Big Green Host Harvard in Season Finale Tuesday

GAME 27
Dartmouth (5-21, 1-12 Ivy League) vs. Harvard 14-12 (5-8 Ivy League)
Date: Tuesday, March 5, 2024 – 7 p.m.
Location: Hanover, N.H. – Leede Arena
All-Time Series: Dartmouth, 100-95

Setting the Scene
The Dartmouth men's basketball team closes its season on Tuesday night when the Big Green welcome Harvard to Leede Arena. Opening tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Dartmouth will look to close its season with a win over the Crimson for a third straight season.

The Big Green are coming off losses over the weekend at Yale (80-56) and Brown (89-67). Dartmouth pulled within six in the second half on Friday and eight on Saturday, but couldn't get any closer. Against the Bulldogs Friday, a Jayden Williams 3-pointer got the Big Green within 38-32 with 17:31 remaining, but Yale connected on a three in its ensuing possession and wouldn't look back. Then on Saturday at Brown, Williams scored six straight points — behind a 4-point play and layup —to pull within 56-48 with 9:44 on the clock, but the Bears responded.

The story on Saturday was Brown's Kimo Ferrari, who scored 39 points on 14-of-16 shooting, including 10-of-12 from 3-point range, a program record for made threes. Dartmouth actually held Brown's two leading scorers, who are both top 10 in the Ivy League in scoring, below their season averages. Kino Lilly Jr. and Nana Owusu-Anane each scored 13 points after entering the game averaging 18.3 and 14.9 points per game, respectively.

Senior Dusan Neskovic led Dartmouth with 17 points while Williams scored 14 and junior Romeo Myrthil added 12. Senior Robert McRae III was a big bright spot with a season-high nine points to with a team-high six rebounds, along with two assists and two steals. Dartmouth finished with a 30-27 edge in rebounds, just the 10th game this season Brown has been outrebounded, sixth in Ivy League play. The Big Green are the only team to outrebound the Bears twice this season, after also doing so in Dartmouth's 75-71 win on Jan. 27.

On Friday at Yale, senior Jaren Johnson posted a team high in points (12) and rebounds (10), marking a career high for boards and his first-career double-double. He also didn't miss a shot all game, sinking 5-of-5 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Sophomore Brandon Mitchell-Day scored 10 points while adding a career-high five assists. Mitchell-Day added four assists at Brown Saturday. His three highest assist totals for a game have come in his last three contests.

The Big Green will be looking to avenge their 77-69 loss at Harvard on Feb. 10. It snapped Dartmouth's 3-game winning streak in the all-time series.

With a win on Tuesday...
- Dartmouth would win its final game of the season for a third straight year, marking the first time since 1993-97 when the Big Green won their season finales for four straight years.
- The Big Green would beat Harvard for the fourth time in their last five tries and second straight at home.
- Dartmouth would win its sixth home game of the season.
- The Big Green would improve to 101-95 all-time against the Crimson.

Last Time Out
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (3/2/24) — The Dartmouth men's basketball team trimmed an 18-point deficit down to eight with 9:48 still remaining, but Brown went on a 31-13 run to open a 26-point advantage, on the way to defeating the Big Green, 89-67 on Saturday evening inside Pizzitola Sports Center. Dartmouth pulled within five late in the first half, but two straight Bears' 3-pointers gave them a 41-30 halftime lead, with the run extending to 16-3 after they scored 10 of the first 13 second-half points.

Scouting Harvard
Harvard is 14-12 on the season, 5-8 in Ivy League play. The Crimson are coming off a pair of losses last weekend, at Brown (71-68 in overtime) and Yale (80-60). Rookie sensation Malik Mack leads Harvard in scoring (17.5), which is fourth in the league. Chisom Okpara comes in at 16.2 points per game, which is fifth in the Ivy. Mack's 4.7 assists per game are tops in the league while Justice Ajogbor's 53 blocks are also first.

As a team, the Crimson lead the Ivy League in free throws made per game (14.1) and attempted (20.1) and are second in field goal percentage defense (42.3).

All-Time Against the Crimson
Dartmouth leads the all-time series with Harvard, 101-94. The Crimson's win in February snapped a streak of three consecutive Big Green wins. The first of three wins were at Harvard to close the 2021-22 season via a 76-54 final, the Big Green's largest win in the series in 30 years and biggest in Cambridge since 1955. Then last season, Dartmouth won at Harvard (60-59) and at home (87-72). Prior to that Mar. 5, 2022 meeting, the Crimson had won the previous four meetings, two of which were at Leede Arena. The Big Green won nine of the first 11 all-time matchups, including a 26-18 victory in the first-ever meeting on Feb. 2, 1901.

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.

Senior Jaren Johnson also posted his first-career double-double on Mar. 1 at Yale.

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.
- Neskovic scored 23 then 20 points in back-to-back games vs. Penn and Princeton. His three straight 20+ point games marked the most by a Big Green player since Evan Boudreaux in February of 2016 — 21 against Yale (Feb. 12), 25 vs. Brown (Feb. 13) and 22 at Cornell (Feb. 19).

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

Dusan Neskovic: 15 - 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), vs. Penn (2/23), vs. Princeton (2/24), at Brown (3/2)
Brandon Mitchell-Day: 4 - vs. Westfield State (11/15), at Vanderbilt (tied) (12/30), at Princeton (1/15), vs. Brown (1/27)
Jaren Johnson: 3 - vs. UMass Lowell (11/10), at Le Moyne (tied) (12/16), at Yale (3/1)
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)

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.

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.

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
Tuesday's game will air on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast on DartmouthSports.com also available.

Schedules