Shooting Touch Returns, but Vermont Outlasts Dartmouth

Thursday, January 2

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

7-8

Vermont

10-5

Vermont

Dartmouth

Aaryn Rai had 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting.

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Shooting Touch Returns, but Vermont Outlasts Dartmouth

1/2/2020 8:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Aaryn Rai was 8-for-9 from the floor as the Green shot 52.2 percent

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth shot 52.2 percent against a Vermont defense that was sixth nationally in opponent field goal percentage, but the visiting Catamounts got 26 points from Stef Smith to escape a sold-out crowd at Leede Arena on Thursday night with a 77-68 victory. Vermont won their third straight game to improve to 10-5 on the season, while the Big Green lost their third in a row to drop to 7-8 in the final non-conference game for both teams.

Aaryn Rai had 18 points to lead Dartmouth, hitting 8-of-9 field goals and both of his 3-point attempts, while also grabbing a game-high six rebounds, while Chris Knight had 17 on 7-of-13 shooting. But the Big Green hurt themselves with 18 turnovers that led to 21 Catamount points.

Vermont, meanwhile, shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) overall yet only 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from the perimeter. The key to their victory was ball control with just eight turnovers — four in each half — and hit 7-of-10 foul shots in the final four minutes to help stave off Dartmouth.

The Big Green came out of the gate on fire, hitting their first six shots, to jump out to an early 14-5 lead. But they also had four turnovers before missing a field goal, helping the Catamounts overcome a slow start with only two buckets in their first eight attempts.

After Ian Sistare, who finished with 10 points for Dartmouth, drilled a 3-pointer for a 19-13 lead, Vermont embarked on an 11-2 run capped by a Smith 3-pointer to take its first lead of the game at 24-21. It wasn't until James Foye knocked down a long ball of his own that Dartmouth would knot the score again at 34 with three minutes left in the half. The two teams traded buckets the remained of the stanza with Rai dropping in a layup just before the buzzer to leave the game deadlocked at 40 apiece at intermission.

The Big Green blistered the nets at a 60.9 percent clip (14-of-23) while going 6-of-10 from behind the arc and at the foul line, but Vermont also topped 50 percent (16-of-31, .516) from the floor with a trio of triples and a 5-of-6 showing at the charity stripe.

The offenses kept flowing when play resumed, and Smith put Vermont on top, 49-46, with 16 minutes left with another trey. Though the Catamounts would not fall behind the rest of the night, they could not pull away from Dartmouth until the final minutes.

An Ian Carter layup with a little more than 12 minutes to go closed the gap to two, 54-52, but a minute-and-a-half later, Everett Duncan (12 points) sank five consecutive free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt by Sistare, who was also hit with a technical foul.

Moments later, Vermont head coach John Becker was hit with a technical as well with Taurus Samuels (10 points) canning both free throws for the Green. That started a 10-3 run for Dartmouth, capped by a bucket in the paint by Knight, tying the game at 62 with 4:47 remaining.

Ryan Davis then misfired on a 3-pointer, but a long rebound went to his teammate Anthony Lamb, who fed Davis barreling to the hoop for an easy basket and the lead once again at 64-62. Knight had a chance to tie the game when he was fouled on the next possession, but he missed the front end of the one-and-one opportunity, and the Catamounts scored the next four points at the foul line to build a six-point advantage. Three times the Big Green would get within four, but that would as close as they would come.

Smith finished his night 10-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-6 from long range as he came up two points shy of his career best output. Robin Duncan produced 13 points thanks to a 7-of-8 showing at the line, plus stole the ball six times. His older brother, Everett, added 12 with a perfect 7-of-7 performance at the foul line, while the Catamounts' leading scorer this season, Anthony Lamb, managed just 10 on 5-of-12 from the floor.

After the sizzling shooting in the first half, Dartmouth hit 43.5 percent (10-of-23) overall but missed all five shots behind the arc.

The Big Green will not play again until Jan. 18 when they start their Ivy League slate at Harvard on ESPN+ with tip set for 2 p.m.

Notes: This was the third sellout crowd (2,100) at Leede Arena in the last 19 seasons with the other two coming against Harvard in 2012 and 2018 … since Vermont has won 12 straight against Dartmouth and 20 of the last 21 meetings … the Big Green are now 2-2 in games that they shoot at least 50 percent from the floor … Dartmouth had hit less than a quarter of its 3-point attempts in the previous four games but finished tonight 6-of-15 (.400) … the Big Green won the battle of the boards by a slim margin, 29-27, and have outrebounded their opponent in each of the last six contests.