Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Penn on February 21, 2025 , Loss , 75, to, 88
Final
Men's Basketball
at Penn
75
88
Friday, February 23
Hanover, N.H.
7:00 PM
Dartmouth College
5-18,1-9Ivy League
69
vs
82
Penn
10-15,2-8Ivy League
1
2
F
Penn
39
43
82
Dartmouth
22
47
69
Photo by: Chloe Broeker
Dartmouth Suffers 82-69 Defeat to Penn
2/23/2024 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Dusan Neskovic scored 23 points for a second straight game
HANOVER, N.H. — An alley-oop from first-year Niko Abusara to sophomore Jayden Williams gave the Dartmouth men's basketball team a 9-8 lead, but visiting Penn responded with a 13-0 run to take a 21-9 advantage, and the Big Green couldn't recover in an 82-69 loss on Friday evening inside Leede Arena. Senior Dusan Neskovic knocked down a trio of 3-pointers early in the second half to trim Dartmouth's halftime deficit from 17 to 10, but the momentum was short-lived, due in large part to the Quakers' Sam Brown, who finished with 26 points behind 6-of-7 shooting from three.
With the loss, Dartmouth falls to 5-18 and 1-9 in the Ivy League. Penn improves to 10-15 and 2-8.
"They're an excellent shooting team," said Big Green head coach David McLaughlin. "They have three to four guys who can stretch the D at all times. They've got a center who has a really high assist rate, so you have to decide how you're going to guard the post with him, and I thought he found guys early. When we tried to mix it up with some zone, they made some deep shots, which gave them some confidence."
The Quakers entered the day 30th nationally in 3-pointers per game at 9.2 and went on to connect on 14-of-31 for the game. Dartmouth hit 12 threes as well (on 34 attempts), including 10-of-19 in the second half.
Neskovic scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, finishing the evening with a career-high six made threes (on 11 attempts). He became the first Big Green player to score 20+ in back-to-back games since Brendan Barry scored 25 at Yale then 21 at Brown on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5 of 2022. Neskovic is up to three 20+ point efforts in his last four games, and seven for the season.
Sophomore Jayden Williams reached double-figure points, scoring 10 on 4-of-8 shooting. Sophomore Jackson Munro had eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. All 11 Big Green who played scored, including a season-high six points from junior Cade Haskins via a pair of 3-pointers.
The early going saw ties at two and four. After Penn opened an 8-4 lead, five straight Big Green points — behind a Neskovic three and Williams dunk — gave Dartmouth a 9-8 advantage.
A Williams three got the Big Green within eight at 24-16, but Penn responded with another run, this time nine in a row to take a 33-16 advantage. The Quakers led 39-22 at the half.
Neskovic connected on three 3-pointers in the first 3:42 of the second half to pull within 43-33 with 16:18 on the clock. But that's as close as the Big Green would come. Shortly after, Dartmouth would pull within 11 after a Munro putback and Williams 3-pointer but Penn began to build up its lead some more.
"What I just told the guys in the locker room is it's really really hard to move the ball and get to great looks, and it's really really hard to finish defensive possessions," said McLaughlin. "That's what we have to do right now; we have to embrace hard. Not just the five guys on the court, but everybody, coaches as well. Embrace hard, be tougher and be ready to take the next step."Â Â
For the game, the Big Green shot 43.3 percent from the floor (26-of-60) compared to Penn's 52.5 percent (32-of-61). Dartmouth shot 35.3 percent from 3-point range (12-of-34) to the Quakers' 45.2 percent (14-of-31). Penn held a 33-31 edge in rebounds. The game saw plenty of assisted baskets, with Dartmouth assisting on 19 of its 26, with the Quakers assisting on 23 of their 32. There were only 12 total turnovers, seven from Dartmouth and five from Penn.
"Overall, the defensive effort wasn't there and that decided the whole momentum of the game," said Neskovic. "Too many easy baskets, too many straight-line drives from two guards who are really good on the ball. Something we can't allow."
The Big Green return home on Saturday to host Princeton at 6 p.m. on Senior Night.
