If only the rest of us were this lucky to find a ship broadcasting Monday night's game.
If there’s no video or audio proof a game happened, did anyone actually win it? Why, yes, yes the Flying Dutchmen did win Monday night, when they traveled back in time to a less online time and beat Norfolk State 80-67.
For the first time since the Florida State game — six games ago, nobody ever said I was consistent in anything except my undiagnosed ADHD! — we’ll break out the postgame boilerplate material 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 Norfolk State Keep It Perky!
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Cruz Davis and KiJan Robinson scored 20 points apiece while Jean Aranguren (19 points) and Michael Graham (11 points) also got into double figures as the Flying Dutchmen led for the final 30-plus minutes. The Dutchmen scored eight in a row following a game-opening basket by Norfolk State, after which the Spartans went on a 14-7 run in which they took a pair of leads. Davis had seven points in the 12-3 run that put the Dutchmen ahead for good. The Dutchmen led 37-31 at the half and Norfolk State got within three points at 39-36 before another 12-3 run for the Dutchmen extended their lead into double figures for good. A pair of free throws by Davis with 9:58 left gave the Dutchmen their biggest lead at 64-45 before they cruised (heh) to the victory. Davis (5-for-6) and Robinson (4-for-9) combined to shoot 11-of-15 from 3-point land while Davis added four assists, two steals and two rebounds. Aranguren led the Dutchmen with seven rebounds and six assists in another solid all-around effort. Graham (5-for-5) was perfect from the field and pulled down six rebounds. German Plotnikov had two points in 31 minutes in his first start of the season in place of TJ Gadsden, who didn’t play. Jaquan Sanders’ struggles continued as he was scoreless in a season-low 12 minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Norfolk State, 12/9)
3: Jean Aranguren
2: Cruz Davis
1: KiJan Robinson
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 22
Cruz Davis 16
Jaquan Sanders 9
KiJan Robinson 8
Michael Graham 4
Khalil Farmer 3
Eric Parnell 2
TJ Gadsden 2
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! That’s a bummer but 80-67 felt like a fairly common score and it is indeed at least the fourth time the Dutchmen have won by that score. The Dutchmen’s previous 80-67 victory was a triumph over Drexel in the CAA Tournament quarterfinals on Mar. 5, 2016.
The Dutchmen have recorded three unicorn score victories this season and 56 unicorn score victories since the start of the 2018-19 season, when we first started tracking unicorn scores.
2024-25: Three 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?
KiJan Robinson’s breakout season continued as he joined the Keith Hernandez Club Monday night, when he drained the go-ahead 3-pointer to put the Dutchmen ahead for good at 18-16 with 10:33 left in the first half. It’s the first time this season a Keith Hernandez has been recorded via a 3-pointer and the first time since Darlinstone Dubar did so in a 69-58 win over UNC Wilmington on Feb. 29.
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)
Cruz Davis tie-breaking layup vs. Rice, 11/29/24 (:59 left OT)
Michael Graham tie-breaking layup vs. Arkansas State, 12/1/24 (:00 left 2H)
Jean Aranguren tie-breaking layup vs. St. Joseph’s, 12/6/24 (19:30 left 1H)
KiJan Robinson go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Norfolk State, 12/9/24 (10:33 left 1H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 4
KiJan Robinson 1
Michael Graham 1
Cruz Davis 1
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 4
Warren Williams 3
Silas Sunday 2
Jacco Fritz 2
Jaquan Carlos 2
German Plotnikov 2
KiJan Robinson 1
Michael Graham 1
Cruz Davis 1
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 ELEVEN GAMES
With Monday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 8-3 this season. This ties the 2024-25 team for the 14th-best record in school history through 11 games. It’s the first time the Dutchmen have opened 8-3 since 2018-19 and the 10th time overall in school history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 11 games:
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 5-6
1976-77: 8-3
1999-2000: 7-4
2000-01: 8-3
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 7-4
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 7-4
2004-05: 10-1 (most recent 10-1 start)
2005-06: 9-2 (most recent 9-2 start)
2006-07: 7-4
2015-16: 7-4
2018-19: 8-3 (most recent 8-3 start, victory marked fifth win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 6-5 (most recent 6-5 start)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 7-4
1961-62: 10-1
1962-63: 8-3
1963-64: 10-1
Some other notable 11-game starts:
2023-24: 7-4 (most recent 7-4 start)
2013-14: 3-8 (most recent 3-8 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2011-12: 4-7 (most recent 4-7 start)
2007-08: 2-9 (most recent 2-9 start)
2002-03: 1-10 (most recent 1-10 start)
2001-02: 5-6 (Tom Pecora’s first team, most recent 5-6 start, never got back to .500 again)
1994-95: 2-9 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 2-9 (VBK’s last team)
1979-80: 5-6 (Joe Harrington’s only season, under .500 for the last time)
1965-66: 6-5 (over .500 for good)
1959-60: 10-1 (Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise)
1955-56: 11-0 (most recent 11-0 start)
1951-52: 11-0 (first 11-0 start)
1940-41: 6-5 (over .500 for good)
The Dutchmen have never opened a season 0-11.
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 ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN
With Monday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 74-37 (.667) as head coach. That’s the third-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 111 games at the helm.
Butch van Breda Kolff I 77-34 (.694, 111th game was the ninth game of his fifth season in 1959-60)
Frank Reilly 76-35 (.685, 111th game was the 11th game of his fifth season in 1951-52)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 74-37 (.667, 111th game was the 11th game of his fourth season in 2024-25)
Paul Lynner 73-38 (.658, 111th game was the first game of his fifth season in 1966-67)
Joe Mihalich 60-51 (.541, 111th game was the 10th game of his fourth season in 2016-17)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 59-52 (.532, 111th game was the 26th game of his fourth season in 1991-92)
Dick Berg 56-55 (.505, 111th game was the first game of his fifth season in 1984-85)
Roger Gaeckler 52-59 (.468, 111th game was the ninth game of his fifth season in 1976-77)
Jay Wright 49-62 (.441, 111th game was the 29th game of his fourth season in 1997-98)
Tom Pecora 48-63 (.432, 111th game was the 21st game of his fourth season in 2004-05)
Finally a little movement as Claxton moves into sole possession of third following a season-opening loss for Lynner in his fifth year at the helm. And VBK I takes sole possession of the top spot after his ’59-60 team remained unbeaten while Reilly’s 51-52 team suffers its first loss. And there’s no longer a tie for last between perpetual slackers Jay Wright and Tom Pecora following Wright’s win and Pecora’s loss in their 111th games at the helm. Perpetual slackers!
Also, in a quirky bit of quirkiness, game no. 111 marked the first game of the fifth season for both Lynner and Berg, who coached 18 years apart.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment