Big Green Travel to SEC Foe Vanderbilt for Saturday Showdown

GAME 13
Dartmouth (4-8, 0-0 Ivy League) at Vanderbilt (4-8, 0-0 SEC)
Date: Saturday, December 30, 2023 – 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. locally)
Location: Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gymnasium
All-Time Series: Tied, 2-2

Setting the Scene
After a break surrounding Christmas, the Dartmouth men's basketball team returns to action this Saturday at Vanderbilt for its nonconference finale. Opening tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. locally) on SEC Network+. The Big Green will be facing a member of the Southeastern Conference for the first time since 1988 when they also played at Vanderbilt.

Dartmouth is 3-7 all-time against the SEC, having played Vanderbilt the most; the teams have split the four all-time meetings. The Big Green's other SEC victory was over Kentucky on Mar. 21, 1942, a 48-28 win.

Both Dartmouth and Vanderbilt enter Saturday's matchup with identical 4-8 records. Last time out, the Big Green fell at preseason NEC favorite Sacred Heart, 67-57. Since the start of December, Dartmouth has alternated wins and losses, standing 3-4 this month. At Sacred Heart, the Big Green led by as many as six late in the first half and by one at the half, but the Pioneers turned the tides in the second to prevent Dartmouth from picking up its first road win of the season.

A bright spot for the Big Green was senior Dusan Neskovic and sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day, who combined for 33 points in their second games back since returning from injury. Neskovic scored 19 on 5-of-14 shooting and 7-of-9 from the free throw line. Mitchell-Day had 14 points and six boards, knocking down 5-of-7 from the floor. Junior Ryan Cornish also scored nine points and grabbed six boards.

Dartmouth dominated the glass, holding a 44-29 edge in rebounds, its best margin since a 49-23 edge (+26) over MCLA last Nov. 12 and best margin vs. a Division I opponent since a 39-23 advantage (+16) over Cornell on Feb. 15, 2020. It marked the best rebounding margin away from home since a neutral site win over Merrimack on Nov. 15, 2019 which saw the Big Green hold a 45-23 edge on the glass. Against Sacred Heart, Dartmouth grabbed a season-high 17 offensive rebounds, most since last Nov. 25 against Incarnate Word.

The Big Green still haven't played with their full roster in the month of December. Neskovic, Mitchell-Day and sophomore Jayden Williams returned to the lineup on Monday, Dec. 18 vs. Thomas College after missing a varying number of games to injury. However, senior Jaren Johnson missed that game due to injury. Johnson returned against Sacred Heart, but Williams wasn't active. The group will look to gain momentum heading into Ivy League play, which begins on Jan. 6 at Penn. The Big Green have struggled record-wise in the nonconference, but did hand New Hampshire a loss despite missing Neskovic and Mitchell-Day, a UNH team that stands 8-4 and most recently beat Rhode Island out of the Atlantic 10. The Big Green also nearly defeated Saint Louis of the A-10 themselves, with three chances in the final seconds for the win, but the shots wouldn't fall.

With a win...
- The Big Green would improve to 3-2 all-time against Vanderbilt and beat the Commodores for the first time since Dec. 19, 1969, an 83-82 win on the road.
- Dartmouth would continue its stretch of alternating wins and losses throughout the last six games. The last time the Big Green lost or won back-to-back games came when they lost three straight: at Saint Louis (Nov. 25), at Vermont (Nov. 29) and at UAlbany (Dec. 2).
- The Big Green would beat a member of the SEC for the first time since an 83-82 win over Vanderbilt on Dec. 19, 1969.
- Dartmouth would improve to 4-7 all-time against the SEC.
- The Big Green would beat a power conference opponent for the second time in the last three seasons, last doing so at Georgetown of the Big East. Dartmouth beat the Hoyas on the road on Nov. 13, 2021, 69-60.
- Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin would win his 250th career game as a collegiate head coach (including his time at Stonehill).
- Dartmouth would win a road nonleague game for the first time since winning at UTSA,
78-77 in overtime, last Nov. 27.

Last Time Out
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (12/21/23) — The Dartmouth men's basketball team opened a 26-20 lead late in the first half, but Sacred Heart ended the half on a 7-2 run and carried that momentum into the second, defeating the Big Green, 67-57 on Thursday. The game tipped off at 11:30 a.m. on Sacred Heart's Education Day, with a full house of 2,400 fans in attendance. Senior Dusan Neskovic led the offense with 19 points while sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day posted 14 points and six rebounds. The two also combined to draw 13 of the Pioneers' 18 fouls for the game.

