Big Green Suffer Third Straight Loss in 76-56 Defeat at UNH

Saturday, December 19

Durham, N.H.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-6

New Hampshire

7-4

Dartmouth

New Hampshire

Big Green Suffer Third Straight Loss in 76-56 Defeat at UNH

12/19/2015 2:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Box Score (HTML)

By: Dartmouth

DURHAM, N.H. — Host New Hampshire held Dartmouth to a season-low 28.1 percent field goal percentage while hitting half of its own shots to win the in-state rivalry game on Saturday afternoon at Lundholm Gymnasium, 76-56. Tanner Leissner had 19 points while Ronnel Jordan added 17 to lead the Wildcats (7-4) to their second straight win in the series.

Freshman Guilien Smith was the lone player for the Big Green (3-6) to reach double figures with 12 off the bench as fellow rookie and Dartmouth's leading scorer and rebounder Evan Boudreaux was limited to five points and four boards as he fouled out in just 12 minutes of action. But a 13-minute stretch without a field goal spanning the two halves put the Green in a hole from which they could not climb out.

Leissner hit 6-of-9 field goals with a pair of three-pointers and 5-of-8 at the foul line to account for his game-high 19 points. Jordan was nearly as accurate, draining 7-of-11 from the floor with a triple and both free throws. New Hampshire also dominated the glass with a 47-31 rebounding advantage, led by Iba Camara with 12 caroms to his credit.

The game began well enough as Dartmouth took an early 5-2 lead on a driving finger roll by sophomore Miles Wright and a Boudreaux three-pointer. But the Wildcats scored the next 14 points, including a three-pointer by Leissner, before Smith could break the six-and-a-half-minute run with a triple of his own.

Smith helped cut the deficit back down to six at 20-14 thanks to consecutive layups. Even when Pat McNamara popped a trey for UNH, Boudreaux backed his way in for a layup, keeping the Big Green within seven with 6:45 to play in the half.

But that was the last Dartmouth field goal until well into the second half, and Boudreaux headed to the bench a few seconds later when he was whistled for his third foul. New Hampshire closed the half on a 13-3 run, capped by an off-balance three-pointer by Daniel Dion with the clock winding down, taking a 36-19 advantage into the locker room.

Less than five minutes into the second half, the Wildcats enjoyed their largest lead of the afternoon when Jordan scored on a putback to make the score 44-20. Junior Mike Fleming finally drilled a three-pointer for Dartmouth more than six minutes into the stanza, ending the 21-4 scoring swing between the two halves.

The Big Green began to utilize a full-court press with mixed results, forcing some turnovers and scoring chances as UNH turned the ball over 18 times in the game leading to 19 Dartmouth points. But the closest the Green could come was within 15 points, 64-49, when sophomore Cameron Smith converted a pair of foul shots with five minutes to play.

The next seven points fell through the Wildcats' basket, and the game ended with Jordan trading three-pointers with Fleming.

The two teams combined to commit 50 fouls and attempt 51 free throws, with Dartmouth enjoying slightly better success at the line (18-of-23, .783 compared to 17-of-28, .607). That slight disparity mattered not as UNH was 26-of-52 from the floor to a woeful 16-of-57 for the Big Green.

Dartmouth, which has lost its last three games — all on the road — return home to Leede Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 22 when it hosts Longwood at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live via Big Green Insider on the Ivy League Digital Network with Jay Burnham calling the action. New Hampshire also has one more game before Christmas by traveling to Boston University on Monday, Dec. 21 for a tip-off at 7 p.m.

Notes: Dartmouth collected just three assists, its fewest since the 2008-09 season when it had three in two games — one a 66-63 win over Princeton, the other a 68-59 loss to New Hampshire … freshman Michael Stones scored his first collegiate point when he hit the second of two free throws with just under two minutes to play … all 17 players on the Big Green roster saw action for the second time in the last three games … senior captain Tommy Carpenter matched a career-high with seven rebounds ... senior Connor Boehm had his streak of 69 straight games with at least one field goal come to an end. It was also his first start without a field goal since the second one of his career at Arizona State, 75 starts ago.