Home for the Holidays as Big Green Host Longwood

DARTMOUTH (3-6) vs.
LONGWOOD (3-9)
LEEDE ARENA, HANOVER, N.H.
TUESDAY, DEC. 22, 2015 • 7 P.M.
Video: Ivy League Digital Network — Jay Burnham (play-by-play)
Live Stats: DartmouthSports.com
All-Time Series: Big Green lead 3-1
Last Meeting: Dec. 3, 2014 — Longwood 74, Dartmouth 73

Brief Holiday Homestand
•    Dartmouth welcomes a return to Hanover for two games during the holiday season, beginning with the Longwood Lancers on Tuesday night.
•   The Big Green lost the last three contests on their four-game road swing, most recently a 20-point defeat at in-state rival New Hampshire.
• While a freshman has been leading the team in scoring and rebounding in Evan Boudreaux, the three-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week was not the recipient of the honor this time around as guard Guilien Smith earned the award for averaging 12.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in the two games last week.
•   All three of Dartmouth's players scoring at least 10 ppg — Boudreaux, sophomore Miles Wright and senior Connor Boehm — were limited to five or fewer points in the loss to UNH.
•   Good news for Wright with the return to Leede Arena. The wing has averaged 23.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in the three home games to date.
•   Dartmouth is in need of a floor general to run the offense. The three assists for the team against the Wildcats were the fewest in a game since the 2008-09 season, and the Green rank seventh in the Ancient Eight in assists per game.
•   The defense has proved to be a nuisance for opponents, forcing nearly 16 turnovers a game and helping Dartmouth lead the Ivy League in turnover margin (+1.8).

Series vs. Longwood
•   These two teams first played four years ago and have reconvened every year since with Dartmouth holding a 3-1 advantage.
• While the Big Green have the lead in the series, the Lancers won the most recent encounter, rallying from a seven-point deficit with a minute to play to steal a 74-73 victory on their home court last year.
•   Dartmouth won the first three games by an average of 14.7 points, and the two home wins were by an average of 18 points.
•   Miles Wright led Dartmouth with 15 points in the game last year, while Malik Gill and Connor Boehm each had 14. Gill also added 10 assists for his only career double-double.
•   Cormier is 3-1 in his career against Longwood and 4-2 against teams in the Big South.

Scouting the Lancers
•   Longwood has lost nine of its last 10 games with the lone victory coming against another Ivy League school, Columbia, 70-69.
•   The last three games haven't been easy, mind you, squaring off against Richmond, Oklahoma State and George Mason, all on the road. The Lancers had a 10-point second-half lead evaporate against the Patriots, which rallied for a 75-70 victory.
•   Big man Lotanna Nwogbo leads the four starters scoring in double figures on a nightly basis at 13.9 points per game while shooting better then 50 pct.
•   A fifth offensive threat, senior wing Shaquille Johnson, rejoined the lineup for the last three games and averages 11.0 points and 7.7 rebounds.
•   Nine players on the roster have hit at least one three-pointer, with Kanayo Obi-Rapu the best deep threat with 34 triples at a 47.9 percent clip.
•   Defense has been a problem, however, as the Lancers surrender 77.6 ppg and allow opponents to shoot better than 40 percent from distance.
•   On the boards, Longwood has done exactly as well as its opponents with both grabbing 34.2 rpg.
•   Jayson Gee is in his third season as Longwood's head coach with a 22-56 record thus far. The veteran coach also spent seven years as the head man at his alma mater, Division II Charleston (W.Va.), where he posted a mark of 160-55

Guilien Smith Earns Ivy Weekly Honor
After receiving the Ivy League's Rookie of the Week honor three times in the first five weeks, Evan Boudreaux got supplanted by teammate Guilien Smith for the honor as the 6-2 guard led Dartmouth with 12.5 ppg in the two games leading up to Dec. 21 when the award was announced. Smith dropped a season-high 13 points at Cal State Bakersfield on 5-of-8 shooting with four rebounds, then led the Big Green with 12 points as the lone player in double figures in a loss at New Hampshire.

Home Sweet Home
Dartmouth is happy to be home after a 1-3 road trip, losing the last three contests. Over the last two-plus seasons, the Big Green are 18-12 (.600) in Leede Arena, including 2-1 so far this season.

In Need of a Helping Hand
In the 76-56 loss at New Hampshire on Dec. 19, Dartmouth was limited to a mere three assists on its 16 field goals. The three dimes are the fewest for the Green since Feb. 21, 2009, when it handed out a trio during a 66-63 victory over Princeton. The previous month, Dartmouth had three assists in another game as well — versus New Hampshire.

Offensive Glass Work
Senior Connor Boehm may rank 13th in the Ivy League with 5.4 rebounds per game, but he does his best glass cleaning on the offensive end as more than half (3.0) of his caroms derive from his own backboard. That figure places him third in the conference, behind only two Yalies in Justin Sears (4.2), the defending Ivy League Player of the Year, and Brandon Sherrod (3.2). At Cal State Bakersfield, four of Boehm's five rebounds came on offense. On a percentage basis as a team, Dartmouth has collected 31.6 percent of all possible offensive rebounds, also third in the league.

Making a Point
Make that 70 points. In the first nine games this season, Dartmouth has won all three games in which it has scored at least 70 points, and lost all six when it did not. In a related fact, the Big Green have shot at least 45 percent from the floor in their three victories, and only once topped even 40 percent in their six losses. The most recent outing produced a field goal percentage of just 28.1, the worst for Dartmouth since hitting 27.9 percent in a 71-49 loss at Elon on Dec. 4, 2012.

Quick Hits from UNH
•   All 17 players on the roster saw action against the Wildcats, the second time in the last three games that had occurred.
•   Freshman Michael Stones recorded his first collegiate point when he sank the second of two free throws in the final two minutes of play.
•   Senior Tommy Carpenter did not score, but did equal his career high with seven rebounds.
•   The 20-point difference was the largest margin of victory in the series for either team in over 20 years, and just the sixth margin of at least 20 points in the 66 games in the series (UNH leads 34-32).

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