Dartmouth Heads to Florida to Face USF

GAME 13
Dartmouth (4-8, 0-0 Ivy) vs. South Florida (4-6, 0-0 American)
Date: Friday, December 16, 2022 – 7 p.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla. – Yuengling Center
All-Time Series: South Florida, 2-0
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats

Setting the Scene
The Dartmouth men's basketball team continues its four-game road trip on Friday when the Big Green travel to Tampa to face South Florida. Gametime against USF is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Dartmouth is coming off a 67-59 defeat at Boston University Tuesday in a game which saw wild fluctuations. In the end, the Big Green erased a 20-point first-half deficit and took a second-half lead, but a late 11-0 Terriers' run turned a 52-52 tie into a BU victory.

Boston University began Tuesday with a 21-2 lead and later led 33-13 when the Big Green ended the first half on an 12-0 run. After BU scored eight of the first 12 second-half points, Dartmouth used a 13-0 run to take a 42-41 lead following a Jaren Johnson 3-point play. After trailing by 20, the Big Green outscored the Terriers 29-8 over the span of 12:23 to pull even.

One game after posting a career-high four blocks, senior Dame Adelekun had five on Tuesday and was a huge spark at both ends of the court. In the first 5:21 of the second half, he posted nine points, four rebounds, four blocks and an assist in an incredible stretch of basketball. Going back to the first half, the Ivy League leader in blocks had all of his career-high five rejections in the span of 10:04 of game action. He's up to 23 blocks on the season and 1.92 per game, good for 20th and 40th in the nation, respectively.

Adelekun finished with team highs in points (11) and rebounds (8). He became the first Big Green player with 5+ blocks since Jan. 17, 2015, when Gabas Maldunas had five against NJIT. Junior Dusan Neskovic added 10 points on Tuesday. Making his first-career start, Johnson tied a career high with nine, which was also his career high against a Division I opponent. Johnson also recorded a first-half block to stop a breakaway, which made SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the Day at No. 10. Senior Cam Krystkowiak added eight points while junior Izaiah Robinson scored seven.

Jaren Johnson's (@Jstixs1) block made @SportsCenter Top 10 last night! 🙌#TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/ggzheoIiLm
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) December 14, 2022

In each of Dartmouth's last five games, a team has ended the first half on a significant run (four times coming from the Big Green). On Tuesday, it was 12-0 Dartmouth. Last Friday at Central Connecticut State, the Big Green ended the first half on a 13-2 run. Against Vermont, it was 13-0 Catamounts to end the first. In the two previous games (both at home), Dartmouth ended the first with a 13-0 run against CSU Bakersfield and 14-0 vs. NVU-Johnson.

South Florida, out of the American Athletic Conference, will mark the 10th different Division I conference Dartmouth has faced this season (Friday will be the Big Green's 11th game against a Division I opponent). The only conference Dartmouth has played twice this season is the America East (Vermont and Bryant). The Big Green and USF did play in 2019. Dartmouth will be searching for its first-ever win against the American Athletic Conference, which was formed in 2013. Friday will be extra special for Dartmouth Director of Operations Braeden Estes, who served more than two years on the USF staff until last November as a graduate assistant, then in operations.

With a win...
- Dartmouth would pick up the program's first-ever win over a member of the American Athletic Conference, which was formed in 2013. The Big Green did beat a future member of the American this season in UTSA, who will begin play in the conference in 2023.
- The Big Green would beat USF for the first time in program history, improving to 1-2 overall.

Last Time Out
BOSTON (12/13/22) — Boston University jumped out to a 21-2 lead on Tuesday night, but the Dartmouth men's basketball team responded by scoring 40 of the next 60 points to take a 42-41 second-half lead. However, Boston University broke a late 52-52 tie with an 11-0 run, and the Big Green couldn't recover as they fell on Tuesday evening at Case Gym, 67-59. A balanced offense saw five Dartmouth players score between seven and 11 points. Senior Dame Adelekun led the way with team highs in points (11) and rebounds, along with a career-high five blocks.