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With the loss, Dartmouth falls to 5-18 and 1-9 in the Ivy League. Penn improves to 10-15 and 2-8.
"They're an excellent shooting team," said Big Green head coach David McLaughlin. "They have three to four guys who can stretch the D at all times. They've got a center who has a really high assist rate, so you have to decide how you're going to guard the post with him, and I thought he found guys early. When we tried to mix it up with some zone, they made some deep shots, which gave them some confidence."
The Quakers entered the day 30th nationally in 3-pointers per game at 9.2 and went on to connect on 14-of-31 for the game. Dartmouth hit 12 threes as well (on 34 attempts), including 10-of-19 in the second half.
Neskovic scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, finishing the evening with a career-high six made threes (on 11 attempts). He became the first Big Green player to score 20+ in back-to-back games since Brendan Barry scored 25 at Yale then 21 at Brown on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5 of 2022. Neskovic is up to three 20+ point efforts in his last four games, and seven for the season.
Sophomore Jayden Williams reached double-figure points, scoring 10 on 4-of-8 shooting. Sophomore Jackson Munro had eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. All 11 Big Green who played scored, including a season-high six points from junior Cade Haskins via a pair of 3-pointers.
The early going saw ties at two and four. After Penn opened an 8-4 lead, five straight Big Green points — behind a Neskovic three and Williams dunk — gave Dartmouth a 9-8 advantage.
It was short-lived, however, as Penn reeled off 13 straight points. The run included three 3-pointers, capped off by Brown's first trey of the evening to put the Quakers ahead, 21-9 with 8:52 left in the first half.Abusara with the alley. Williams with the oop to give the Big Green the lead.
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 24, 2024
Watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/XM36VsZnqa #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/DGG3Y7w9qR
A Williams three got the Big Green within eight at 24-16, but Penn responded with another run, this time nine in a row to take a 33-16 advantage. The Quakers led 39-22 at the half.
Neskovic connected on three 3-pointers in the first 3:42 of the second half to pull within 43-33 with 16:18 on the clock. But that's as close as the Big Green would come. Shortly after, Dartmouth would pull within 11 after a Munro putback and Williams 3-pointer but Penn began to build up its lead some more.
The margin reached as much as 24 after a Cam Thrower 3-pointer with 7:14 remaining made it 68-44. The Big Green cut into the deficit over the remaining time, with an Abusara layup as the final horn sounded pulling Dartmouth within 82-69. Abusara finished with four points and a career-high four minutes in a career-high 16 minutes of action.Dusan Neskovic is heating up! He's up to nine points this half already via a trio of threes. Big Green back within 10 with plenty of time remaining.
— Dartmouth Men's Basketball (@DartmouthMBB) February 24, 2024
Watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/XM36VsZnqa #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/IpNa8SQBEe
"What I just told the guys in the locker room is it's really really hard to move the ball and get to great looks, and it's really really hard to finish defensive possessions," said McLaughlin. "That's what we have to do right now; we have to embrace hard. Not just the five guys on the court, but everybody, coaches as well. Embrace hard, be tougher and be ready to take the next step."Â Â
For the game, the Big Green shot 43.3 percent from the floor (26-of-60) compared to Penn's 52.5 percent (32-of-61). Dartmouth shot 35.3 percent from 3-point range (12-of-34) to the Quakers' 45.2 percent (14-of-31). Penn held a 33-31 edge in rebounds. The game saw plenty of assisted baskets, with Dartmouth assisting on 19 of its 26, with the Quakers assisting on 23 of their 32. There were only 12 total turnovers, seven from Dartmouth and five from Penn.
"Overall, the defensive effort wasn't there and that decided the whole momentum of the game," said Neskovic. "Too many easy baskets, too many straight-line drives from two guards who are really good on the ball. Something we can't allow."
The Big Green return home on Saturday to host Princeton at 6 p.m. on Senior Night.
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Team Stats
Penn
Dart
FG%
.525
.433
3FG%
.452
.353
FT%
1.000
.556
RB
33
31
TO
5
7
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
6
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
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