Big Green Wrap Up Road Trip at UMass Tuesday Night

GAME 14
Dartmouth (4-9, 0-0 Ivy) vs. UMass (8-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Date: Tuesday, December 20, 2022 – 7 p.m.
Location: Amherst, Mass. – Mullins Center
All-Time Series: UMass, 6-5
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats

Setting the Scene
Following a tight 59-55 loss at South Florida which went down to the final seconds, the Dartmouth men's basketball team takes the short trip south to face UMass on Tuesday night. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on NESN and ESPN+. A back-and-forth game at USF Friday saw the Bulls create some separation in taking a nine-point lead, but the Big Green pulled back within one, with multiple opportunities to pull even or take a lead. Tuesday for Dartmouth wraps up a four-game road swing before the holiday.

The Big Green came ever-so close to picking up their first-ever win over an American Athletic Conference foe. Dartmouth opened with a 10-6 lead then made a late surge to turn a nine-point deficit (50-41 and 53-44) down to one on two separate occasions. A Dusan Neskovic layup pulled the Big Green within 56-55 with 2:45 remaining, but that would prove to be Dartmouth's final points of the evening. There were no other field goals from either side, as USF's three points came from the free throw line. The next two Big Green shots were off target, then senior Dame Adelekun had a great look to pull even with five seconds remaining, but it wouldn't fall. The loss was Dartmouth's fourth straight, as the Big Green have scored in the 50s in all four defeats.

Adelekun enjoyed a stellar game overall, posting a game-high 19 points. It came on a career-high 20 field goal attempts (previous high was 14). He made nine of them, going against seven-foot center Russel Tchewa. The Ivy League leader in blocks, Adelekun had two — his third straight game with multiple blocks as he's tallied 11 in that span. Adelekun has multiple blocks in five of the last six games and at least one block in 12 consecutive games. He's up to 25 on the season, good for 21st in the nation (as of Sunday).

Sophomore Romeo Myrthil tied a career-high 11 points on Friday night, which included knocking down the Big Green's only 3-pointer of the evening. Dartmouth finished 1-of-14 from behind the arc, but the Big Green stayed in the game by going inside, drawing fouls and hitting their free throws. Dartmouth was a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe, with six different players hitting at least one. It marked the first time since last Dec. 19 at Cal that the Big Green were perfect on free throws (Dartmouth was 5-of-5 in that game). It was the first time perfect from the line with at least 10 attempts since last Dec. 1 at Vermont (11-of-11). That game, and Friday night, were the only times it's happened with double-figure attempts since at least the start of the 2005-06 season. Dartmouth was also just one made free throw shy of tying a program record for free throw percentage, and becoming just the fifth team in the nation to do so this season (both have a minimum threshold of 15 attempts to qualify).

Making his second straight start, junior Jaren Johnson tied a career-high nine points once again (after also scoring nine at Boston University). A block of his made SportsCenter Top 10 on Tuesday at BU while he made his presence felt at USF, including a sensational individual effort on a drive, spin and finish for a 3-point play at a critical part of the game with Dartmouth rallying from down nine.

Tuesday will mark the first meeting between Dartmouth and UMass since 2006 and just the second meeting since 1990. The Minutemen are the second Atlantic 10 opponent for the Big Green this season, along with Fordham in the opener, which was a competitive game. The Rams are now 11-1 on the year.

With a win...
- Dartmouth would even the all-time series with UMass at 6-6.
- The Big Green would snap a four-game losing streak against UMass and beat the Minutemen for the first time since Jan. 5, 1982 — a 62-46 win in Hanover.

Last Time Out
TAMPA, Fla. (12/16/22) — 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).

Scouting UMass
UMass comes into Tuesday with an 8-3 record following a 62-44 loss against North Texas in Springfield. The other Minutemen losses came against UMass Lowell (85-80) and Towson (67-55). Between those defeats was a six-game winning streak, including a 71-68 win at Ivy League foe Harvard. The Minutemen also claimed a Myrtle Beach Invitational Title with wins over Colorado, Murray State and Charlotte. UMass picked up a 73-67 win at South Florida, where Dartmouth played on Friday.

Matt Cross leads UMass in scoring (11.7) and rebounding (6.2). Cross recorded a double-double last time out with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Noah Fernandes has only played seven games due to injury, and stands second on the Minutemen in scoring (11.4). Dyondre Dominguez is third (8.9), followed by T.J. Weeks Jr. (8.7). UMass is led by first-year head coach Frank Martin, who led South Carolina to the Final Four in 2016-17. The Minutemen are eighth in the nation in bench points per game (35.2). Dartmouth is 31st nationally in that category at 30.1.

All-Time Against The Minutemen
UMass leads the all-time series against Dartmouth, 6-5. The Minutemen have won four in a row, with the most recent meeting happening on Nov. 11, 2006 — a 98-61 final. Dartmouth's last win came on Jan. 5, 1982 at home via a 62-46 final. The first-ever meeting was on Jan. 10, 1923, a 42-15 Big Green victory.

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 13 games this season. Dartmouth's 8.4 made 3-pointers per contest stand third in the Ivy League.

Block Party
Dartmouth's 4.6 blocks per game are first in the Ivy League and 51st in the nation, owning 60 blocks in 13 games. Individually, senior Dame Adelekun's 25 blocks and 1.92 blocks per contest are tops in the league (and 21st and 35th in the nation, respectively). 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 70-56 record (following games Dec. 17). Every team has a .500 or better record, except four. The Big Green's first three DI opponents of the year (Fordham, Bryant and Quinnipiac) are currently a combined 29-7.

Fordham: 11-1
Bryant: 9-4
Quinnipiac: 9-2
Incarnate Word: 6-6
UTSA: 5-5
Grambling State: 6-4
CSU Bakersfield: 4-5
Vermont: 6-7
Central Connecticut State: 2-10
Boston University: 7-5
South Florida: 5-6
Total: 70-56

Balanced Scoring
Through 13 games, seven different Big Green players have led the team in scoring. Here is a rundown.

Dame Adelekun: 3 - vs. Vermont (12/6), at Boston University (12/13), at South Florida (12/16)
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)
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
Tuesday night's game can be viewed on NESN and ESPN+.

What's Ahead?
After Tuesday's game, the Big Green will break for the Christmas holiday before returning to action at home when they host New Hampshire on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.

Schedules