Scouting Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt stands 4-8 on the season, most recently dropping a tight 77-75 final at No. 23 Memphis. That marked the Commodores' fourth straight loss, also falling at home to Western Carolina and San Francisco, and in a neutral site game against Texas Tech. Vanderbilt's wins this season have come over USC Upstate (74-67), UNC Greensboro (74-70), Central Arkansas (75-71) and Alabama A&M (78-59). The Commodores finished last season 22-15 and 11-7 in the SEC, advancing to the NIT where they won two games —beating Yale and Michigan. However, Vanderbilt lost a lot of production from that team.

This season, Ezra Manjon leads Vanderbilt in scoring (15.9) and assists (3.8) while Colin Smith's 6.6 rebounds per game are first (6.6), but in just seven games (six starts). Tyrin Lawrence and Ven-Allen Lubin are also averaging double-figure points, but also both in limited action (eight games and seven games, respectively). Manjon and Evan Taylor are the only two players to have started double-figure games. Taylor leads the team in total minutes played (316) and is averaging 9.5 points and 3.9 rebounds. Vanderbilt's head coach is former NBA All-Star Jerry Stackhouse.

All-Time Against The Commodores
Dartmouth and Vanderbilt have split four all-time meetings, with the Big Green winning in 1948 and 1969 and the Commodores victorious in 1958 and 1988. After a neutral site matchup to start, each of the next three meetings came at Vanderbilt.

All-Time vs. the SEC
The Big Green stand 3-7 all-time against the SEC, with the wins coming against Vanderbilt (2-2 all-time) and Kentucky (1-3). Dartmouth also owns a 64-51 win against Texas A&M on Dec. 17, 1989, but before the Aggies joined the SEC in 2012. The Big Green also faced South Carolina on Jan. 21, 1980, but before the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1991.

Taking Down the (BU) Terriers
Dartmouth beat Boston University, 63-54, on Wednesday, Dec. 13.

- The Big Green held the Terriers to their fewest points in the all-time series since a 64-53 Dartmouth win on Jan. 27, 1962 —19 games ago.
- Junior Romeo Myrthil was the story offensively for the Big Green, scoring a career-high 18 points on just seven field goal attempts (making five). He was 3-of-4 from 3-point range, including two 3-pointers as part of Dartmouth's 9-0 run to turn a 39-39 tie into a 48-39 lead. Thursday (Dec. 14) was Myrthil's birthday, but his home country of Sweden is six hours ahead of the Eastern time zone, so Myrthil's career performance came on his birthday… in Sweden.
- Dartmouth's 54 points allowed marked a season best.
- The win snapped Dartmouth's three-game losing streak against the Terriers and marked only the Big Green's second victory in their last six tries in the series.

Double Trouble
Sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day has two double-doubles this season.

- at Vermont (Nov. 29): 10 points, 10 rebounds
- at Saint Louis (Nov. 25): 17 points, 10 rebounds

At Vermont on Nov. 29, Mitchell-Day recorded his second straight double-double, becoming the first Dartmouth player to do so since Chris Knight in February of 2020. Knight actually did so in three straight games, posting 27 points and 13 rebounds vs. Princeton (Feb. 22), 17 and 13 at Cornell (Feb. 28) and 19 and 10 at Columbia (Feb. 29).

Granite State Supremacy
On Wednesday, Dec. 6, Dartmouth took as much as a 23-point second-half lead over UNH, easily cruising past the Wildcats, 76-64. Sophomore Jayden Williams led the offense with a career-high 28 points, knocking down eight 3-pointers on just 10 attempts; it marked Dartmouth's fifth straight game with a 20-point scorer.

The win came over a UNH team that entered 6-3 and without the Big Green's top two scorers due to injury, senior Dusan Neskovic and sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day. Williams' eight 3-pointers were just one from tying a program record and tied for the fifth most made threes in the nation this season. It was the most made triples by a Dartmouth player since Brendan Barry knocked down eight on Dec. 14, 2018 against Boston University. Williams also set career highs in rebounds (5), assists (4) and blocks (2) to help him earn Ivy League Player of the Week honors.

As a team, the Big Green knocked down a season-high 14 3-pointers. Dartmouth did not turn the ball over until 5:41 into the second half, finishing with just five, which were its fewest since also having five on Dec. 19, 2021 at Cal. UNH had just seven turnovers, as both teams took care of the basketball. The Big Green finished with 19 assists, a season high and most since last season's finale vs. Harvard.

