California Dreaming; Big Green Take On Stanford on Saturday

DARTMOUTH (3-3) at
STANFORD (3-3)
MAPLES PAVILION, STANFORD, CALIF.
SATURDAY, DEC. 12, 2015 • 7 P.M. (PST)
Television: Pac-12 Network
All-Time Series: Cardinal lead 5-1
Last Meeting: Dec. 22, 2004 — Stanford 71, Dartmouth 54

Rematch of 1942 NCAA Title Game
•   Riding a modest two-game win streak, Dartmouth heads out West for two games, first with Stanford followed by Cal State Bakersfield.
• This game is a rematch of the 1942 NCAA Championship game, the first of two appearances in the title game for the Big Green. The Cardinal handled Dartmouth, 53-38, to win the crown.
•   In the last two games, the Big Green have trailed for a combined total of just 1:23 in picking up victories against Hartford and Maine, a pair of America East schools.
•   The offense has perked up in the two wins, averaging 76.5 points while shooting 48.3 percent from the floor.
•   Sophomore Miles Wright is the third-leading scorer in the Ivy League at 16.3 ppg, but over the last four that average is a stellar 22.3, including a Leede Arena-record 39 points on Nov. 29 and a game-high 19 points at Maine on Wednesday.
•   Right on Wright's heels is freshman Evan Boudreaux, who provides 16.0 ppg as well as 9.0 rpg, third in the conference. On Wednesday, the rookie registered his second double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
•   The third wheel of the Big Green Big Wheel is senior Connor Boehm, who has scored in double figures in five of the six games while shooting 52.8 percent and grabbing 6.0 boards a night.
•   Dartmouth is the second-most accurate free throw shooting team in the Ivy League at 70.8 percent, but has made fewer three-pointers per game than its Ancient Eight brethren at 5.0.

Series vs. Stanford
•   It has been 11 years since Dartmouth last played the Cardinal, a game Stanford won, 71-54, to improve to 5-1 in the all-time series.
•   The Big Green won the initial encounter during the 1938-39 season, defeating Stanford by one point in Palo Alto, 48-47.
•   Dartmouth is 3-20 against current Pac-12 schools with the victories coming against Oregon in 1971 (92-82), USC in 1955 (61-57) and Stanford.
•   Paul Cormier is 0-3 against the Pac-12 teams, having lost twice to Arizona State and once to California, all while coaching the Big Green.

Scouting the Cardinal
•   Stanford will have to shake off some rust after not playing for 15 days due to final exams.
•   The Cardinal snapped a three-game skid before turning to their studies, besting Arkansas on Nov. 27 by a 69-66 final.
•   The three losses were all by at least 14 points against SMU, Saint Mary's (Calif.) and Villanova.
•   The top two scorers for Stanford are Marcus and Rosco Allen (no relation, though Marcus' twin brother Malcolm is also on the team) at 14.0 and 12.8 ppg, respectively. All three were in the starting lineup once, that in the loss to Saint Mary's.
•   In the win over Arkansas, Rosco Allen posted 25 points and nine rebounds as the Cardinal rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit.
•   Stanford shoots even fewer three-pointers than the Big Green with 4.3 made per game, more than 40 percent of which have been by Rosco Allen.
•   The Cardinal has done a good job of getting to the foul line, attempting nearly 30 per game, but are making just 63.1 percent.
•   Reid Travis (12.7 ppg) and Dorian Pickens (11.0) also average in double figures, while Travis, R. Allen and Michael Humphries combined to snare over 20 rebounds a game.
•   Johnny Dawkins (Duke '86) is in his eighth season as the Stanford head coach and boasts a record of 144-103. He was a two-time consensus All-American and played nine seasons in the NBA.

Aiming for Better Than .500
A Dartmouth win over Stanford would not only be the Big Green's first over a team from one of the power-five conferences since a 64-51 victory against Texas A&M on Dec. 17, 1989, but would also boost the team over .500 for the first time since opening the 2013-14 campaign 7-6.

Double-Doubles Becoming a Norm
With Evan Boudreaux's 18 points and season-high 13 rebounds in the win at Maine, Dartmouth has had a player record a double-double for five straight games — two by Boudreaux, two by Connor Boehm and one by Miles Wright. The Big Green had a total of six double-doubles all last year, and three the year before that. And the last time Dartmouth had even three straight games with a double-double came in February of 2012.

Carpenter's Helpers
Senior captain Tommy Carpenter matched his career high with five assists in the 79-69 victory at Maine, while fellow senior Kevin Crescenzi also had five dimes to set a personal best. Carpenter distributed his in just 16 minutes of action and without committing a turnover to boot. Dartmouth finished the game with 18 assists, tying the season high set in the win over LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 29.

McDonnell Gets It Done
Senior Brandon McDonnell made a case for more playing time with his 17-point performance off the bench in the 74-65 win over Hartford on Dec. 5. The forward came up one point shy of his career high in just 16 minutes of action, hitting 6-of-10 shots and all five free throws while adding seven boards to his ledger.

On the Rebound
After a tough five-point loss to Vermont, ending the Big Green's modest four-game home win streak, Dartmouth rebounded — literally — to defeat Hartford, 74-65. As a team the Green grabbed 51 caroms, its most in three years. Not only did Connor Boehm have a game-high 11, but Kevin Crescenzi added a career-high nine, Miles Wright had eight, and Brandon McDonnell and Evan Boudreaux each had seven while the Hawks, which managed just 28, did not have a player with more than six.

Besting a Three-Point Barrage
Dartmouth was able to knock off Hartford on Dec. 5 despite the fact that the Hawks drained a dozen three-point shots that night. It isn't often the Big Green win a game when their opponent hits at least 10 three-pointers, let alone 12. The last time Dartmouth defeated an opponent with 12 triples was on Nov. 23, 1999 in a 112-97 triumph over Keene State. The Green were actually 4-3 that season when the opponent hit at least 10, but since then they are just 8-44.

Making the Most of an Opportunity
Last year as a freshman, Cameron Smith played a total of 53 minutes while scoring eight points in 16 games. Given his first chance to start on Dec. 5 against Hartford, he made the most of his opportunity, playing 33 minutes and tallying 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The 6-1 guard also snagged four rebounds, dished out an assist, stole the ball twice and even blocked two shots.

Here Comes the Boehm
Eh, that's close enough to “boom” to make it work. The double-double senior Connor Boehm posted against Hartford on Dec. 5 (15 points, 11 rebounds) was his second this season and the sixth of his career. He is also on pace to become the 28th player in program history to score 1,000 points in a career. If his scoring remains steady, he should reach the milestone shortly after the Ivy League season gets underway.

Schedules