Scouting South Florida
South Florida stands 4-6 on the season, coming off a thrilling 72-69 win at Northern Iowa on Monday, which saw Tyler Harris hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The win marked the Bulls' fourth in five games, also beating Charleston Southern (79-59), St. Francis Brooklyn (75-60) and Saint Joseph's (75-62). Harris leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game. Selton Miguel is also in double figures (12.1). Seven-foot center Russel Tchewa leads the Bulls in rebounding (6.5), while his 9.8 points per contest is good for first.

USF stands top 100 in the nation in fewest turnovers (12.1) and turnover margin (2.9). Among the Bulls' losses this season was a competitive 67-59 defeat at No. 15 Auburn.

All-Time Against The Bulls
The Bulls lead the all-time series, 2-0, owning wins in 1984 (90-54) and 2019 (63-44). Both games have come in South Florida.

3-Point Prowess
Dartmouth knocked down double-figure 3-pointers in three of the first four games of the season (11 at Fordham, 10 vs. Bryant and 13 against MCLA). That made it seven times in eight games with 10+ treys dating back to the end of 2021-22. (The Big Green had nine at Quinnipiac in game four.) It marked the first time the Big Green had double-digit made threes in their first three games of the season since 2018-19.

Dartmouth made 13 treys in consecutive games vs. NVU-Johnson and CSU Bakersfield. The 26 made threes were the most since the start of the 2021-22 season at Georgetown (16) and hosting NVU-Lyndon (14). It was also the first time with 13+ made threes consecutively since those two contests.

Overall, the Big Green have reached double-figure made threes in five of 12 games this season. Dartmouth's 9.0 made 3-pointers per contest stand 58th nationally and second in the Ivy League.

Block Party
Dartmouth's 4.6 blocks per game are first in the Ivy League. owning 55 blocks in 12 games. Individually, senior Dame Adelekun's 23 blocks and 1.92 blocks per contest are tops in the league. He's had three or more blocks four times, including a career high in back-to-back games — four at Central Connecticut State then five at Boston University.

The four blocks marked the most for a Big Green player since Chris Knight had four on Feb. 8, 2019, at home vs. Cornell. The five at BU were the most since Jan. 17, 2015, when Gabas Maldunas had five against NJIT. In the first 5:21 of the second half, Adelekun posted nine points, four rebounds, four blocks and an assist in an incredible stretch of basketball. Going back to the first half, the Ivy League leader in blocks had all of his career-high five rejections in the span of 10:04 of game action.

Tough Schedule
Dartmouth's nonleague schedule has been challenging, with the nine Division I opponents thus far posting a combined 63-48 record (following games Dec. 13). Every team has a .500 or better record, except three. The Big Green's first three DI opponents of the year (Fordham, Bryant and Quinnipiac) are currently a combined 29-6.

Fordham: 11-1
Bryant: 9-3
Quinnipiac: 9-2
Incarnate Word: 5-6
UTSA: 5-5
Grambling State: 6-3
CSU Bakersfield: 4-5
Vermont: 6-7
Central Connecticut State: 1-10
Boston University: 7-5
Total: 63-48

Balanced Scoring
Through 12 games, seven different Big Green players have led the team in scoring. Here is a rundown.

Ryan Cornish: 3 - at UTSA (11/27), vs. Grambling State (11/28), vs. CSU Bakersfield (12/3)
Brandon Mitchell-Day: 2 - vs. Bryant (11/11), vs. Incarnate Word (11/25)
Cade Haskins: 2 - at Quinnipiac (11/15), at Central Connecticut State (12/9)
Dame Adelekun: 1 - vs. Vermont (12/6), at Boston University (12/13)
Robert McRae III: 1 - vs. MCLA (11/12)
Dusan Neskovic: 1 - at Fordham (11/7)
Jayden Williams: 1 - vs. NVU-Johnson (11/30)

Big Green in the Lone Star State
Dartmouth picked up a 78-77 overtime win at UTSA on Sunday, Nov. 27, marking the program's first-ever win in the state of Texas. The Big Green also played Incarnate Word in the 210 San Antonio Shootout, as the Cardinals and Roadrunners marked the fifth and sixth Texas schools Dartmouth has ever played (the others being Houston, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech). There are 24 current Division I men's basketball programs in the state. Dartmouth is now 3-5 all-time against Texas schools, also owning wins over Houston (Dec. 12, 1957 at home by an 84-64 final) and Texas A&M (Dec. 17, 1989 by a 64-51 final).

