HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth men's basketball head coach
David McLaughlin today announced his team's
schedule for the 2016-17 season, which features trips to Boston College, Rhode Island and Old Dominion. Local rivals New Hampshire and Vermont also dot the slate before the Big Green compete for a berth in the first-ever Ivy League Tournament in March.
The season will begin on Friday, Nov. 11 in Kingston, Rhode Island, with a matchup against the Rams for the first meeting between the two schools on the hardwood in 30 years. Dartmouth has defeated Rhode Island in two of the three previous encounters, though the Rams did take a 73-64 decision on a neutral court in that last game on Nov. 29, 1986.
Four days later on Nov. 15, the Big Green will host Fairfield in their home opener. Last year the Stags handed Dartmouth a 97-85 defeat on their home court, and now the Big Green are looking to return the favor.
Following a break for fall exams, Dartmouth will play three times in the final five days of November, hosting Marist before taking a trip to Virginia to take on Longwood and Old Dominion. The Big Green open up December on the road as well with games at ACC foe Boston College (Dec. 3) and Twin State-rival Vermont (Dec. 7).
The return to Leede Arena to square off against Maine on Dec. 10 will be brief with Dartmouth traveling around the Northeast for games at Hartford (Dec. 13), LIU Brooklyn (Dec. 18) and Bryant (Dec. 22). But the Big Green will get to usher out 2016 with a rivalry game on New Year's Eve against the only other Division I school in the state, New Hampshire.
The most exotic opponent of the year, Cal State Bakersfield, will arrive in Hanover for the first game of the new year on Jan. 3, which also closes out the non-conference portion of the schedule.
For the 30th consecutive year, Dartmouth will begin its trek through the Ivy League against Harvard with the Crimson coming to Leede Arena first on Jan. 7 before the Green travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts, two weeks later. Other home weekends will be Feb. 3-4 (Princeton and Penn), Feb. 17-18 (Cornell and Columbia) and Feb. 24-25 (Brown and reigning Ivy League champion Yale).
With the addition of the Ivy League Tournament this year, the top four teams in the conference standings will converge in Philadelphia at The Palestra over the weekend of March 11-12 to determine which team earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Last year, Dartmouth was 10-18 overall and finished sixth in the Ivy League with a 4-10 record. Four of the five starters return to the fold, including the last two Ivy League Rookies of the Year in junior
Miles Wright and sophomore
Evan Boudreaux.
Season tickets are on sale now at the Dartmouth Athletics Ticket Office. Call 603-646-2466 to reserve your seats today.