Dartmouth Looks to Continue Momentum Saturday, Hosting Marist

GAME 8
Dartmouth (2-5, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. Marist (5-2, 2-0 MAAC)
Date: Saturday, December 9, 2023 – 4 p.m.
Location: Hanover, N.H. – Leede Arena
All-Time Series: Marist leads, 5-2

Setting the Scene
The Dartmouth men's basketball team looks to ride the momentum from an impressive Wednesday night win over in-state rival New Hampshire when the Big Green host Marist on Saturday at 4 p.m. Last time out, 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.

Dartmouth has now had a 20-point scorer in five consecutive games. It's also 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. 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.

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).

As a team, the Big Green knocked down 14 3-pointers, with junior Ryan Cornish also converting 3-of-8. He tallied a season-high 14 points, while sophomore Jackson Munro's 11 on 5-of-6 shooting were also a season high. Senior Jaren Johnson led the Big Green in rebounding for the third time this season with eight, and continues to lead the way on the year, coming in at 6.4 per game on average. Junior Romeo Myrthil also chipped in eight points, knocking down 2-of-3 from 3-point range.

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. Wednesday's effort came without Dartmouth's top two scorers this season in senior Dusan Neskovic and sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day, who were both out due to injury.

Marist snaps a stretch of three straight America East opponents for the Big Green, marking Dartmouth's first MAAC opponent since facing Quinnipiac last Nov. 15 on the road. Dartmouth and Marist will play for the first time since 2018 and first time at Dartmouth since 2016.

With a win...
- The Big Green would win a third straight home game for the first time since last November/December when they beat MCA, NVU-Johnson and CSU Bakersfield.
- Dartmouth would beat a member of the MAAC for the first time since an 80-69 win over Canisius on Jan. 12, 2016.
- The Big Green would snap a four-game losing streak against Marist and beat the Red Foxes for the first time since Nov. 28, 1997.
- Dartmouth would beat Marist at home for the first time in program history; Saturday will mark just the second-ever meeting in Hanover.

Last Time Out
HANOVER, N.H. (12/6/23) — A Jayden Williams 3-pointer gave the Dartmouth men's basketball team a 6-5 lead just 1:11 into Wednesday night's contest, and the Big Green wouldn't look back, as they rolled past in-state rival UNH, 76-64, in a matchup of New Hampshire's two Division I men's basketball programs. Dartmouth led by as many as 23 in the second half, due to a total team effort, led by a career-high 28 points from Williams. Williams finished 8-of-10 from 3-point range, giving the Big Green important offensive production to help offset Dartmouth missing its top two scorers (senior Dusan Neskovic and sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day) due to injury.

Scouting Marist
Standing 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the MAAC, Marist features a very young team as well, with its top three scorers and four of its top five as first years or sophomores. Max Allen II leads the Red Foxes in scoring, averaging 13.5 points per game while Josh Pascarelli comes in at 7.9 and Jadin Collins averages 7.7

Marist comes in riding three straight wins, including two straight MAAC victories. The Red Foxes defeated Bucknell (73-49), Iona (68-64) and Manhattan (70-56). Marist's other wins came over Army West Point and UMBC, with its lone losses coming at Binghamton and New Hampshire.

All-Time Against The Red Foxes
Marist leads the all-time series against Dartmouth, 5-2. The teams last played in 2018 in the Belfast Classic, a 76-58 Red Foxes victory, their fourth straight win in the series. After Marist won the first-ever meeting in 1983, the Big Green captured the next two, winning in 1991 (50-48) and 1997 (59-55).

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.

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 that 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).

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 nonconference 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.

McRae III and Myrthil Named Captains
Dartmouth head men's basketball coach David McLaughlin announced that senior Robert McRae III and junior Romeo Myrthil will serve as the Big Green's team captains in 2023-24. The two will look to lead an experienced group that features seven returning players who led the team in scoring at least once this past season.

McRae emerged as a junior, especially in Ivy League play when he became a regular in the Big Green rotation. After appearing in two games as a sophomore, he played in 24 as a junior, starting once and averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds. His impact on the defensive end of the floor was also strong, along with his impact on the game in intangible ways. Three games into the season, McRae scored a career-high 18 points in just 15 minutes against MCLA, shooting 5-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He later made his first-career start at UMass and filled up the box score with nine points, seven rebounds, three steals and an assist. In Ivy League play, McRae scored nine points in a mid-February weekend — four at Cornell and five at Columbia.

Myrthil averaged 3.6 points and 2.0 rebounds as a junior in 25 games, starting eight times. Like McRae, Myrthil's impact came at both ends of the floor and in ways not always evident in the box score. Offensively, he reached double-figure points on three occasions, including a career-high 12 in a home win over Princeton and 11 both against CSU Bakersfield and at South Florida. For the season, Myrthil shot 42.7 percent from the floor (32-of-75) and 36.6 percent from 3-point range (15-of-41). After starting the first eight games of the season, Myrthil came off the bench in game nine and he responded with 27 points over the next three games (11 points against CSU Bakersfield followed by nine vs. Vermont and seven at CCSU).

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 nonconference opponent at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium since Kevon Harris of Stephen F. Austin had 26 on Nov. 26, 2019.

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

Estes Promoted, McAlister Added to Staff
Head coach David McLaughlin announced staff changes this summer, which featured Braeden Estes being promoted to assistant coach, with Garvin McAlister joining the staff as director of basketball operations. Estes, who had been Dartmouth's director of operations for two seasons, fills the role left by Dan Ryan, who recently accepted a position with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in Germany. McAlister joins the Big Green with plenty of college basketball coaching experience, most recently as associate head coach at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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 can be seen live on ESPN+, with Brett Franklin and Dave Faucher on the call. An audio broadcast will also be available on DartmouthSports.com with Brandon Bojarsky on the call.

What's Ahead?
After Saturday's game, the Big Green wrap up their three-game homestand when they host Boston University next Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. To purchase tickets, head to DartmouthSports.com/tickets.

Schedules