Princeton and Penn Invade Leede Arena This Weekend

GAMEDAY INFORMATION vs. PRINCETON TIGERS // PENN QUAKERS
Date & Time	Friday, February 20, 7 p.m. // Saturday, February 21, 7 p.m.	Dartmouth	Stats	Princeton	Penn
Location	Hanover, N.H.	9-13, 2-6	Record	11-12, 4-3	7-14, 2-5
Arena (Capacity)	Leede Arena (2,100)	Won 1	Streak	Lost 1	Lost 3
All-Time Series	Tigers lead 146-62 // Quakers lead 150-58	62.1	Scoring	68.9	60.7
Tickets	Information	.428	FG%	.453	.431
Broadcast vs. Princeton	Big Green Insider on the Ivy League Digital Network	.343	3FG%	.378	.332
Broadcast vs. Penn	Big Green Insider on the Ivy League Digital Network	5.9	3FG/g	8.8	5.2
Logistics	Directions // Parking // Seating Chart	.643	FT%	.715	.676
Twitter	@DartmouthMBK // @DartmouthSports	+1.2	Reb Margin	-3.0	+2.3
Dartmouth Links	Home // Roster // Schedule // Stats // Notes // Live Stats	12.1	Assists	13.3	11.6
Princeton Links	Home // Roster // Schedule // Stats // Notes	13.0	TO	11.8	16.0
Penn Links	Home // Roster // Schedule // Stats // Notes	7.6	Steals	6.0	5.8

Second Time Around the League
•   Dartmouth gets an opportunity to avenge losses at Penn and Princeton at the end of January when the two come to Leede Arena this weekend to start the second half of the Ivy season.
•   The Big Green snapped a five-game skid last Saturday when it knocked off visiting Columbia, 61-49, one night after coming up just short in overtime against Cornell, 81-72.
•   For the second straight week, Miles Wright was selected as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week as he led Dartmouth in scoring against both the Lions and Big Red.
•   Dartmouth's leading scorer, Alex Mitola, dropped three three-pointers in the win over Columbia, one more than he had made in the previous four contests. He finished the game with 13 points and is averaging 12.7 a game.
•   Center Gabas Maldunas has had a resurgence on the boards of late with an average of 12.0 in the last three contests, including a season-high 15 in the loss to Cornell. He is sixth in the Ivy League at 7.0 per game.
•   The Big Green feature two of the more reliable ball handlers in the league in Mitola (2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, 2nd) and junior Malik Gill (1.8, 3rd). Gill leads the team with 70 assists as well as 32 steals.

Series vs. Princeton
•   This is the 209th game in the series that dates back to 1905. The Tigers have the edge at 146-62.
•   Since ending a personal eight-game skid against Princeton last year here at Leede Arena, the Tigers have won the last two meetings, including a 64-53 final last month in which Spencer Weisz led all players with 16 points for Princeton. Gabas Maldunas supplied 12 to lead Dartmouth.
•   Maldunas has had the most consistent success against the Tigers, averaging 12.4 points and 7.2 rebounds a game against them in his career.
•   Dartmouth is 9-18 against the Tigers in Leede Arena since the venue opened in the fall of 1987.
•   Big Green coach Paul Cormier is 5-18 versus Princeton during his collegiate coaching career.

Scouting the Tigers
•   Princeton has won eight of its last 12 contests, but has just one road win this year, that coming on Feb. 6 at Columbia.
•   Last weekend the Tigers split a home series by defeating Brown, 75-64, before falling to Yale, 81-73.
•   Princeton is shooting almost 48 percent from the floor in seven league games, leading the league in that category as well as scoring (70.9 ppg).
•   Forward Spencer Weisz tops the Tigers in scoring (12.0 ppg), three-point percentage (.414, 41 threes) and free throw percentage (.823).
•   Another forward in Hans Brase is just about as deadly at 11.5 ppg and 45 three-pointers, plus leads Princeton on the glass with 7.6 rpg.
•   The Tigers feature two more three-point marksmen in Steven Cook (.386, 34 threes) and Clay Wilson (.405, 32 threes).
•   Princeton is solid at the line (.715) but is last in the league in rebound margin (-3.0).
•   Mitch Henderson (Princeton '98) is in his fourth year as the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward C. Green '40 Head Coach with a 69-44 record. He played in three NCAA Tournaments with the Tigers and spent 11 years as an assistant at Northwestern.

Series vs. Penn
•   Dartmouth has squared off against the Quakers 208 times previously with Penn holding a lopsided 150-58 advantage.
• The Quakers won the initial meeting this year by holding off the Green at The Palestra, 58-51. Matt Howard scored 18 for the hosts while Malik Gill came off the bench to produce a season-high 15 points while Gabas Maldunas added 14.
•   Although he has just 10 points in the last two games against Penn, Alex Mitola has averaged 13.2 points for his career thanks to a 25-point outburst in a win here at Leede Arena last year.
•   Head coach Paul Cormier is 6-17 against Penn in his collegiate coaching career.
•   Since winning four of the first five contests versus Penn in Leede Arena, Dartmouth has won just three of 21 in this building for a 7-21 record. Last year's 67-58 win was the first for the Big Green against the Quakers in Hanover since a televised 63-60 thriller on Jan. 31, 2009.

