Dumb & Dumber was still more than 12 years from being released the last time the Dutchmen were 12-16!
We’ve now officially reached the bottoming out in Dumb & Dumber portion of the season. We keep blowing leads, we keep losing games AND OUR COACH IS GETTING HURT ON THE SIDELINES! The good times kept flowing and the losing streak hit six games Thursday night, when Monmouth overcame a 16-point first-half deficit and didn’t take the lead until the final minute of a 68-62 win.
As always, because we are gluttons for punishment, and because we’re too stubborn to stop something once we’ve started, here, for the 15th time in as many CAA games, is the postgame boilerplate material in Keep It Perky form. The individual news and news from Thursday’s loss and the Delaware preview will be posted tomorrow morning. Join me in self-flagellation, won’t you?
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
German Plotnikov (19 points) and Silas Sunday (11 points) had terrific games as they offered the type of complementary scoring the Dutchmen have lacked all season, but the inability to close out halves and games once again cropped up in another disappointing defeat. Each of the first eight players to hit the floor for the Dutchmen scored in a game-opening 36-20 run, but the Dutchmen missed their last six shots from the floor — including 3-pointers by Jaquan Sanders, Khalil Farmer and TJ Gadsden that could have extended the lead to 19 points — and were scoreless over the final five minutes as Monmouth ended the half on a 7-0 run. The Dutchmen shot just 37 percent in the second half yet kept the Hawks at bay before Michael Graham scored on consecutive possessions to give the Dutchmen a 58-51 lead with 5:28 left. But Monmouth scored on nine of its last 11 possessions, a stretch in which it went 12-of-12 from the free throw line, while the Dutchmen missed five of their final six shots and committed two turnovers while going 2-of-6 from the line. Andrew Ball, scoreless for the first 38:37, drained two free throws to tie the score with 1:23 left, after which the teams traded empty trips. Farmer was whistled for a very questionable travel on what sure looked like a held ball WHY EVEN BOTHER YELLING ABOUT BIASES ANYMORE and Ball drained the tie-breaking 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining. Jean Aranguren missed a layup and the Hawks hit four more free throws to close out a 26-of-35 outing from the charity stripe. The 19 points were a season-high for Plotnikov and one shy of his career-high while Sunday went 5-of-5 from the field. Graham scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting and added a game-high eight rebounds. Aranguren had just seven points while Cruz Davis added six points. The usual 1-2 punch combined to go just 5-of-21 from the field, including 4-of-18 from inside the 3-point line.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Monmouth, 2/20)
3: German Plotnikov
2: Silas Sunday
1: Michael Graham
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 50
Cruz Davis 38
Michael Graham 23
Jaquan Sanders 15
German Plotnikov 10
KiJan Robinson 9
TJ Gadsden 7
Silas Sunday 6
Khalil Farmer 5
Joshua DeCady 3
Eric Parnell 2
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER TWENTY-EIGHT GAMES
With Thursday’s loss, the Dutchmen fell to 12-16 this season. This ties the 2024-25 team for the 35th-best record in school history through 28 games…or the 10th-worst record in school history through 28 games. This is the first time the Dutchmen have opened 12-16 since way back in 1981-82 — when I was in third grade! — and just the second time overall in school history. This is by far the furthest back I’ve had to go to find a previous instance of the Dutchmen having a record through ‘X’ games since I started doing this. So there is that. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 28 games:
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 17-11 (win in 28th game came in ECC Tournament semifinal and marked fifth win of six-game winning streak that carried Dutchmen into the NCAAs)
1976-77: 22-6 (win in 28th game came in ECC Tournament semifinal and marked eighth win of nine-game winning streak that carried Dutchmen into the NCAAs)
1999-2000: 22-6 (win in 28th game came in America East tournament quarterfinals, most recent 22-6 start)
2000-01: 24-4 (win in 28th game came in America East tournament quarterfinals and marked 16th win in program-record, single-season 18-game winning streak, tied for best 28-game record)
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 21-7 (most recent 21-7 start, win in 28th game was seventh win of eight-game winning streak)
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 20-8
2004-05: 21-7 (win in 28th game came in CAA quarterfinals and was final win of the season)
2005-06: 23-5 (first 23-5 start, win in 28th game came in CAA quarterfinals)
2006-07: 20-8
2015-16: 20-8
2018-19: 23-5 (most recent 23-5 start)
2022-23: 20-8 (most recent 20-8 start, win in 28th game marked eighth win of 12-game winning streak that continued into the CAA Tournament)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1961-62: 24-4 (tied for best 28-game record, season ended with second-round loss in NCAAs, final game of VBK’s first stint)
1962-63: 22-6 (win in Middle Atlantic Championships sent Hofstra to NCAAs, was final win of 11-game winning streak)
1963-64: 23-5 (win in Middle Atlantic Championships sent Hofstra to NCAAs, final win of season)
The 1958-59 team, Hofstra’s first to reach the NCAA Tournament, completed its season in 27 games (20-7).