Welcome to Dartmouth!
Head coach David McLaughlin announced in August the addition of three student-athletes in the Class of 2026 — Brandon Mitchell-Day, Jackson Munro and Jayden Williams.

Mitchell-Day, a 6-8, 205-pound forward from Creve Coeur, Missouri, was the conference player of the year for Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day (MICDS) this past winter, scoring over 1,000 points in his prep career. Twice he was named all-state and all-district, and he played AAU ball for Gateway Basketball on the Under Armour Rise Circuit.

A 6-8, 220-pound forward from Wilmette, Illinois, Munro is a product of New Trier High School, which he helped advance to the Illinois State Sectional finals by averaging around 16 points and nine rebounds a game. The Chicago Sun-Times First Team All-State selection was also a two-time All-Central Suburban League performer and named the New Trier/Thanksgiving Tournament MVP. On the AAU circuit, he made a name for himself playing with Fundamental U.

Williams, a product of Windermere Prep in Florida, was All-Florida First Team this past year along with all-district and All-Region 3 honors to his name. The 6-6, 185-pound wing averaged about 18 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest, helping the Lakers post a 20-8 record during the season. He also played AAU ball as a member of 1Family.

Captains Revealed
Last May, Dartmouth men's basketball head coach David McLaughlin revealed the three captains that will lead his squad during the 2022-23 season — rising seniors Dame Adelekun, Jackson Blaufeld and Cam Krystkowiak.

Adelekun, a 6-8, 220-pound power forward from Gastonia, North Carolina, emerged as a force in the frontcourt when Ivy League play began at the beginning of the calendar year. Injuries had limited him to just 15 games in his career while averaging just over one point. But in conference games last winter, he produced 10.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game over the 14 contests while shooting 63.6 percent from the floor and blocking a team-high 10 shots. Those numbers led to him earning the team's Rudy LaRusso '59 Award as the most improved player as well. A 6-4, 195-pound shooting guard from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Blaufeld may have seen limited action during his career with just 17 games under his belt, but he is one of the most positive and vocal teammates the Big Green have ever seen. His work ethic in practice is unmatched, whether he is putting in extra time to improve his own game or helping his teammates get better with his intense energy and dogged determination when matching up against them. Krystkowiak, the son of former NBA player Larry Krystkowiak, is working on making a name for himself as the third captain for the Big Green next season. The 6-9, 210-pound power forward from San Diego, California, finally got a chance to play this past winter after missing his entire freshman season due to an injury. With the skills to play in the post and on the perimeter, he showed what he could do right out of the gate with nine points in the season opener at Boston College and five more with four rebounds in the win at Georgetown, including his first 3-pointer. But it was his 20-point performance in a six-point loss at California that put all of his talent on display.

Follow Along
Friday night's game can be seen on ESPN+.

What's Ahead?
Following Friday's contest, the Big Green return to wrap up their pre-holiday schedule with a Tuesday night visit to UMass. Opening tipoff is 7 p.m. on NESN and ESPN+.

Schedules

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dame Adelekun

Jackson Blaufeld

Ryan Cornish

Cade Haskins

Jaren Johnson

Cam Krystkowiak

Robert McRae III

Brandon Mitchell-Day

Jackson Munro

Dusan Neskovic

Izaiah Robinson

Jayden Williams

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Schedules

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Penn on February 21, 2025 , Loss , 75, to, 88

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Princeton on February 22, 2025 , Win , 76, to, 61

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus RV Yale on February 28, 2025 , Loss , 67, to, 72

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Brown on March 1, 2025 , Win , 78, to, 58

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Harvard on March 8, 2025 , Loss , 58, to, 66

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Cornell on March 15, 2025 , Loss , 71, to, 87