point land in a 64-55 win over William & Mary.
TENS AND TWENTIES FOR TYLER
Even in the midst of a quiet shooting game, Tyler Thomas still finished with 20 points Sunday night. Thomas has scored in double figures in 24 straight games, 54 of his last 56 games and 62 times overall in the last two seasons. The 20-point effort also marked the 22nd time this season he has scored at least 20 points and the 32nd time he’s done so in the last two seasons.
PUTTIN’ ON THE FRITZ
Jacco Fritz was limited to 22 minutes by first-half foul trouble Sunday night, when he scored six points while hitting all three of his field goal attempts. It was the fourth time this season Fritz has been perfect from the field and the first time since Jan. 13, when he was 4-of-4 in the 69-68 loss to Campbell.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov had one point and two rebounds in 36 minutes Sunday night, when the Dutchmen improved to 12-3 since he moved into the starting lineup. Plotnikov is averaging 8.3 points and 2.6 rebounds over 30 minutes per game as a starter after averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 reboudns over 14 minutes per game in his first 13 appearances of the season.
ONE IS NOT JUST A SONG BY METALLICA OR U2
German Plotnikov scored one point Sunday, when he split a pair of free throws with 7:28 left in the first half. Plotnikov is the first Hofstra player to score exactly one point in a game since KiJan Robinson had one point in the 62-57 win over Iona on Dec. 6.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
Silas Sunday played 18 key minutes Sunday night, when he finished with five points and two rebounds while filling in for Jacco Fritz. Sunday played just 16 minutes combined in the final three games of the regular season, a span in which he was scoreless with five rebounds. In addition, Silas went 3-for-4 from the free throw line after entering the game just 1-of-3 from the line all season. Quirky!
SEVEN WISHES?
Bryce Washington’s quiet stretch continued Sunday night, when he had two rebounds and didn’t attempt a shot in eight minutes. He has gone scoreless in three consecutive games in which he’s played for the first time since Dec. 29, 2022-Jan. 11. 2023 when he went scoreless in three straight games. The Dutchmen are now 8-2 in the last nine games in which Washington scores fewer than seven points after going 0-8 when he scored fewer than seven points as a starter this season.
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.
BACK IN THE SEMIS
The Dutchmen are in the CAA semifinals for the second straight season, the fifth time in the last six seasons, the seventh time in the last 10 seasons and the 11th time since joining the league prior to the 2001-02 season. Pretty good run! The seven semifinal appearances in a 10-year span are the most by a CAA school since Northeastern reached the semifinals eight times from 2012-21.
Hofstra fell in the semifinals in 2002, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023, reached the title game before losing in 2006, 2016 and 2019 and, of course, won it all in 2020.
This is the Dutchmen’s 16th trip to the conference semifinals dating back to 1994. Hofstra fell in the America East semifinals in 1998 and 1999 and won it all in the ECC in 1994 and in the America East in 2000 and 2001.
SCOUTING STONY BROOK
The Seawolves, under fifth-year head coach Geno Ford, advanced to the semifinals by overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit to upset Drexel, 91-88, in double overtime in the third quarterfinal Sunday night. Aaron Clarke (27 points) and Chris Maidoh (26 points) each set career-highs for scoring in the instant classic. Stony Brook, which improved to 19-14, earned the no. 7 seed by finishing 10-8 in CAA play. The Seawolves began tourney play Saturday by beating 10th-seeded Northeastern, 75-65.
The Dutchmen and Seawolves had one common opponent in non-conference play. The Dutchmen beat St. Joseph’s (NY) 101-48 on Nov. 6, four days before the Seawolves earned a 91-50 win over the local Division III foe.
In CAA regular season play, both teams swept Northeastern, won their lone meetings against UNC Wilmington, Not Twitter Guy and North Carolina A&T and lost their only games against Campbell. The Dutchmen swept Hampton, whom Stony Brook beat in the lone meeting between the teams, and split with Drexel, which beat the Seawolves in the lone regular season clash. Hofstra won its lone meeting with William & Mary, whom Stony Brook swept, and lost to Monmouth, which split with the Seawolves. The Dutchmen beat Delaware, which split with Stony Brook and defeated Towson, who beat the Seawolves. Hofstra was swept by Charleston, which beat Stony Brook.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 108th at KenPom.com. They’ve maintained their KenPom.com positioning or moved up following each of the last eight games following a nine-game span in which they fell or stayed the same following each game. College basketball, the best way to drive yourself insane. The Seawolves, who were picked to finish ninth, are ranked 176th.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank fourth in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (111.3 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (102.6 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 65.7 possessions per 40 minutes, the ninth-most in the league. The Seawolves rank fifth in the CAA in offensive efficiency (108.7 points per 100 possessions) and fifth in defensive efficiency (104.7 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 67.4 possessions per 40 minutes, the fifth-most in the league. That’s consistent!
Graduate student Tyler Stephenson-Moore, who was named to the all-CAA second team, leads the Seawolves with 16.1 points per game. Graduate student Aaron Clarke, who played four seasons at Sacred Heart and spent three seasons as teammates with Tyler Thomas, is averaging 14.0 points per game. Graduate student Keenan Fitzmorris, who began his career at Stanford, is averaging 10.9 points per game. Sophomore guard Andre Snoddy, who played his first two seasons at Central Connecticut, leads Stony Brook with 7.2 rebounds per game while graduate student Chris Maidoh, who played four seasons at Fairfield, is averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts a 74-69 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 14-17 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. STONY BROOK
Hofstra is 28-6 all-time against Stony Brook, including 10-2 since the series resumed in 2014. The Dutchmen swept the regular season series for the second straight year this year, when Darlinstone Dubar tied a career-high by scoring 30 points in an 80-74 win out east on Jan. 22 before Tyler Thomas hit a semi-miraculous jumper in the final second to cap a 13-point comeback in a 72-71 win at the Arena on Feb. 1.
Hofstra is 46-40-2 in all sports against Stony Brook since the two schools began scheduling each other again in the spring of 2014, including 42-29-2 since the 2016-17 school year began.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Your coach didn’t score 2,000 points in college bias! (But Geno Ford’s 1,752 points at Ohio University are pretty damn good anyway)
Kirk Cousins isn’t going to play for any of your former coaches this upcoming season bias! (Cousins signed today with the Falcons, because everyone knows the cool kids play for Raheem Morris)
Why can’t the Mets get World Series winners like Travis Jankowski bias! (Oh Mets, will you ever stop Metsing?)
We’ve won as many football games since the start of the school year as you bias! (I know this was used prior to both regular season games but I’m sorry, facts are facts)