Block Party
The Big Green tallied nine blocks on Dec. 2 at UAlbany, their most since Dec. 21, 2013 when they also had nine against Longwood. Juniors Nikola Dimitrijevic and Romeo Myrthil each posted a career-high four blocks, while senior Jaren Johnson recorded the other.

20-Point Notables...
- Senior Dusan Neskovic became the first Big Green player with 20 points in back-to-back road games since Brendan Barry in February of 2022. Barry had 25 at Yale (Feb. 4) followed by 21 at Brown (Feb. 5).
- Prior to Neskovic, the previous time a Big Green player scored 20 in back-to-back non-conference road games since Alex Barnett in 2008. Barnett scored 28 at Providence (Nov. 18) and 32 at Vermont (Dec. 2).
- As a team, the Big Green had a 20-point scorer in three of the first four games of the season (Neskovic 23 at Duke, sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day 20 vs. Westfield State and Neskovic 24 at Saint Louis), the first time that's happened since the 2008-09 season. That year, Barnett had all the 20-point games, posting 28 at Providence, 24 vs. Colgate and 24 against Furman.
- Dartmouth had a 20-point scorer in five consecutive games (vs. Westfield State, at Saint Louis, at Vermont, at UAlbany and vs. New Hampshire). It marked the first time since at least the turn of the century that the Big Green have had a 20-point scorer in six of the first seven games of the season.
- Against New Hampshire (Dec. 6), Jayden Williams' 28 points marked a season high for a Dartmouth player and the most by a Big Green player since Dame Adelekun scored 41 last Jan. 28 against Columbia.

History in Cameron Indoor Stadium
In the season opener at Duke on Monday, Nov. 6, the Big Green were led by junior Dusan Neskovic, who scored 23 points for a second straight season opener (also 23 last Nov. 7 at Fordham). He scored 15 of those points in the second half at Duke, shooting 7-of-11 over the final 20 minutes. Neskovic finished 11-of-19 for the game, which included knocking down a second-half 3-pointer.
- Neskovic's 23 points were the most scored by a Duke opponent in the Blue Devils' home opener since Davidson's De'Mon Brooks scored 24 on Nov. 8, 2013.
- It was also the most scored by any non-conference opponent at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium since Kevon Harris of Stephen F. Austin had 26 on Nov. 26, 2019.

Scoring Output
Seven different Big Green players have led the team in scoring this season.

Dusan Neskovic: 5 - at Duke (11/6), at Saint Louis (11/25), at Vermont (11/29), vs. UAlbany (12/2), at Sacred Heart (12/21)
Jaren Johnson: 2 - vs. UMass Lowell (11/10), at Le Moyne (tied) (12/16)
Brandon Mitchell-Day: 1 - vs. Westfield State (11/15)
Jayden Williams: 1 - vs. New Hampshire (12/6)
Ryan Cornish: 1 - vs. Marist (12/9)
Romeo Myrthil: 1 - vs. Boston University (12/13)
Connor Christensen: 1 - vs. Thomas College (12/18)
Nikola Dimitrijevic: 1 - at Le Moyne (tied) (12/16)

Preseason Poll Released
The Ivy League Men's Basketball Preseason Poll was released on Tuesday, Oct. 17, which saw the Dartmouth men's basketball team come in seventh. Yale was picked as the preseason favorite with 124 points (14 first-place votes) followed closely by Princeton with 110 points (two first-place votes). Cornell came in third with 80 points followed by Brown (77), Penn (68), Harvard (66), Dartmouth (28) and Columbia (23).

Sustained Success
Since Feb. 17, 2022, the Big Green are tied for the third best record in the league in Ivy League games (regular season or postseason).

Princeton: 16-5
Yale: 15-6
Dartmouth: 10-9
Penn: 10-9
Cornell: 9-10
Brown: 8-10
Harvard: 7-12
Columbia: 2-16

International Experience
Four members of the Big Green hail from outside of the United States — Dusan Neskovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Romeo Myrthil (Sweden), Nikola Dimitrijevic (Serbia) and Ben Brown (England). Neskovic is the first Big Green player from Banja Luka since Vedad Osmanovic '02, who scored 697 points. The four international players are tied with the 2021-22 team for the most international players on a Dartmouth men's basketball roster.

Follow Along
Saturday's game will air on SEC Network+, with a Vanderbilt radio broadcast also available on 94.9 The Fan.

What's Ahead?
Following Saturday's contest, the Big Green open Ivy League play next Saturday, Jan. 6 at Penn. Opening tipoff against the Quakers is set for 2 p.m.

Schedules