Scouting the Quakers
•   Since defeating Dartmouth last month, Penn has lost four of five, with three of those losses by at least 25 points.
•   Scoring has been at a premium for the Quakers as they average 57.1 points a game in league play, the lowest in the Ancient Eight.
•   Guard Tony Hicks is Penn's leading scorer (13.0 ppg) and tops the team with 34 three-pointers.
•   No other Quaker is averaging double figures, but Darien Nelson-Henry and Matt Howard provide 9.2 ppg, though the former was held scoreless in the first game between these two schools.
•   Both Greg Louis (57.3 FG pct.) and Mike Auger (58.8 pct.) are tough post players and average 9.4 rpg between them.
•   While Penn's shooting touch inside the arc has waned since the last meeting, its range has improved, hitting triples at a .332 clip (up from .312).
•   Head coach Jerome Allen (Penn '09) played for the Quakers from 1991-95 and became the John R. Rockwell Head Coach on Dec. 14, 2009. He sports a record of 63-99 but is 9-2 against the Big Green.

Chance for Redemption
Dartmouth did not fare too well the first time around against Penn and Princeton, falling 58-51 to the former and 64-53 to the latter. But that was on the road at two venues where the Big Green have had terrible troubles over the years. This time, the games will be played at Leede Arena where Dartmouth swept the weekend last year — 67-58 over Penn and 78-69 in overtime against Princeton.

Gabas Maldunas has averaged 12.4 points in his career against the Tigers, but John Golden is the only Big Green player to top 20 against them (21 as a freshman). And despite scoring just 10 points in the last two games combined against Penn, Alex Mitola still has the best career scoring average at 13.2 ppg, while Maldunas is at 11.0 ppg with 7.4 rpg and Connor Boehm 10.0 ppg.

Wright Rookie of the Week, Part II
One week after earning his first Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor, Miles Wright provided an encore with another performance worthy of the honor to become just the second Big Green player (Leon Pattman '07) to win the award in consecutive weeks. First, the freshman dropped 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five three-pointers on Cornell. Then he tallied 16 more by hitting 6-of-9 field goals with two more triples in a 61-49 win over Columbia. Over the last four games, Wright is averaging 19.0 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor.

Grand Gabas Reaches Milestone
Senior Gabas Maldunas entered last weekend needing 25 points to reach 1,000 in his career, and it took just about every second in the two games for him to reach four figures. He converted a free throw in the final two minutes against Columbia on Saturday to finish the game with exactly 1,000 points, becoming the first Dartmouth player to reach the milestone since Alex Barnett '09 did six years ago, and the 26th player overall. And with 11 more rebounds, he will become just the fourth Big Green player with 700 caroms in a career.

Five-Game Slide Skids to a Halt
After suffering through an 81-72 overtime defeat against Cornell last Friday, Dartmouth loved its Valentine's Day result, a 61-49 triumph over Columbia. The Big Green jumped out to a 19-2 lead, only to have the Lions … um … roar back (sorry) to briefly take a one-point lead early in the second half. But a 13-0 run over nearly nine minutes allowed Dartmouth to cruise to the victory as four players scored in double figures led by Wright with 16.

Dickinson Poetry in Blocking
With Connor Boehm unavailable against Columbia on Feb. 14 for the first time in his career, sophomore Wesley Dickinson got the nod for his first-ever start. The forward was a force on defense, swatting a career-best four field goal attempts in his 25 minutes. And while he may have scored just two points, his lone field goal was the one that put Dartmouth ahead for good early in the second half.

Honor Among Thieves
Stealing is not frowned upon in basketball, and Dartmouth has been racking up the thefts this year, especially since Ivy play began. The Big Green have swiped the ball 167 times in 22 games to date, allowing them to lead the league with 7.6 per game. That rate is more pronounced in six conference games at 9.4, easily the most in the Ancient Eight. Twice Dartmouth has stolen the ball 13 times (vs. NJIT, at Harvard), and Malik Gill leads the team with 32 pilfers with Miles Wright (31) and Gabas Maldunas (28) right behind.

Big Green Banter
•   Not only did Dartmouth hold the Lions to 49 points, but also outrebounded them, 33-20. The last opponent with 20 or less? Longwood last year in Hanover with 18 in a 20-point Big Green win.
•   Before losing to Cornell, the Big Green had won its previous two overtime contests — 58-55 against Northern Illinois on Dec. 19, and the Princeton victory last season. All three took place in Leede Arena.
•   Maldunas posted his second straight double-double (and 13th of his career) with 14 points and 12 rebounds against the Big Red, and narrowly missed out on a third with 11 and nine versus Columbia.
•   When Tommy Carpenter scored 10 points against Cornell by hitting 4-of-7 field goals and 2-of-3 foul shots, it was the first time the junior had reached double figures in his career.
•   Wright became the first Big Green player whose name doesn't rhyme with Kit-Cola with five-three-pointers in a game since John Golden drained five against Longwood on Jan. 14, 2012.

Most Telling Statistic
Dartmouth has had an up and down season, only recently posting a streak of longer than two games with the five-game slide that ended with the win over Columbia. But one statistic at the end of every game has been a solid indicator as to whether or not the Big Green won — opposing field goal percentage with the dividing line being 40 percent. When Dartmouth opponents shoot at least 40 percent, they are 12-1. When they shoot worse than 40 percent, they are 1-8.

Three-Pointers Rediscovered
Through the end of the 2014 calendar year, three-pointers were a common occurence for the Big Green having shot 36.6 percent (82-for-224) from long range with at least seven in eight of the 12 games. But once the calendar turned to 2015, triples became scarce as Dartmouth managed just 32 in 116 attempts (.276) over the next eight contests with no more than six in any one game. Thankfully the trend came to halt when the Green shooters hit 8-of-24 against Cornell before dropping 7-of-12 (season-high .583) versus Columbia.

Schedules