Dartmouth Drops Ivy Opener at Harvard, 76-47

Saturday, January 9

Cambridge, Mass.

2:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

3-11, 0-1Ivy

Harvard

12-3, 1-0Ivy

Dartmouth

Harvard

Ivy Drought Ends in 48-44 Victory Over Columbia

1/9/2010 4:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Keith Wright scored 22 points, 16 in the first half, to lead host Harvard to a 76-47 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion in the Ivy League opening game. The Crimson (12-3, 1-0 Ivy) also got 12 points from Christian Weber and 11 more from Jeremy Lin. Dartmouth (3-11, 0-1 Ivy), playing its first game since the resignation of head coach Terry Dunn, got a team-high 12 points from junior Ronnie Dixon, including a pair of three-pointers.

After hitting six of their first nine shots while taking a 12-11 lead, the Big Green struggled with their stroke the rest of the game, finishing with just 19 field goals in 55 attempts (34.5 percent). That figure was a stark contrast to Harvard's 55.2 percent accuracy from the floor (32-of-58) with 50 points scored in the paint; Dartmouth had just 22 in the lane.

Consecutive hoops by sophomore Josh Riddle, followed by two more from sophomore point guard Jabari Trotter, allowed Dartmouth to take that early lead with less than seven minutes gone from the clock. But after calling a timeout, the Crimson responded with 11 straight points (with four layups), to take their first double-digit lead of the game at 22-12.

Dixon broke the run with a three-pointer, and after another Wright layup, Dixon launched a deep three with the shot clock winding down, making it 24-18 with 7:09 to play. That Dixon triple would be the last Dartmouth field goal of the half.

Harvard finished the half on a 14-4 run, scoring its last 10 points on layups, to take a 38-22 lead into the locker room. The only Big Green points in that span came at the free throw line — three by freshman R.J. Griffin and one by Trotter.

In the second half, Dartmouth took charge for the first four minutes, getting a pair of putbacks and a three-pointer while scoring nine of the first 11 points, cutting the deficit back to single digits at 40-31. That turned out to be the Big Green's last gasp as Harvard built upon its lead, beginning with a long jumper and a dunk by Dee Giger.

With the score sitting at 51-37, the Crimson scored seven straight points on an Oliver McNally trifecta and dunks by Wright and Lin. The lead reached as much 32 with 2:29 remaining after Webster picked up a steal and went the length of the court for a layup. Dixon brought the final score back under 30 with his final two baskets of the day.

Dartmouth committed a season-high 20 turnovers and was outrebounded by Harvard, 36-27. Both sides registered quite a few blocks, with the Crimson swatting 10 and the Big Green seven.

Dartmouth does not play again for nine days when St. Francis (N.Y.) comes to Leede Arena on Jan. 18 for a game at 7 p.m. Harvard has two weeks off due to final exams, and will play the Big Green again in its next contest, a 7 p.m. tip on Jan. 23 in Hanover.