Big Green Post 27-Point Turnaround, but Fall Short in 56-53 Loss to Cornell

Friday, February 2

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-13,1-4Ivy League

Cornell

16-3,5-0Ivy League

Cornell

Dartmouth

Photo by: Ryan Yong

Big Green Post 27-Point Turnaround, but Fall Short in 56-53 Loss to Cornell

2/2/2024 11:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

Dusan Neskovic scored a game-high 16 points while Brandon Mitchell-Day posted his second-career double-double

By: Justin Lafleur

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth men's basketball nearly finished off a double-figure comeback for a second straight game, on Friday turning a 19-0 deficit Cornell into a 46-38 halftime lead, but the Big Red ended the game on an 18-7 run to defeat the Big Green, 56-53. Dartmouth ended the first half on a 14-3 run to pull within six at the half, then carried that momentum into the second. In the end, the Big Green outscored Ivy League leading Cornell 46-19 for a stretch of 21:36, against a team that's receiving votes in the national coaches poll.

With the Big Red's win, they improve to 16-3 and 5-0 in the Ivy League. Dartmouth falls to 5-13 and 1-4 in the league.

"No moral victories," said Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin. "You can't get down like that. We didn't miss any great looks [early on], but we missed some decent looks and they pushed in transition, which they should. They turned us over. Out of our nine first-half turnovers, eight were live-ball turnovers. That allowed them to get into transition."

Senior Dusan Neskovic led the offense with a game-high 16 points, shooting 6-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double and fourth in his career (all this season). It's the second time this season he's recorded a double-double in back-to-back games.

"I'm proud of our team, how we got back from the deficit early in the game," said Neskovic. "On the other hand, it's unacceptable for us [to be down 19-0]. That cannot happen moving forward. I'm glad we came back, but it's a good lesson for us."

Senior Jaren Johnson added eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Sophomore Jackson Munro dished a career-high five assists for a second straight game, while also tallying two blocks.

Chris Manon led Cornell with 11 points as the only Big Red player in double figures. In the end, Dartmouth held the Big Red 29 points below their season average of 85.3 entering the game, which was 10th in the nation. It was also 14 points fewer than Cornell's previous season low of 70 points at Syracuse.

It was all Cornell in the early going; the Big Red opened a 19-0 lead after a DJ Nix fastbreak layup with 10:38 left in the first half, as nothing was falling for Dartmouth. But that began to change. Mitchell-Day finished a layup to get the Big Green on the board with 10:11 left in the first half, then Dartmouth really began to catch fire in the final 5:11.

Threes from junior Romeo Myrthil and Neskovic in the span of 1:24 pulled the Big Green within 26-13 with 3:47 on the first-half clock. Dartmouth ended the half on an 8-0 run over the final 3:17, behind 3-pointers from first-year Ben Brown and Neskovic, with a Nikola Dimitrijevic layup in between. After the tough start, the Big Green entered the locker room down by just six at 27-21.

Dartmouth began the second half on a 27-9 run, which extended to 35-9 dating back to the end of the first half. A Mitchell-Day spin move and emphatic slam tied the score at 32 with 15:22 on the clock, then 36 seconds later, Neskovic connected on a 3-pointer to give Dartmouth a 35-32 lead.

After trailing 19-0, this Brandon Mitchell-Day spin move and slam over a defender pulled the Big Green even in 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 fashion 😤

Check out all the angles, @SportsCenter.#SCTop10 | @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/W4tTbmlGgE
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 3, 2024

Dusan Neskovic with a three and the Big Green have come all the way back from down 19 to take a lead!

Watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/qmeacDroWV #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/p8CTJc2x9S
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 3, 2024

Over the ensuing minutes, the Big Green continued to lead, with layups from Mitchell-Day and Munro giving Dartmouth a 46-38 advantage with 8:35 remaining.With the Big Green on top 48-42, Cornell staged an 8-1 run to take a 50-49 lead with 3:05 on the clock. The teams went on to trade baskets, with a Munro jumper evening the score at 53 with 1:45 remaining.

The Big Green got a stop and had the ball tied at 53, but a turnover and foul sent Manon to the line, who hit 1-of-2. On the other end, a Munro three late in the shot clock wouldn't fall. Nazir Williams hit a jumper in the paint to put Cornell ahead 56-53, then after a Dartmouth timeout, a tough Neskovic 3-pointer was off the mark as the Big Red survived.

For the game, Dartmouth shot 40.7 percent from the floor (22-of-54) and 26.7 percent from 3-point range (8-of-30). The Big Green held Cornell to just 37.3 percent shooting (22-of-59) and 19.4 percent from 3-point range (6-of-31), both season lows. Dartmouth held a 38-33 advantage in rebounds.

The Big Green return home on Saturday to host Columbia at 6 p.m. on Youth Basketball Night. All youth 17 and under who wear their basketball jersey will receive FREE admission.

"One of the special things about Dartmouth is the support you have, not only from the school, the students, the staff and the administration, but also the Upper Valley community," said McLaughlin. "Youth teams, clubs. It's a home court advantage when we get like [it was tonight]. Having the band here was awesome. Our guys responded to the crowd and we'll be ready to do it again tomorrow."