Big Green Can’t Maintain Hot Start in 76-51 Loss to Yale

Saturday, January 20

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-12,0-3Ivy League

Yale

12-6,3-0Ivy League

Yale

Dartmouth

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Big Green Can’t Maintain Hot Start in 76-51 Loss to Yale

1/20/2024 7:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Eleven of the 12 Dartmouth players who saw action scored

By: Justin Lafleur

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth men's basketball team held a 12-11 lead just over eight minutes into Saturday's game, but Yale responded with a 10-0 run to take a nine-point lead, and the Big Green couldn't recover in a 76-51 loss inside Leede Arena. Dartmouth would pull within four with 2:31 left in the first half, but the Bulldogs scored 29 of the next 33 points, bridging the end of the first half and beginning of the second, to erase any doubt.

With its win, Yale improves to 12-6 and 3-0 in the Ivy League. Dartmouth falls to 4-12 and 0-3.

"It's 12-11 us and I think the biggest thing is when we start games like that and we're playing the way we want to play, we call it playing to our identity, we have to continue to play to that identity no matter the circumstance," said Big Green head coach David McLaughlin. "At the end of that half, we took some questionable shots. They (Yale) made some plays. We have to play a certain way. The ball has to be inside-out.

"Right now, our challenge is to figure out how we can play to that identity that we want to play unconditionally," McLaughlin continued. "I feel like today, we did that conditionally."

Senior Dusan Neskovic led the Big Green in scoring with 11 points while sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day added eight points and a career-high four steals.

Danny Wolf led Yale with 19 points and 14 rebounds to pace four Bulldogs with double-figure points.

The Big Green got off to a hot start, knocking down their first three field goal attempts, two coming from behind the arc. An Izaiah Robinson 3-pointer put Dartmouth ahead, 6-4. A few minutes later, Neskovic converted a short jumper to give the Big Green a 10-7 lead with 15:57 on the clock. Robinson and Neskovic had each scored five points up to that point.

After a Mitchell-Day free throw gave Dartmouth a 12-11 lead, Yale surged ahead with 10 consecutive points, capped off by a Bez Mbeng 3-point play to put the Bulldogs ahead, 21-12 with 9:49 left in the first half.

Dartmouth responded, inching closer. First-year Ben Brown provided a spark off the bench, knocking down a 3-pointer with 4:42 on the clock to get the Big Green within 27-21. Just over two minutes later, another Brown three gave Dartmouth a 32-28 lead with 2:31 left in the first.

That marked the Big Green's final points of the half, as Yale ended the stanza on a 6-0 run to take a 38-28 halftime advantage.

"I have a saying amongst my friends… where does 'almost' matter? The answer to that question is nowhere," said senior Robert McRae III. "We held them at a good pace in the first five minutes because we had the lead. In the first half, we were competitive. It was almost, and it doesn't mean anything. We lost the game."

The Bulldogs continued the momentum into the second. Mitchell-Day scored four points in the first 2:04 of the second half, getting Dartmouth within 45-32, but Yale went on to score 16 straight points to take a 61-32 lead. In the end, the Big Green went scoreless for 9:12, snapped by two Connor Christensen free throws with 8:44 on the clock to make the score 61-34.

Dartmouth began to click offensively, outsourcing Yale 19-15 over the game's final 8:44, but it wasn't nearly enough.

For the game, the Big Green shot just 28.8 percent from the floor (15-of-52) compared to Yale's 47.7 percent (31-of-65). Dartmouth was 27.3 percent from 3-point range (6-of-22) compared to Yale's 23.8 percent (5-of-21). The Bulldogs held a 42-30 edge in rebounds.

"Your energy on the offensive end is going to fuel your energy on the defensive end," said McLaughlin. "That's part of when we talk about no matter the circumstance. If you don't score for a few possessions in a row or you miss some open looks, which we did at certain parts, you still have to continue to defend. And we have to do that as a unit together."

The Big Green remain at home next Saturday when they host Brown at 2 p.m. inside Leede Arena.

"Sometimes, the flow of the game, the circumstances of the game, affected guys' energy out there," said McLaughlin. "It's a good lesson for us, for the whole program, for the coaches, for the staff. We have to believe; no matter the circumstance, we have to play a certain way."