Dartmouth Looks to Keep Momentum Going at Princeton Saturday

Saturday, January 21

Princeton, N.J. / Jadwin Gymnasium

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

Photo by: Doug Austin

Dartmouth Looks to Keep Momentum Going at Princeton Saturday

1/19/2023 4:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Watch Live Stats

The Big Green have won seven of their last 10 Ivy League games dating back to last season

By: Justin Lafleur

GAME 20
Dartmouth (7-12, 3-2 Ivy League) at Princeton (13-5, 4-1 Ivy League)
Date: Saturday, January 21, 2023 – 2 p.m.
Location: Princeton, N.J. – Jadwin Gymnasium
All-Time Series: Princeton, 158-63
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats

Setting the Scene
Winners of three of its last four, the Dartmouth men's basketball team looks to keep the momentum going when the Big Green travel to Princeton on Saturday to face the Tigers. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+. The Big Green are coming off a weekend sweep vs. Penn (75-71) and at Harvard (60-59) in two tight games that went down to the final seconds. The wins improved Dartmouth's record to 3-2, its best mark after five Ivy League games since the 2008-09 season. Saturday features the teams that are tied for first (Princeton) and alone in third (Dartmouth) in the standings.

With Monday's win over Harvard, the Big Green are now 3-0 against the teams picked in the top half of the league's preseason poll. It's the first time the Big Green have beaten both Yale and Harvard on the road since 1999.

The weekend began at home vs. preseason Ivy favorite Penn on Saturday. The Big Green trailed by as many as 13 in the second half (52-39), but from that point forward, Dartmouth outscored the Quakers 36-19 over the final 15 minutes of action. It marked the first time the Big Green have overcome a double-figure deficit since an 11-point comeback against Brown on Jan. 8, 2022. Penn was 0-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half. Offensively, sophomore Ryan Cornish scored nine of his team-high 14 points in the second half while freshman Brandon Mitchell-Day provided a spark, in the second half and all game. He finished with 10 points and a huge block with 34 seconds remaining and Dartmouth up by one, which helped seal the win. Freshman Jackson Munro nearly posted his first-career double-double, finishing with nine points and eight rebounds in just 13:34 of action. With junior Izaiah Robinson entering the starting lineup, it marked Dartmouth's 11th different lineup of the season.

On Monday at Harvard, Dartmouth got out to a 12-2 start and would never trail in a 60-59 win. Cornish again led the Big Green in scoring, this time with 16, including 3-of-4 shooting from three. In the span of 1:39 early in the second half, he completed a 4-point play then knocked down a nearly half-court shot with the shot clock winding down. Including a 3-point play not long before, he scored 10 points in the span of 2:53. Senior Dame Adelekun scored eight of Dartmouth's first 10 points, finishing with 14 — good for his seventh straight game in double figures. Mitchell-Day also scored 11 points, all coming in the first half to help the Big Green open a 34-26 halftime advantage. Mitchell-Day was honored on Tuesday with Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors, Dartmouth's first Rookie of the Week honoree since Taurus Samuels on Jan. 21, 2019.

Dartmouth fought off a late Harvard charge. The Big Green didn't score for the game's final 3:13, but allowed just seven Crimson points and got two defensive stops in the final minute to wrap up the win. With Monday's victory, and a 76-54 win in last season's finale, Dartmouth has now won two straight against Harvard for the first time since 1998-99. It's the first time since 1995-96 winning back-to-back in Cambridge. Monday was also the first Big Green win of fewer than seven points against Harvard in 18 years.

A big story all weekend was the Dartmouth defense against some of the Ivy League's top scorers. Entering last weekend, the top three scorers were Penn's Jordan Dingle (24.2 entering Saturday), Harvard's Chris Ledlum (19.5 entering Monday's game) and Penn's Clark Slajchert (17.1 entering Saturday). Dingle's 24.2 points per game were also second nationally. The Big Green held the three to a combined 29 points — 31.8 points fewer than their scoring averages entering (which was 60.8). Dingle was held to a season-low 14 points, breaking a streak of 13 straight games scoring 20+ points. Slajchert was held to eight points while Ledlum was held to seven points (which tied a season low). Ledlum scored Harvard's first seven points of the game, but was held scoreless for the remainder of the contest. Foul trouble played a role, but even so, was held scoreless for the final 11:43 of his time on the court.

Dartmouth has now beaten both Yale and Harvard on the road for the first time since 1998-99. With a win on Saturday, the Big Green would beat Yale, Harvard and Princeton on the road for the first time since 1939-40. Dartmouth is now 7-3 over its final 10 Ivy League games dating back to the end of last season.

With a win...
- The Big Green would move into a tie with Princeton at 4-2 in the Ivy League, which would be good for a tie for second or first in the standings (if Cornell loses at Harvard on Saturday).
- Dartmouth would snap a seven-game losing streak to Princeton and beat the Tigers for the first time since Feb. 10, 2018 via a 72-56 final.
- The Big Green would snap a 12-game losing streak at Princeton and win at Jadwin Gymnasium for the first time since a 66-63 win on Feb. 21, 2009.
- Dartmouth would beat Princeton, Yale and Harvard on the road for the first time since the 1939-40 season when the Big Green beat Harvard (53-46 on Feb. 7), Yale (60-35 on Feb. 26) and Princeton (38-36 on Mar. 2).
- The Big Green would improve to 8-3 over their final 11 Ivy League games dating back to the end of last season.
- Dartmouth would improve to 3-1 on the road in league play. The three road Ivy League victories would be the Big Green's most since the 2014-15 season (when they also had three).

