Men Host Maine Event at Leede Arena on Saturday

DARTMOUTH (4-5)
vs. MAINE (1-8)
Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018 | 2 PM | ESPN+
Leede Arena (2,100) | Hanover, N.H.

• I'm sure no one has ever used that line to describe hosting the Maine Black Bears in any athletic event. But the men's basketball game on Saturday afternoon is the main event on campus, though the track teams are hosting New Hampshire, Vermont and yep, you guessed it, Maine.
• Dartmouth began a four-game home stand with a 64-59 loss to Quinnipiac on Wednesday, suffering through season lows in all three shooting categories (36.9 FG pct., 27.8 3FG pct. and 50.0 FT pct.).
• Sophomore Chris Knight has been on a scoring spree of late, producing 20 points for the first time in his career against Albany on Nov. 30, then posting a career-high 23 versus Quinnipiac. He is averaging 15.6 points a game, fifth in the Ivy League.
• While Adrease Jackson has seen his scoring numbers dip of late, it has not affected his rebounding as he has had 10 boards in each of the past two games. The sophomore is fourth in the league with 7.3 rebounds a game.
• Long-distance shooting has been a big weapon for the Big Green this year, but they managed just five 3-pointers against Quinnipiac, and none from Brendan Barry. Yet he still ranks third in the league in triples per game (3.2) and second in 3-point accuracry (.558).
• Both James Foye and Ian Sistare are among the top 10 in the conference in threes per game, and both have hit more than 50 percent like Barry.

Series vs. Maine
• Dartmouth leads the overall series, 13-11, winning five of the last six meetings including a 73-66 victory in Bangor on the very same date last year.
• Taylor Johnson had a career-high 29 points in the win with Chris Knight and Brendan Barry contributing 13 and 12 points, respectively.
• The Big Green are just 5-6 against Maine at home and lost the last showdown at Leede in 2016, 73-68.
• The Big Green are 119-112 all-time against current America East schools, including a win over Albany back last week.

Scouting the Bobcats
• Maine struggled out of the gate, dropping its first eight games, though two of the defeats were in OT — 74-63 at North Texas and 63-59 at Saint Peter's.
• It took double overtime for the Black Bears to record their first win, a 75-68 thriller against a 6-1 Fordham team out of the Atlantic-10. That win ended a 15-game skid that dated back to last season.
• Maine is one of 11 teams in Division I averaging less than 60 points a game at 58.9 ppg.
• Isaiah White (14.4 ppg) and Andrew Fleming (12.1) lead the Black Bears in scoring with the former shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor, and the latter leading the team with 19 3-pointers.
• But 3-point shooting has not been a strength overall with the team hitting just 28.3 percent (54-of-191) overall. Only Fleming has more than one with a percentage above 33.0 (9-of-24, .375).
• Fleming is also Maine's top rebounder at 6.4 per contest with Vilgot Larsson backing him up at 4.9 a night.
• Overall the Black Bears have been bested on the boards by nearly six on average.
• Free throws have been anything but as the Black Bears make less than eight per game at a 62.4 percent clip.
• Richard Barron (Kenyon '91) is in his first year guiding the men's team after coaching the Black Bear women from 2011-17. He is the older brother of Walt Barron, who was coached by Dartmouth SID Rick Bender at Davidson on the baseball diamond.

Teddy Bear Time on Saturday
Dartmouth encourages fans attending the men's basketball game against Maine on Saturday to bring along a teddy bear or other stuffed animal to throw onto the court at halftime. All of the animals will be donated to the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD).

Season Lows vs. Quinnipiac
Coming off extensive travel to the West Coast and Ireland, Dartmouth struggled offensively in its first of four consecutive home games when it hosted the Bobcats on Dec. 5. The Big Green suffered through season lows in all three shooting percentages (36.9 FG, 27.8 3FG, 50.0 FT) in the 64-59 loss. And while Dartmouth entered the game second in the country in 3-pointers made per game, it managed to hit just five.

Knight Lights It Up
Sophomore Chris Knight lit up the scoreboard against Quinnipiac with a career-high 23 points, his second-straight 20-point outing. The forward hit 10-of-17 shots — both personal highs as well — including his only 3-point attempt of the night, plus 2-of-3 at the line to account for his point total.

Bully on Taurus
Freshman point guard Taurus Samuels continues to improve each time on the floor, setting a new season high in scoring in five of the last six games. Against Quinnipiac, the rookie hit 5-of-11 field goals with a trey as he finished the night with a dozen points. Over the last five games Samuels has averaged 9.4 points while shooting 47.2 percent overall and 44.4 percent from long range.

Chairmen of the Boards
Sophomore Adrease Jackson has been very active on the glass the past two games, collecting 10 rebounds in each of the last two games. His 7.3 caroms per game rank fourth in the Ivy League, while Chris Knight is fifth at 6.6. Another Big Green player got into the rebounding act against the Bobcats as Brendan Barry hauled in a career-high eight boards as well.

Schedules