Here comes Jean Aranguren...
Ho hum. Another day, another higher-conference foe vanquished. The Flying Dutchmen remained unbeaten Saturday night, when they produced another last-second defensive stand — this one in overtime — to outlast Massachusetts 75-71.
As will hopefully become the custom this season (albeit not nearly two days after the game, ahem), I’m going to continue breaking out the postgame boilerplate material — recap, 3 Stars, the Dutchmen’s record through however many games and Speedy Claxton’s standing with previous Hofstra coaches through however many games, plus the unicorn score and Keith Hernandez bits — in a separate Keep It Perky while saving the individual news and notes and preview of the next game for, well, the next one.
As always, for a reminder of how Keep It Perky came to be as a concept and a name (shout out Jess K.), click here for the inaugural Keep It Perky from the win over Stony Brook on Feb. 1. And for now…the UMass Keep It Perky!
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Jean Aranguren (20 points, 11 rebounds) posted his first career double-double and opened overtime with six unanswered points for the Dutchmen, who frittered away a 13-point first-half lead and fell behind in the final minute of regulation before forcing the extra session thanks to a timely free throw miss by UMass’ Jaylen Curry. The Dutchmen led by at least five points for the final 14:41 of the first half and kept the Minutemen at bay (heh, that’s a good geographical pun) in the second half until Rahsool Diggins’ 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run and tied the score at 54-54 with 6:10 left. Jaquan Sanders scored five straight points before UMass scored seven of the next nine points and took its lone lead at 62-61 on Diggins’ 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining. The teams traded turnovers before the Dutchmen took the FRED BROWN BIAS FOREVER lead on Aranguren’s layup. Silas Sunday fouled Curry with three seconds left YOU’RE ABOUT TO FIRE YOUR FOOTBALL COACH BIAS but Curry missed the second free throw after draining the first. Aranguren was fouled two seconds after the overtime opening tip and hit both free throws to begin his decisive run. UMass responded with five straight points but Michael Graham’s putback with 58 seconds left extended the Dutchmen’s lead to 71-68. Aranguren blocked a layup by Nate Guerengomba and subsequently hit one of two free throws, after which Curry drained a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left. Sanders split a pair of free throws 10 seconds later and Curry missed a layup with four seconds to go. TJ Gadsden was fouled with under a second left and iced the win with two free throws. Aranguren scored 15 of his points after halftime while Cruz Davis (21 points, six rebounds four assists) had 11 first-half points before battling some foul trouble in the second half. Gadsden snapped his shooting slump by scoring nine points — including seven in the first six minutes — and pulling down a team-high 12 rebounds. KiJan Robinson scored all eight of his points in the first half while Sanders scored all nine of his points after halftime.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. UMass, 11/16)
3: Jean Aranguren
2: Cruz Davis
1: TJ Gadsden
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 12
Cruz Davis 6
Jaquan Sanders 5
TJ Gadsden 1
Gadsden breaks up the Aranguren-Davis-Sanders monopoly, though Aranguren might just be channeling his inner Charles Jenkins or Justin Wright-Foreman here.
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! But unlike last Wednesday, this repeat score is not pushing 80 years old. The Dutchmen most recently earned a 75-71 win when they came back to edge Northeastern on Feb, 8, 2020.
The Dutchmen have recorded two unicorn score victories this season and 55 unicorn score victories since the start of the 2018-19 season, when we first started tracking unicorn scores.
2024-25: Two unicorn scores
2023-24: Seven unicorn scores
2022-23: 12 unicorn scores
2021-22: 11 unicorn scores
2020-21: Zero unicorn scores (really)
2019-20: 13 unicorn scores
2018-19: 10 unicorn scores
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?
Jean Aranguren continued to come through in the clutch Saturday, when he hit the tie-breaking free throw to give the Dutchmen the lead for good at 64-63 with 4:58 left in overtime. It’s the third overtime Keith Hernandez in history (or at least since the 2022-23 season) and obviously the earliest overtime Keith Hernandez. It’s also the second straight Keith Hernandez and the third this season for Aranguren, who already ranks amongst the top five all-time in Keith Hernandezes (or at least since the 2022-23 season)!