Last Time Out
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (1/16/23) — The Dartmouth men's basketball team jumped out to a quick lead and would never trail, but it wasn't easy as the Big Green held off a late Harvard charge to pick up a big road win on Monday afternoon, 60-59. The win marks Dartmouth's second straight, improving to 3-2 in Ivy League play for the first time since 2008-09. It's also the first time the Big Green have beaten both Yale and Harvard on the road since 1999. Sophomore Ryan Cornish led Dartmouth in scoring for a second straight game, scoring 16 points, 11 coming in the second half.

Scouting Princeton
Princeton stands 13-5 on the season, including 4-1 in Ivy League play. The Tigers are tied for first in the standings (with Cornell). Princeton has won five of its last six games, with the only loss coming at Brown, 72-70. One of the Tigers' wins came at Cornell, 75-68. Most recently, Princeton captured a 72-60 win at Penn after outscoring the Quakers, 47-34 in the second half. One of the Tigers' nonleague highlights was winning the London Basketball Classic with wins over Army West Point (74-66) and Northeastern (56-54).

Princeton features a balanced offense with three players averaging between 7.1 and 13.2 points, with three in double figures — Tosan Evbuomwan (13.2), Ryan Langborg (12.4) and Matt Allocco (10.6). Evbuomwan, who was named unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year last season, also leads the Ivy League in assists per game (4.4). His 6.2 rebounds also lead the team. Princeton as a team leads the league in rebounds per game (39.8), which is good for 19th nationally. The Tigers' rebound margin of +8.5 is fifth in the nation while their 30.1 defensive rebounds per contest are third.

All-Time Against The Tigers
Princeton leads the all-time series against Dartmouth, 158-63, which includes seven straight wins and wins in 14 of the last 15 meetings. The Tigers have won 12 straight home games against the Big Green, with Dartmouth's last win at Princeton coming on Feb. 21, 2009 via a 66-63 final. Since that point, Dartmouth has two wins against Princeton, both at home — 78-69 in overtime on Feb. 1, 2014 and 72-56 on Feb. 10, 2018. Over the last three games at Dartmouth, the average margin of victory for Princeton is 2.7. Over the last three games at Princeton, the average margin is 22.7, including an 85-40 Tigers' victory last season. The longtime rivals first met on Dec. 12, 1905, a 37-8 Dartmouth win. Princeton won the next meeting on Jan. 10, 1912 behind a 43-38 final.

Da Na Na, Da Na Na
Dartmouth men's basketball has found itself on ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 twice this season. Most recently, Dame Adelekun's block vs. Cornell on New Year's Day made the cut at No. 10. It was an impressive play in which he essentially caught the ball as the shot was going up (rather than swatting it away). The other came on Dec. 13 at Boston University via a Jaren Johnson chase down block.

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 six of 19 games this season. Dartmouth's 8.1 made 3-pointers per contest stand third in the Ivy League.

Block Party
Dartmouth's 4.3 blocks per game are first in the Ivy League and 59th in the nation, owning 82 blocks in 19 games. Individually, senior Dame Adelekun's 34 blocks and 1.89 blocks per contest are tops in the league (and 36th and 40th 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 at CCSU 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.

Dominant Defense
In Dartmouth's weekend sweep of Penn and Harvard (Jan. 14 and 16), the Big Green defense impressed against some of the Ivy League's top scorers. Entering the weekend, the top three scorers were Penn's Jordan Dingle (24.2 entering Saturday), Harvard's Chris Ledlum (19.5 entering Monday's game) and Penn's Clark Slajchert (17.1 entering Saturday). Dingle's 24.2 points per game were also second nationally. The Big Green held the three to a combined 29 points — 31.8 points fewer than their scoring averages entering (which was 60.8). Dingle was held to a season-low 14 points, breaking a streak of 13 straight games scoring 20+ points. Slajchert was held to eight points while Ledlum was held to seven points (which tied a season low). Ledlum scored Harvard's first seven points of the game, but was held scoreless for the remainder of the contest. Foul trouble played a role, but even so, was held scoreless for the final 11:43 of his time on the court.

Tough Schedule
Dartmouth's nonleague schedule was challenging, with the 12 Division I opponents posting a combined 109-110 record (following games Jan. 17). The Big Green's first three DI opponents of the year (Fordham, Bryant and Quinnipiac) are currently a combined 40-15.

Ken Pom Ranking in parenthesis
Fordham: 14-4 (197)
Bryant: 12-6 (184)
Quinnipiac: 14-5 (124)
Incarnate Word: 6-12 (353)
UTSA: 7-12 (323)
Grambling State: 10-7 (232)
CSU Bakersfield: 6-12 (315)
Vermont: 8-10 (165)
Central Connecticut State: 4-15 (328)
Boston University: 9-10 (250)
South Florida: 8-10 (141)
UMass: 11-7 (162)
Total: 109-110

Balanced Scoring
Through 19 games, eight different Big Green players have led the team in scoring. Here is a rundown.

Dame Adelekun: 5 - vs. Vermont (12/6), at Boston University (12/13), at South Florida (12/16), vs. Cornell (1/1), at Brown (1/7)
Ryan Cornish: 5 - at UTSA (11/27), vs. Grambling State (11/28), vs. CSU Bakersfield (12/3), vs. Penn (1/14), at Harvard (1/16)
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)
Dusan Neskovic: 2 - at Fordham (11/7), at Yale (1/6)
Jaren Johnson: 1 - at UMass (12/20)
Robert McRae III: 1 - vs. MCLA (11/12)
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
Saturday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

What's Ahead?
After Saturday's game, the Big Green close out the month of January at home by hosting Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 28. Opening tipoff is set for 2 p.m. It's the start of a four-game homestand for Dartmouth.