Home Opener Tonight Brings FGCU to Town

Monday, November 11

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Florida Gulf Coast

Ecstatic fans during the men's basketball game against Princeton, March 1, 2019

Fnas are excited to see this year's version of the Big Green

11/11/2019 12:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Leede Arena NESNplus ESPN+Audio Broadcast Live Stats Dartmouth Notes FGCU Notes

Dartmouth looks to build on its 68-63 season-opening win at Buffalo

By: Rick Bender

DARTMOUTH (1-0)
vs. FGCU (0-2)
Monday, Nov. 11, 2019 | 7 PM | ESPN+
Leede Arena | Hanover, N.H.

• Coming off a 68-63 upset on the road at Buffalo to end the Bulls' 26-game home winning streak, Dartmouth gets to show its stuff for the first time to the home crowd while hosting Florida Gulf Coast University on Monday night.
• The Big Green's win on Friday was the first road win in a season opener in 32 years, dropping 21 such games in a row.
• Taurus Samuels came up clutch down the stretch, scoring six straight points in the final 1:12 to extend a one-point lead and seal the victory as he tallied a career-high 16 points in his second career start.
• Chris Knight, an All-Ivy second-team selection last year, led Dartmouth with 18 points while grabbing 11 rebounds, his fourth career double-double.
• But the Big Green's leading rebounder was guard Ian Sistare with a career-high 13 boards.
• The defense held Buffalo to 35.3 percent shooting and 28.6 percent behind the arc as Dartmouth never trailed all night.
• Aaryn Rai produced 12 points on 5-of-7 from the floor, and Trevon Ary-Turner chipped in seven points off the bench in his first action for the Big Green since transferring from Weber State.

Series vs. FGCU
• This is the first time these two teams will meet on the hardwood.
• The Eagles are the first of three teams from the state of Florida that Dartmouth will play this season. Other contests are against Jacksonville this Saturday at UMass Lowell and at South Florida on Dec. 6.
• The Big Green are 3-3 all-time against current Atlantic Sun teams. The most recent game was against NJIT in January of 2015 when Dartmouth earned a 62-53 victory.
• Of the six games against ASun squads, four have come versus Stetson with the teams splitting those contests. The other game was against Jacksonville, ending in a 69-59 loss to the Dolphins two days before Christmas in 1967.

Scouting the Eagles
• Florida Gulf Coast University has lost its first two games, dropping an 89-67 decision last Tuesday at Saint Louis, then returning home to be nipped by UMBC on Saurday, 65-61.
• The Eagles led UMBC by as many as 12 in the second half and by 10 with five minutes to play but could not fend off the Retrievers.
• FGCU won 20 or more games for six straight years until going 14-18 last season, getting bounced in the Atlantic Sun quarterfinals by NJIT as the fourth seed.
• Zach Scott (17.5 ppg) and Caleb Catto (15.0) lead the Eagles in scoring with Scott doing a majority of his damage from downtown with six triples.
• Catto and John Harper will also dial long distance having hit four 3-pointers as FGCU averages 8.5 long balls a game.
• Justus Rainwater has been the Eagles' top rebounder at 5.5 a night, but the team has been bested on the boards by an average of six per game.
• As a team FGCU is hitting 38 percent from the floor with just one player over 50 percent — Rainwater has hit 3-of-5 shots thus far.
• Jalen Warren runs the point and is effective at getting to the line, converting 10-of-13 (.769) foul shots this season.
• Michael Fly (Kentucky '06) is in his second season guiding the Eagles after serving seven years as an assistant with the team. His second year on staff was when FGCU was labeled "Dunk City," becoming the first 15-seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

First of Three Televised Games
The game against FGCU will be televised live regionally on NESNplus, the first of three Big Green games to be carried by the New England network. In addition, the home games in mid-December — Central Connecticut on Dec. 18, Bryant on Dec. 21 — will both be shown live on NESN.

ESPN+
Every Ivy League game, all home games and select road non-conference games will be streamed live on ESPN+, including this game against the Eagles. Fans can sign up for a monthly ($4.99) or annual ($49.99) subscription and see 20 of the 29 scheduled Big Green games this season. Visit espn.com/watch to find out how to subscribe and catch Dartmouth online all season.

Big Green Shock Buffalo
Not the animal, that would be cruel. No, Dartmouth opened the season by traveling to play Buffalo, a team that had won more than 30 games each of the past two seasons and 26 consecutive games on its home court. The Bulls also defeated the Big Green last year by 39 points. But Dartmouth was unfazed by those numbers and dealt Buffalo a 68-63 defeat. The win not only ended that home-court win streak, but also a streak of 21 consecutive losses in Big Green season openers that were on the road, dating back to 1987.

Taurus Drives Dartmouth
After building up a 17-point lead in the second half, the Big Green saw its bulge shrunk down to a single point twice, the second time with fewer than two minutes on the clock. But Taurus Samuels made sure the game did not get away from the Green, scoring six straight points and collecting two crucial rebounds in the final 1:12 to secure the victory. Samuels finished the game with a career-high 16 points in just his second career start, and was a team-best plus-16 when on the court.

Knight Knight
Forward Chris Knight helped put the Buffalo win to bed with his fourth career double-double, tallying 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, one shy of his career high. He also added three blocks to his ledger and dished out his 100th career assist.

Letting the Sistare Out
Senior Ian Sistare, a 6-4 guard, led all players in the 68-63 win at Buffalo with a career-high 13 rebounds, nine coming in the first half as Dartmouth built a 33-26 lead at the break. But even with his output on the glass along with Knight's 11 boards, the Big Green were still outrebounded, 43-39.

Ary-Turner the Corner
If you get that title, let me know what I mean. Trevon Ary-Turner saw his first game action for Dartmouth after practicing with the team all last year while sitting out after transferring from Weber State. He didn't seem rusty against Buffalo, coming off the bench to score seven points and dish out three assists in 22 minutes to contribute to the win.