Despite a 13-point loss last Saturday at home against Penn, Dartmouth men's basketball has good reason for confidence going into this weekend's games at Brown and Yale.
For one, the Big Green defeated Princeton, Penn's Ivy League co-leader, last Friday night while their best scorer, Greg Buth '01, was held to just eight points. Center Ian McGinnis '01 and small forward Vedad Osmanovic '02 picked up the offensive slack, scoring 31 of Dartmouth's 57 total points.
The win over Princeton was the second of head coach Dave Faucher's 10-year tenure and the Big Green's second Ivy victory of the year. The first came the previous Saturday in a 58-53 nail-biter at Cornell.
The Big Green can also be proud of their effort against Penn in a game where their shots just didn't fall. McGinnis went cold, shooting 0-6, as the team shot under 40 percent from the field.
"We had a drought," Faucher said. "I'd be a lot more upset if they cranked it up and we turned the ball over. But I really felt that we stayed with it and that we got pretty good looks."
Buth rebounded to shoot 8-17 for 20 points and Osmanovic scored 20 as well on 7-15 shooting. Charles Harris '02, who started in place of Osmanovic against Penn, shot 4-5 in his first start in nearly a month.
Osmanovic, Harris and Mark Kissling '02 played nearly identical minutes against Penn as the Big Green interchanged forwards.
Young Guns
New additions to the Big Green made minor impacts over the weekend as three '04s saw action.
Tyler Davis '04, sporting his third haircut of the month, spelled Dartmouth's starting forwards for two minutes on both nights.
Scott Klingbeil '04 helped keep McGinnis fresh and out of foul trouble, coming in for short periods at the end of the first half in both games. Against Penn, Klingbeil often entered the game as Penn center Geoff Owens exited, allowing McGinnis to save his defensive energies for the Quakers' best post-up player.
Point guard Jordan Naihe '04 appeared briefly in the first half against Penn and exited just as quickly, but he did get credit for one defensive rebound.
Holding Down the Fort
Both Penn and Princeton came to Hanover with solid post-up players in Owens and Nate Walton. But McGinnis' play in the lane and frequent double-teaming held two of the League's better players to 12 points each.
The Big Green also did a good job holding Penn's leading scorer, shooting guard Lamar Plummer, to just three points on three shots -- all from three-point range. Unfortunately for Dartmouth, Plummer had more success driving the lane in the second half and finished with 21 points.