
HANOVER, N.H. – It’s getting to be Ted Lasso time for the Dartmouth men’s basketball team as we reach the midpoint of the 2024-25 Ivy League campaign.
The Big Green believe.
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HANOVER, N.H. – It’s getting to be Ted Lasso time for the Dartmouth men’s basketball team as we reach the midpoint of the 2024-25 Ivy League campaign.
The Big Green believe.
Cornell men’s basketball has been known for its offensive prowess over the last several seasons. But it added strong defensive efforts on Friday and Saturday night to defeat Dartmouth and Harvard at Newman Arena.
The Cornell (13-6, 5-1 Ivy) sweep left Jon Jaques’ squad in sole possession of second place in the Ivy League standings, one week before a crucial home game against first-place Yale.
After battling back from a 13-point second-half deficit, Dartmouth men’s basketball stymied Brown on its last two possessions and senior guard Ryan Cornish netted the last four points of the game, including two clutch free throws with 18 seconds left in regulation, to notch an 84-83 win at the Pizzitola Sports Center Saturday.
“As a senior, these guys are counting on me to get wins,” Cornish told ESPN+ after the team’s first Ivy League road win of the season. “If I’m shooting two free throws at the line, I’ve got to think who I’m doing it for.”
With three weeks of Ancient Eight competition in the books, the Big Green (8-9, 2-2 Ivy) are tied for fourth with Penn, while the Bears (9-8, 1-3) are matched with Harvard for sixth.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Bez Mbeng was not in the mood for mincing words after setting Yale’s all-time career steals record in an 83-67 win over Dartmouth Monday afternoon.
“I love defense,” Mbeng, who passed former Yale standout Alex Zampier (2006-10) for the record, said.
And as he has for most of the last three seasons for Yale, Mbeng led the way in that department Monday at Lee Amphitheater, harassing Ryan Cornish, Connor Amundsen, or whomever else he was in the neighborhood of, finishing with three steals to go with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“It means a lot to me,” Mbeng said. “A lot of credit goes to my teammates and coaches for getting me better and putting me in good positions to get those steals. I’m just really thankful right now.”
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps an instant classic 81-80 win for Princeton men’s basketball (13-4, 2-0 Ivy) at Dartmouth (7-8, 1-1) Saturday:
The Red and Blue got the late stop they needed down three, forcing a wild miss from the host Big Green’s Brandon Mitchell-Day with about 20 seconds left to play. But after securing the rebound, freshman point guard AJ Levine lost the handle as he crossed midcourt.
Dartmouth corralled the loose ball, and after an exchange of free throws and a missed desperation three from Penn’s Ethan Roberts, walked away with a 73-70 win.
The Quakers (4-10, 0-1 Ivy) dropped their Ivy opener for the first time since the 2019-20 season. They’ve only beaten the Big Green (7-7, 1-0) at Leede Arena once since 2019.
It could be a long slog of an Ivy season for the Red and Blue, which rank dead last in the conference in KenPom (307th). They got off to an 0-1 start because …
HANOVER, N.H. – If you think there’s nowhere to go but up for the Dartmouth men’s basketball team this season, you’re probably not alone. The Big Green won only four Division I games last season and were – to be kind – dreadful offensively: 351st nationally in efficiency, last in the Ivy League by a pretty wide margin. And Dusan Neskovic, who was fifth nationally in usage and third in shots taken, is now at Richmond.
The preseason Ivy League poll would agree with you as well. Dartmouth was picked dead last almost unanimously.
But internally, as the Big Green regrouped, it also marked opportunity for them. Outside of Neskovic’s departure, they are not necessarily starting over. And in their Division I opener Saturday afternoon at Leede Arena, with two seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup, they took an early punch from Sacred Heart and came back to win fairly comfortably (with the exception of the final minute), 81-76.
Princeton, last year’s undisputed regular season champions, were picked to take home the 2025 Ivy title in the preseason media poll released on Tuesday.
Led by junior forward Caden Pierce, the 2024 Player of the Year, and first team All-Ivy junior guard Xaivian Lee, Mitch Henderson’s Tigers picked up 15 of 16 first place votes and 127 of a maximum 128 points.
With the season a few weeks away, the Ivy League hosted its Men’s Basketball Media Day on Thursday. the second of two hoops-themed media availabilities. The event was hosted over Zoom for media members and is available on the conference’s YouTube channel.
The preseason media poll was released on Tuesday with Yale, last year’s regular season co-champions, securing the top spot. Princeton, which used its Ivy League Tournament title victory as a springboard to a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament run, was picked second.
The Bulldogs received 14 of 16 first-place votes, while the Tigers earned the other two top votes.
PHILADELPHIA — Penn is one win away from at least a share of the Ivy League regular season championship after a businesslike 89-79 win over Dartmouth at the Palestra on Senior Day.
The Quakers never trailed after the 16-minute mark of the first half, but there were some dicey moments along the way. At one point, a 9-0 Big Green run midway through the second half cut the visiting team’s deficit to 64-61 and forced Penn coach Steve Donahue into a timeout with 9:19 to play.
Coming out of the break, junior forward Max Martz proved to be Penn’s stopper.
Martz got a mismatch in the post against Dartmouth’s Ryan Cornish, backed down the guard and drained a righty hook to extend the Red and Blue’s lead back to five. He then went on to add two three-pointers from the corner and a second jumper over the next four-plus minutes to hold Dartmouth at bay. Martz finished the afternoon with 18 points and a team-high KenPom offensive rating of 163 points per 100 possessions.
Penn will need a performance like that from Martz next Saturday at Princeton in arguably the team’s biggest regular-season game in five years.
During the long wait, Quakers fans will have plenty to ruminate on, such as how …