They were traveling uphill all night, but there was a sense of hope for Columbia midway through the second half Friday as they were able to almost get their deficit to host Dartmouth to single digits. Miles Wright rose and his three-pointer was well long, only it took a strange carom, floating straight up toward the ceiling, and somehow fell straight through the hoop.
Of course, Columbia fans thought.
Continue reading “Unlucky And Winless, Columbia Stumbles In Big Spot At Dartmouth”
Inside this week: Recapping the first week of Ivy action, including two rivalry games at The Palestra that set the tone for this season’s race, and looking ahead to more debuts this weekend. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Rivalries Turn at The Palestra”
David McLaughlin and Dartmouth had some optimism heading into the 2017-18 season, his second in Hanover. The Big Green were only 4-10 in the Ivy (and 7-20 overall), but improved as the season progressed and were on the fringes of the Ivy Tournament race until the final weekend of the season.
They would have to replace a lot of interior size in Wesley Dickinson and point guard Mike Fleming, but they were otherwise young.
Outlook: Evan Boudreaux will keep padding his resume as one of the program’s all-time greats, but Dartmouth needs a huge defensive leap to avoid another season near the Ivy League basement.
(Update: Actually, he won’t. Dartmouth’s defense might improve enough to avoid the basement, but losing Boudreaux severely limits its upside.) Continue reading “34 Teams in 34 Days: Dartmouth”
As of last Sunday, Dartmouth was one of only three Division I teams (there are 351 in all) that hadn’t won a basketball game this season. That’s not exactly the way David McLaughlin wanted to start his Division I coaching career, especially one returning talented sophomore Evan Boudreaux and junior Miles Wright.
The lack of a win drew some unwanted national attention toward Dartmouth,and some of the losses were a bit disturbing, like the one that still stands as Longwood’s only win, Maine at home, and getting blown out by Boston College (which seems difficult to do this season). But if people expected McLaughlin and the Big Green to be despondent about its predicament, they would probably be disappointed. Eventually, a win would come and it did last Sunday, beating LIU Brooklyn 82-68. Thursday morning (yes, morning) Dartmouth followed it up with a second straight road win over the NEC, topping Bryant 75-69.
And suddenly things don’t look so bad. If they ever did.
Continue reading “Dartmouth 75, Bryant 69: Big Green Shrug Off Early Losses”
New Dartmouth coach Dave McLaughlin will not have to worry about the hardest part of building a college basketball team — finding a star. Evan Boudreaux can be penned into that role for the next three seasons, having earned Rookie of the Year honors by averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds in Ivy play this spring. But the rest of the Big Green’s roster is more enigmatic, leaving lots of room for McLaughlin to shape the rotation to his liking. Continue reading “McLaughlin Has Centerpiece At Dartmouth, But What Else?”
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Dartmouth again? Really?
When a hobbled Makai Mason threw a pass that Miles Wright picked off, there were 11.4 seconds left, Yale trailed 62-61, and Dartmouth – just 9-16 overall and 3-9 in the Ivy – was ready to ruin the entire season again for the Bulldogs. A loss wouldn’t officially end the Ivy race, but with the way Princeton is playing and a trip to Columbia looming next weekend?
Good luck.
Continue reading “Yale 76, Dartmouth 71 (OT): Survival Beats Disaster”
HANOVER, N.H. – Everyone knew about the elephant in Leede Arena, but when he sat down behind the Yale bench early in the second half, the Bulldogs decided they’d had quite enough.
The Bulldogs were overdue for a bit of a comeuppance, coming into Dartmouth with a 60.4 eFG% in Ivy League play complete with a 47.0% three-point percentage. And it made sense that it might come in Hanover, site of last season’s catastrophe that does not need to be rehashed (but you can do so at your own peril if you wish), Yale’s first road game in three weeks and just its second in conference play.
Continue reading “Yale 75, Dartmouth 65: Chasing Pesky Elephants Out Of The Room”
What Happened Last Week: Princeton pulled an 11-point rabbit out of its hat at Penn. Harvard’s seniors held off Dartmouth down the stretch. The Ivy League went 7-1 out of conference, but with only five D-1 games. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Harvard, Princeton Survive Openers”
What Happened Last Week: The Ivy League got off to a great start: Yale hung with Duke for a half, Penn and Columbia topped solid teams, and Princeton and Harvard beat D-I opponents by D-III scores. But the weekend was brutal for everyone not named Miles Wright. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Nov. 30”
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