Jean Aranguren tie-breaking layup vs. Old Westbury, 11/4/24 (19:47 left 2H)
Silas Sunday go-ahead layup vs. Iona, 11/8/24 (17:49 left 1H)
Jean Aranguren go-ahead layup vs. Seton Hall, 11/13/24 (2:19 left 2H)
Jean Aranguren tie-breaking free throw vs. UMass, 11/16/24 (4:58 left OT)
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 3
Silas Sunday 1
ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since the 2022-23 season)
Tyler Thomas 16
Darlinstone Dubar 14
Aaron Estrada 4
Jean Aranguren 3
Warren Williams 3
Silas Sunday 2
Jacco Fritz 2
Jaquan Carlos 2
German Plotnikov 2
Bryce Washington 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 FOUR GAMES
As you may have gathered by now, the Dutchmen are 4-0. This ties the 2024-25 team for the best record in school history through four games! Twelve other teams began 4-0, most recently the 2022-23 squad. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through four games:
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 2-2
1976-77: 3-1
1999-2000: 2-2
2000-01: 4-0
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 2-2
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 1-3
2004-05: 4-0
2005-06: 2-1
2006-07: 1-3
2015-16: 3-1
2018-19: 2-2
2022-23: 4-0 (most recent 4-0 start)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 2-2
1961-62: 3-1
1962-63: 2-2
1963-64: 3-1
Other notable four-game starts:
2021-22: 1-3 (most recent 1-3 start)
2017-18: 3-1 (most recent 3-1 start)
2013-14: 1-3 (Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2010-11: 1-3 (Mo Cassara’s first team)
2002-03: 1-3 (loss in fourth game — to future Ton Pecora employer Quinnipiac — was first loss in eight-game losing streak, tied for the longest of the Tom Pecora era)
2001-02: 3-1 (Tom Pecora’s first team)
1994-95: 1-3 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 0-4 (VBK’s last team, most recent 0-4 start)
1982-83: 4-0
1974-75: 2-2 (at .500 for the last time)
1973-74: 0-4
1972-73: 2-2 (at .500 for the last time)
1969-70: 0-4
1960-61: 4-0
1959-60: 4-0
1955-56: 4-0 (Butch van Breda Kolff improves to 4-0)
1954-55: 4-0
1952-53: 4-0
1951-52: 4-0
1948-49: 4-0
1947-48: 4-0 (Frank Reilly improves to 4-0)
1944-45: 2-2 (at .500 for the last time)
1936-37: 2-2 (program is at all-time .500 for the first time — albeit after just four games)
This feature is inspired by Mets superfan and blogger Greg Prince, who measures how the current Mets compare, record-wise, to previous teams through the same point in the season.
NUMBER TEN THROUGH ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR
With Saturday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 70-34 (.673) as head coach. That’s tied for the best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 103 games at the helm.
Butch van Breda Kolff I 70-34 (.670, 104th game was the second game of his fifth season in 1959-60)
Frank Reilly 70-34 (.670, 104th game was the fourth game of his fifth season in 1951-52)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 70-34 (.673, 104th game was the fourth game of his fourth season in 2024-25)
Paul Lynner 69-35 (.670, 104th game was the 20th game of his fourth season in 1965-66)
Joe Mihalich 55-49 (.534, 104th game was the third game of his fourth season in 2016-17)
Dick Berg 52-52 (.505, 104th game was the 22nd game of his fourth season in 1983-84)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 52-52 (.505, 104th game was the 19th game of his fourth season in 1991-92)
Roger Gaeckler 47-57 (.447, 104th game was the second game of his fifth season in 1976-77)
Jay Wright 45-59 (.427, 104th game was the 21st game of his fourth season in 1997-98)
Tom Pecora 44-60 (.427, 104th game was the 14th game of his fourth season in 2004-05)
The four-way tie for first become a three-way tie for first as Paul Lynner at least momentarily slips a game behind, Another spoiler alert: The teams directed by VBK I and Reilly are in the midst of lengthy season-opening winning streaks, so these Dutchmen need to keep winning for Claxton to retain a share of the top spot.
Dick Berg and VBK II remain tied for the fourth straight game while Jay Wright FINALLY gets out of last place by moving ahead of fellow perpetual slacker Tom Pecora. Perpetual slackers!
The records are incomplete for Jack McDonald’s first stint from 1936 through 1943 as well as the tenure of Jack Smith (1943-46).
Smith finished 27-32 in his three seasons while Mo Cassara finished 38-59 in his three seasons. 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.
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