Big Green Fall Just Short at USF in Nailbiter, 59-55

Friday, December 16

Tampa, Fla. / Yuengling Center

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-9,0-0Ivy League

South Florida

5-6,0-0AAC

Dartmouth

South Fla.

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Big Green Fall Just Short at USF in Nailbiter, 59-55

12/16/2022 10:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Dartmouth falls just shy in bid for first-ever win against an American Athletic Conference foe

By: Justin Lafleur

TAMPA, Fla. — The Dartmouth men's basketball team trimmed a nine-point deficit with 8:48 remaining down to one, and had multiple chances to tie or take a lead, but the Big Green fell just short on Friday evening at South Florida, 59-55. On a night which saw Dartmouth shoot just 1-of-14 from 3-point range, the Big Green found other ways to score, going inside to senior Dame Adelekun (game-high 19 points) and converting from the free throw line (finishing a perfect 14-of-14).

With the loss, Dartmouth falls to 4-9. USF improves to 5-6.

"Our guys battled," said Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin. "We told them this week as we prepared for this team that we need to embrace hard. It would be a physical game, a game where we'd have to really control the paint and value the basketball. I thought we played physically harder than them and I thought we out toughened them a little bit, but we didn't take great care of the basketball (15 turnovers), which hurt us in the end. We won the rebounding battle, which was a goal of ours going into the game.

"We put ourselves in a position to win the game."

Going against seven-foot center Russel Tchewa, Adelekun finished 9-of-20 from the floor, while adding seven rebounds. Adelekun's 20 field goal attempts were a career high. Meanwhile, sophomore Romeo Myrthil tied a career-high 11 points and added a rebound, two steals and a block. Junior Jaren Johnson tied a career high with nine points for a second straight game.

Gallery: (12-17-2022) Dec. 16, 2022 Men's Hoops at USF

Tchewa led USF with 11 points while Dartmouth held Bulls' leading scorer Tyler Harris to just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting.

Vying for the program's first-ever win over an American Athletic Conference foe, Dartmouth got off to a strong start, led by Adelekun. At the first media timeout, the Big Green led, 10-6, with Adelekun scoring eight of the points and assisting on the other basket — by Johnson.

What a start to this one for Dame, who had the first six Big Green points and eight of the first 10 (while assisting on the other). Second half starting shortly!

📺: https://t.co/B9OLpAaI8y
📊: https://t.co/1Py8WCnuPx #TheWoods🌲| #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/wboKkMdcH6
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) December 17, 2022

USF answered with six straight to take a 12-10 lead, and led for most of the remainder of the half. The margin reached five after a Tchewa layup gave the Bulls a 21-16 lead with 8:43 on the clock. Dartmouth responded with six consecutive points via two Izaiah Robinson free throws and four consecutive Johnson points, which gave the Big Green a 22-21 lead with 6:57 left in the first.

The Bulls went on to score 11 of the next 15 points, as the Dartmouth offense was held to four points in more than five minutes of game action. Over the final 1:22, the Big Green reeled off four straight points, behind a Myrthil layup and Jackson Munro jumper, before USF's Keyshawn Bryant had a putback to give the Bulls a 34-30 halftime lead.

Adelekun continued his strong play early in the second, but USF opened the stanza by scoring eight of the first 12 points (with Dartmouth's four points coming from Adelekun). The Bulls led by eight on multiple occasions before five consecutive Gig Green points, behind a Dusan Neskovic driving layup and highlight-reel 3-point play from Johnson, pulled Dartmouth within 44-41 with 11:32 remaining in the second half.

11:32 2nd | Jaren Johnson AND ONE! WHAT A MOVE AND FINISH. Big Green within four, with a chance to pull within three after this timeout.

📺: https://t.co/B9OLpAsRmG
📊: https://t.co/1Py8WC6rNx #TheWoods🌲| #GoBigGreen | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/ohEwAWdGH0
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) December 17, 2022

Six consecutive USF points gave the Bulls their largest lead at nine, 50-41 and later 53-44. Dartmouth responded with a 9-1 run, which included a Myrthil layup, Adelekun layup, Adelekun 3-point play and Ryan Cornish driving layup, pulling the Big Green within 54-53 with exactly four minutes remaining.

3:54 2nd | Cornish finishes at the rim to pull the Big Green within one at 54-53, forcing USF to call timeout! The deficit was nine just moments ago.

📺: https://t.co/B9OLpAaI8y
📊: https://t.co/1Py8WCnuPx #TheWoods🌲| #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/xGVbFwsXyU
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) December 17, 2022

A Neskovic layup got Dartmouth within 56-55 with 2:45 to go, and the Big Green later had two shots to take a lead, but couldn't convert. After USF hit 1-of-2 free throws to take a 57-55 advantage, Adelekun had a great look at the basket, but it wouldn't fall. Harris knocked down both free throws with four seconds remaining, sealing the four-point USF win.

For the game, the Big Green shot 35.1 percent from the floor (20-of-57) and just 7.1 percent from 3-point range (1-of-14). USF finished at 39.0 percent (23-of-59) and 25.0 percent from behind the arc (6-of-24). The Big Green held a 42-37 edge in rebounding.

Dartmouth wraps up its four-game road swing, and pre-holiday schedule, with a Tuesday showdown at UMass. Gametime is 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Head coach David McLaughlin following tonight's 59-55 loss at USF.#TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/GH1a7MQgDe
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) December 17, 2022