Big Green Welcome Penn and Princeton to Leede Arena This Weekend

Friday, February 23

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Penn

Tickets

Photo by: Chloe Broeker

Big Green Welcome Penn and Princeton to Leede Arena This Weekend

2/22/2024 10:48:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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Dartmouth returns home for the first time since early Feburary

By: Justin Lafleur

GAME 23
Dartmouth (5-17, 1-8 Ivy League) vs. Penn (9-15, 1-8 Ivy League)
Date: Friday, February 23, 2024 – 7 p.m.
Location: Hanover, N.H. – Leede Arena
All-Time Series: Penn, 159-65

GAME 24
Dartmouth (5-17, 1-8 Ivy League) vs. Princeton (19-3, 7-2 Ivy League)
Date: Saturday, February 24, 2024 – 6 p.m.
Location: Hanover, N.H. – Leede Arena
All-Time Series: Princeton, 160-64

Setting the Scene
After three straight games on the road, the Dartmouth men's basketball team returns home for a pair of games this weekend, hosting Penn on Friday (7 p.m.) and Princeton on Saturday (6 p.m.). Both games can be seen on ESPN+, with Friday's contest also on NESN+. The Big Green most recently dropped an 89-80 final at Cornell in a high-paced, back-and-forth game that saw Dartmouth jump out to a 14-point first-half lead before the Big Red surged back.

Five Dartmouth players finished with double-figure points on Saturday, the first time that happened in nearly two years (since Feb. 26, 2022 against Penn). Senior Dusan Neskovic led the way with 23 points, just one short of his career high. He now has six games with 20+ points this season, the most by a Big Green player since Chris Knight had eight in 2018-19. Three of Neskovic's points came on an emphatic and-one dunk that was the No. 5 Play of the Day on SportsCenter. He also scored 18 points at Columbia and has led the Big Green in scoring for five straight games and six of the last seven. Neskovic's 15.5 scoring average this season is sixth in the Ivy League.

At Cornell, sophomore Jayden Williams scored 13 points, all in the first half. He was a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point range in the first half as the Big Green knocked down 9-of-13 from distance over the first 20 minutes. Sophomore Jackson Munro narrowly missed a triple-double, posting 12 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists. His strong distributing has continued with four or more assists in five of his last six games, recording 27 assists in that span. Senior Jaren Johnson also scored 10 points against the Big Red, his third straight game in double figures — the longest streak in his career.

As a team, Dartmouth finished 13-of-27 from 3-point range, tied for the most in any Ivy League game since hitting 14-of-27 on Feb. 3, 2018 at Columbia. The other time the Big Green have hit 13 in an Ivy contest since that point was last Feb. 25 at Penn.

The Big Green entered last weekend with one game with four reaching double-figure points. That happened in back-to-back games last weekend. At Columbia, Neskovic (18), junior Romeo Myrthil (11), Johnson (11) and Munro (10) all scored 10 or more. Against the Lions, Dartmouth fell behind 10-0 and 30-9 before battling back. The Big Green did get within nine in the final minute, but it was too little, too late. Dartmouth ended up outscoring Columbia 54-43 after trailing 30-9.

Friday against Penn features two teams with identical Ivy League records. The Quakers captured the Ivy League opener at home vs. the Big Green, but haven't won since. With Dartmouth's regular season finale vs. Harvard moving to midweek, Saturday will now be Senior Night, with five seniors (Johnson, Robert McRae III, Neskovic, Izaiah Robinson and head student manager Sriyash Erra) recognized prior to opening tipoff.

Weekend Promotions
A Kids Club Takeover is on tap for Friday's game while Saturday will be Senior Night and a Health Care Appreciation Game, along with postgame autographs. Healthcare workers and their families are eligible to take advantage of $5 off their tickets by clicking here.

With a win on Friday (over Penn)...
- Dartmouth would snap a five-game losing streak.
- The Big Green would drop a two-game skid against Penn, but beat the Quakers for the third time in their last five tries.
- Dartmouth would beat Penn at home for a third straight time.
- The Big Green would improve to 6-5 at home this season.

With a win on Saturday (over Princeton)...
- The Big Green would beat Princeton for a second time in their last three tries and second straight at home.
- It would be the first time Dartmouth wins back-to-back games vs. Princeton at home since Feb. 23, 2007 and Feb. 23, 2008.
- The 2-1 stretch against Princeton would be the Big Green's best since 2008-09 when they won two-of-three. Going back to 2007, Dartmouth won four-of-six from 2007-09.
- (Should the Big Green also win on Friday) Dartmouth would win back-to-back Ivy League games for the first time since last Jan. 14 and 16 when it beat Penn and Harvard.

Last Time Out
ITHACA, N.Y. (2/17/24) — The Dartmouth men's basketball team opened a 43-29 lead with 5:35 left in the first half, but the high-powered Cornell offense closed the half on a 21-4 run to take a 50-47 halftime lead, on the way to defeating the Big Green, 89-80 on Saturday evening inside Newman Arena. Five Dartmouth players finished with double-figure points for the first time since Feb. 26, 2022. Senior Dusan Neskovic led the way with 23 points, one shy of tying his career high.

