The men's basketball team faces a challenge this weekend-- to bring fans back into the stands after a dismal performance against Harvard in front of a sellout crowd at Leede Arena last Saturday night.
"We just got our tails kicked," guard Sea Lonergan '97 said. "It's disappointing not only from a basketball standpoint, but because the stands were filled. Now we have to go out and win those fans back."
While it is still early in the season, Dartmouth, with a 1-1 league record, needs to get two victories this weekend to hold a place in the Ivy League's upper half, a place many expected the Big Green (6-5 overall) to be in all season long.
"Coming into the season, we knew that we couldn't lose many games outside of Penn and Princeton if we wanted a shot at the league title," guard Seth Newsome '99 said. "Now with the Harvard loss, we can't afford another let down."
While the team struggled noticeably on the glass against Harvard, the offense was also nonexistent. As a result, Coach Dave Faucher used this week's practice time to focus on maintaining a strong offensive flow, even after plays break down.
"Against Harvard, when the first option wasn't there, we couldn't do anything offensively," said Lonergan, who leads the team averaging 20 points per game in Ivy League play. "Hopefully this week we will be able to work on keeping an offensive rhythm and moving the ball around to the second or third option if the play breaks down."
Columbia
After being out-rebounded 47-20 by the Crimson, Dartmouth's defensive attention this week prior to Friday night's game against Columbia has focused on pounding the boards and taking away second-chance offensive.
The importance of improving last weekend's rebounding efforts increases as Columbia has last year's leading rebounder in the Ivy League, senior Jim Turbidy.
After finishing in the Ivy League cellar last year with a 1-13 record, Columbia has begun to turn things around in the early part of the 1995-96 campaign. Their overall record of 4-8 is deceiving, as the Lions, like the Big Green, took on nationally known programs such as Syracuse before starting Ivy League play.
Senior guard C.J. Thompkins leads the Lions offense, which has gone to a more conservative style under first year coach Armond Hill. Last year, the Big Green defeated Columbia twice, including a 69-67 victory in Hanover. Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m.
Cornell
The Big Green will have to make a defensive turnaround on Saturday night as they face a more explosive Cornell team. The 3-6 Big Red return with four starters from last year's team, and will often go to a four-guard rotation to utilize their outside shooting talent.
The team's leading threat is senior guard Brandt Schuckman, who averaged 13 points per game last season. Schuckman, like the rest of the team, is not shy about shooting from behind the arc, as he compiled 193 three-point attempts last season.
Cornell's four guard rotation may struggle against the height of the Big Green front line, as the Big Red's tallest player, 6'9" freshman center David Pendleton, will have the chore of guarding the Big Green's seven-foot center Brian Gilpin '97.
Cornell, like Columbia, was also swept by Dartmouth last year, losing the season finale in Hanover, 77-56. The battle of the Big colors gets underway at 7:30 p.m.
