HANOVER, N.H. – It’s not often that Dartmouth has played the role of the hunted in the Ivy League in the last few decades. But they certainly looked the part Friday night at Leede Arena, beating Columbia in dominant fashion, 78-56.
It was the third straight win for the Big Green, who ended the night tied for second in the Ivy with Princeton and Cornell, not a scenario many envisioned before the season, or even a month ago. Dartmouth hosts Cornell Saturday night.
The Big Green (11-10, 5-3) beat the Lions (12-9, 1-7) in New York two weeks ago but had to shoot 16-for-24 from three-point range to do it in a 95-89 track meet. On Friday, Dartmouth held Columbia to its lowest point total of the season and 0.86 points per possession.
“We played really well for 40 minutes,” Dartmouth coach David McLaughlin said. “We protected the paint for the majority of the game, rebounded really well and made shots when we had to.”
The Lions turned the ball over just six times but didn’t have much in any other offensive categories, shooting just 4-for-17 from behind the arc (Dartmouth’s opponents are 7-for-50 in its last two games) and only getting to the free throw line 10 times. Columbia was without Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa for the fourth straight game, and with the season quickly coming to a climax, the chances of him returning get slimmer by the week.
Dartmouth was missing Cade Haskins (McLaughlin after the game would not comment other than saying he would be a gametime decision Saturday). But the Big Green continue to ride veterans Ryan Cornish and Brandon Mitchell-Day. Each had 17 points (Mitchell-Day added 13 rebounds) and seemed to make a play every time Dartmouth needed it.
“We knew we were going to switch their ball screens, because they set a lot of them,” Cornish said. “Me and Brandon were often guarding smaller guards because of that. We tried to use our length to meet them at the rim and block shots.”
The Lions’ last lead came just four minutes into the game at 6-4, but they were making a small run at the end of the first half. With the score 33-27, some Columbia confusion allowed the ball to trickle out of bounds with two seconds on the Dartmouth shot clock and Cornish hit a huge contested three to make it 36-27 at the break.
Columbia never got closer than seven, and by the eight-minute mark, the game was decided.
The Lions travel to Harvard Saturday looking for answers on both ends of the floor, 1-7 in the Ivy after an 11-1 nonconference record. Kenny Noland scored 19 and freshman Gerard O’Keefe – who has been a bit of a revelation – added 13 for Columbia, but it was never really in this contest.
“We’re really struggling to score right now,” Columbia coach Jim Engles said. “Unless the game gets really accelerated, we’ve had a hard time creating some sort of offensive flow, and today’s game was a little slower (67 possessions) and we have to figure something out in the half-court.”
For Dartmouth, destiny sits ahead. Cornish and Mitchell-Day are playing at an All-Ivy level, freshman point guard Connor Amundsen continues to be solid, there is depth in players like junior Jayden Williams, and a confidence that has not graced Hanover at this time of year in a long, long time.
“We pride ourselves on being unselfish,” McLaughlin said. “I think these guys really buy into that as a group and it showed tonight.”
That doesn’t mean Saturday’s game with Cornell is not huge. Dartmouth goes on the road to Princeton and Penn next week and then hosts Yale, so things could definitely get away from them quickly. But for now, everything is coming up Dartmouth.
“It goes back to, can we take care of the ball, can we be unselfish, can we be the more physical team, and can we rebound the ball,” McLaughlin said. “If we do those things, I think we have a pretty good chance to be successful.”