Scouting Penn
Penn stands 9-15 overall, including 1-8 in the Ivy League. After an 8-7 nonconference record, which included a win over Villanova, the Quakers beat Dartmouth in their league opener, 80-51, but have since lost eight in a row. Penn has lost 10 of its last 11 overall. Most recently, the Quakers dropped a 71-64 final at home vs. Brown. Penn is 8-4 at home and just 1-9 on the road, with the one win coming at Rider in overtime.

Clark Slajchert, brother of former Big Green player Wes, leads the team in scoring (17.5). He's followed by first-years Tyler Perkins (14.1) and Sam Brown (10.9), who have each twice been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week. Nick Spinoso averages 10.1 points and a team-leading 7.6 rebounds per game. Spinoso's 82 assists are also tops on the Quakers. As a team, Penn is third in the Ivy League and 30th nationally in 3-pointers per game (9.2).

All-Time Against the Quakers
Penn leads the all-time series against Dartmouth, 159-65. It's been all about the home teams recently with the home teams having won the last seven matchups. The Big Green have won the last two at Dartmouth via finals of 84-70 and 75-71, respectively. The first-ever meeting between the sides came on Mar. 1, 1905, a 30-26 Penn victory. Dartmouth's first win came in the next meeting, a 31-15 final on Jan. 17, 1907.

Scouting Princeton
Princeton is 19-3 on the season and 7-2 in the Ivy League. The Tigers were one of the last unbeaten teams in the nation at 9-0 and stood 15-1 heading into late January. Princeton dropped games at Cornell and Yale, but have responded with four straight victories, including a 73-62 win over Yale last time out.

Xaivian Lee leads the Tigers and is third in the Ivy League in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game. He's followed by Caden Pierce (15.0) and Matt Allocco (13.0). Pierce's 9.4 rebounds per game also lead the team, while Lee and Allocco are tied for first in assists with 76. As a team, the Tigers are second nationally in free throw percentage (81.0), third in fewest turnovers per game (8.6), third in fewest fouls per game (12.9), seventh in winning percentage (86.4) and 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.70).

All-Time Against the Tigers
Dartmouth's 83-76 home win over Princeton last Feb. 11 snapped an eight-game losing
streak. The Tigers followed up by beating the Big Green this Jan. 15 via a 76-58 final to take a 160-64 lead in the all-time series. Princeton jumped out to a 25-10 lead, but Dartmouth wouldn't quit, pulling as close as nine in the second half. The Tigers have won 16 of the last 18 meetings. Prior to last season, the Big Green's previous two wins were Feb. 10, 2018 (72-56) and Feb. 21, 2009 (66-63), both at Dartmouth. 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.

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 four double-doubles this season.

- at Saint Louis (Nov. 25): 17 points, 10 rebounds
- at Vermont (Nov. 29): 10 points, 10 rebounds
- vs. Brown (Jan. 27): 22 points, 10 rebounds
- vs. Cornell (Feb. 2): 10 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). Against Brown on Jan. 27, Mitchell-Day's 22-point, 10-rebound double-double marked the first of his career in Ivy League play and first 20-point, 10-rebound double-double in just under a year (since Dame Adelekeun's 41-point, 10-rebound double-double vs. Columbia on Jan. 28, 2023). Mitchell-Day went on to post another double-double one game after Brown, tallying 10 points and 10 rebounds against Cornell on Feb. 2.

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. The Big Green have seven games with 5+ blocks this season, including seven at Harvard. Sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day tallied a career-high four swats in that game.

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.
- Mitchell-Day scored 22 points while Neskovic added 20 in Dartmouth's comeback win over Brown on Jan. 27, marking the first time since Jan. 21 of last season that two Big Green teammates scored 20+ in a game, when Ryan Cornish had 31 and Neskovic netted 24 at Princeton.
- Neskovic scored 20 points at Harvard, his fifth 20+ point effort of the season, the most 20-point games since Brendan Barry in 2018-19.
- Neskovic's 23 points at Cornell gave him six 20-point efforts of the season, the most for a Big Green player since Chris Knight's eight in 2018-19.

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.

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
Eight different Big Green players have led the team in scoring this season.

Dusan Neskovic: 12 - at Duke (11/6), at Saint Louis (11/25), at Vermont (11/29), vs. UAlbany (12/2), at Sacred Heart (12/21), at Vanderbilt (tied) (12/30), vs. Yale (1/20), vs. Cornell (2/2), vs. Columbia (2/3), at Harvard (2/10), at Columbia (2/16), at Cornell (2/17)
Brandon Mitchell-Day: 4 - vs. Westfield State (11/15), at Vanderbilt (tied) (12/30), at Princeton (1/15), vs. Brown (1/27)
Jaren Johnson: 2 - vs. UMass Lowell (11/10), at Le Moyne (tied) (12/16)
Ryan Cornish: 2 - vs. Marist (12/9), at Penn (1/6)
Jayden Williams: 1 - vs. New Hampshire (12/6)
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)

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

Yale: 23-7
Princeton: 23-7
Cornell: 17-11
Brown: 11-16
Dartmouth: 11-17
Penn: 11-17
Harvard: 11-17
Columbia: 6-20

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
Both Friday and Saturday night's games can be seen live on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast also available both days on DartmouthSports.com.

What's Ahead?
Following this weekend, the Big Green hit the road next weekend for game at Yale and Brown.