Some other notable 28-game records:
2023-24: 17-11 (most recent 17-11 start)
2021-22: 19-9 (most recent 19-9 start)
2016-17: 13-15 (most recent 13-15 start)
2014-15: 18-10 (most recent 18-10 start)
2013-14: 8-20 (most recent 8-20 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2012-13: 6-22 (only 6-22 start, worst 28-game record in school history)
2009-10: 15-13 (only 15-13 start)
2007-08: 11-17 (only 11-17 start, Antoine Agudio broke Steve Nisenson’s career scoring record in 28th game against Delaware)
2003-04: 14-14 (most recent 14-14 start, win in regular season finale was final win, last time at .500)
2002-03: 8-20 (win in CAA tournament quarterfinals was final win)
2001-02: 10-18 (most recent 10-18 start, loss in 28th game marked seventh loss of Tom Pecora-era record-tying eight-game losing streak)
1994-95: 10-18 (season ended w/loss to Drexel in NAC quarterfinals, Jay Wright’s first year)
1993-94: 8-20 (beat Troy State in ECC semifinals, VBK’s last year)
1991-92: 20-8 (won ECC semifinal for final win of season and final win of nine-game winning streak that ended in ECC title game)
1990-91: 14-14 (season ended w/loss in ECC quarterfinals)
1989-90: 13-15 (season ended w/loss in ECC quarterfinals)
1988-89: 14-14 (win in ECC quarterfinals was final win of season, last time at .500)
1986-87: 10-18 (season ended w/loss in ECC quarterfinals)
1985-86: 16-12 (only 16-12 start, won ECC quarterfinals)
1984-85: 14-14 (win in ECC quarterfinals was final win of season, last time at .500)
1983-84: 14-14 (season ended w/loss in ECC quarterfinals)
1981-82: 12-16 (only previous 12-16 start, season ended w/loss in ECC quarterfinals)
1979-80: 14-14 (lost season finale, final game for Joe Harrington)
1950-51: 18-10 (win in 28th game was final win of season and last win of six-game winning streak)
Hofstra has never been 28-0, 27-1, 26-2, 25-3, 9-19, 7-21, 5-23, 4-24, 3-25, 2-26, 1-27 or 0-28 through 28 games. Outside of those 12 records, the only 28-game record the Dutchmen haven’t posted this century is 16-12. Quirky, I guess?
Forty-two seasons were completed in fewer than 28 games:
1936-37 (10-7)
1937-38 (10-4)
1938-39 (10-8)
1939-40 (12-9)
1940-41 (13-7)
1941-42 (15-6)
1942-43 (15-6)
1943-44 (7-12)
1944-45 (8-13)
1945-46 (12-7)
1947-48 (13-6)
1948-49 (18-8)
1949-50 (17-9)
1952-53 (20-7)
1953-54 (15-9)
1954-55 (19-7)
1955-56 (22-4)
1956-57 (11-15)
1957-58 (15-8)
1958-59 (20-7)
1959-60 (23-1)
1960-61 (21-4)
1964-65 (11-14)
1965-66 (16-10)
1966-67 (12-13)
1967-68 (13-12)
1968-69 (12-13)
1969-70 (13-13)
1970-71 (18-8)
1971-72 (11-14)
1972-73 (8-16)
1973-74 (8-16)
1974-75 (11-13)
1977-78 (8-19)
1978-79 (8-19)
1980-81 (12-15)
1982-83 (18-9)
1987-88 (6-21)
1992-93 (9-18)
1995-96 (9-18)
1996-97 (12-15)
2020-21 (13-10)
Game no. 28 marks the final time in which fewer than half the previous Hofstra seasons were already completed.
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 TWENTY-EIGHT
With Thursday’s loss, Speedy Claxton fell to 78-50 (.609) as head coach. That’s the fourth-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 128 games at the helm.
Butch van Breda Kolff I 93-35 (.727, 128th game was the second game of his sixth season in 1960-61)
Frank Reilly 91-37 (.711, 128th game was the 28th game of his fifth season in 1951-52)
Paul Lynner 81-47 (.633, 128th game was the 18th game of his fifth season in 1966-67)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 78-50 (.609, 128th game was the 28th game of his fourth season in 2024-25)
Joe Mihalich 67-61 (.523, 128th game was the 27th game of his fourth season in 2016-17)
Dick Berg 65-63 (.508, 128th game was the 18th game of his fifth season in 1984-85)
Roger Gaeckler 65-63 (.508, 128th game was the 26th game of his fifth season in 1976-77)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 64-64 (.500, 128th game was the 14th game of his fifth season in 1992-93)
Tom Pecora 61-67 (.477, 128th game was the eighth game of his sixth season in 2005-06)
Jay Wright 60-68 (.469, 128th game was the 15th game of his fifth season in 1998-99)
Game no. 128 is another milestone one for Roger Gaeckler, who climbs out of the bottom three for the first time ever #Redundant and into a tie for sixth place with Dick Berg as his ’76-77 Dutchmen march towards a second straight NCAA Tournament berth. And I’m sure the school won’t almost go bankrupt while the men’s basketball program goes into a tailspin that costs Gaeckler his job just two-plus years later! The good times have never lasted very long here. Anyway! Butch van Breda Kolff just keeps winning atop the charts while Tom Pecora and Jay Wright each win their 128th game at the helm, which means Pecora remains one game ahead of perpetual slacker Wright. 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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