The Big Green (9-15, 2-8 Ivy) did not show its competitive potential on the basketball court against Penn (10-16, 5-4 Ivy) on Friday night.
Despite the support of the crowd at Leede Arena and the return of leading scorer and rebounder Alex Barnett '09 to the starting lineup, Dartmouth fell 88-62, just two weeks after losing to Penn by two points in Philadelphia.
"It was extremely frustrating," co-captain Johnathan Ball '08 said after the game. "It was embarrassing."
Penn started the game with a 10-2 lead. After a rallying back, Dartmouth hit a wall, and a lackluster and sloppy effort resulted in a 39-30 deficit at half.
Instead of coming out of the locker rooms with a sense of urgency, several fans observed an aura of arrogance as the Big Green started the second half, an attitude many questioned after the team had been outplayed on both ends of the floor.
"They look arrogant out there. It's like they think they're cool. Do you know what's cool? Making shots is cool," a fan commented after observing a series of missed warm-up shots before second half play commenced.
As the period began, off-balanced, rushed and contested shots by Dartmouth went off-mark, and Penn capitalized by building its lead to over 20 points in the first few minutes of the second half. The Big Green's defensive intensity was noticeably lacking, as the Quakers shot a blistering 51 percent from the field for the game, including hitting 71 percent on 12-for-17 shooting from three-point range.
Dartmouth broke down in transition, allowing countless layups, and Penn's perimeter shooters consistently found themselves open. For a Penn team that averages 67.8 points per game, 88 points in one contest was quite impressive.
"It was like the air wasn't breathing in us," Ball said of his team. "We were kind of dead...I told the guys after the game that there needed to be a lot of self-reflection,"
The performance by the Big Green was disappointing for the team, as well as for many of the fans who came out to support the team. More students than usual attended the game, in part due to a promotion granting prizes to the Greek organization with the greatest percentage of its members in attendance for the game. Gamma Delta Chi fraternity won the contest and Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity followed with the second-highest showing.
As a result of the Big Green's shoddy defense, four Quaker players were able to score double-digits, and three more players registered eight points each. Quaker senior Brian Grandieri led in scoring with 15, followed closely by teammate Kevin Egee with 14.
According to Ball, head coach Terry Dunn was less than pleased with the performance.
"Coach Dunn was pretty upset with our performance and made sure we knew that," Ball said.
For Dartmouth, DeVon Mosley '09 led the team with 13 points, followed by 12 points for Elgin Fitzgerald '10 and 11 points for Barnett.
One of the few bright spots during the Big Green's seven-game losing streak was Fitzgerald's play. Following a career-best in scoring and game-high in rebounding last week against Cornell (17-5, 9-0 Ivy), Fitzgerald was put in the starting lineup against Penn and did not disappoint. He and Barnett pulled down a team-high six rebounds apiece to go along with their scoring productivity.
"Elgin [Fitzgerald] has come out of his shell," Ball lauded. "What he's done on the court is what he does every day in practice, and now he's showing consistency. Both [Kurt] Graeber ['09] and Elgin can play with the best big men in the Ivy League."
Things turned around in the Big Green's game against Princeton (5-18, 2-6 Ivy) on Saturday night. After dropping the season's first meeting with Princeton by a score of 57-53 on Feb. 1, Dartmouth showed the Tigers some of the intensity and teamwork that was lacking just a day earlier.
"We made a promise to ourselves [after the Penn game] that our energy had to be there," Ball said. "We regrouped and responded against Princeton. I feel like we were excited to play. It was more fun to play, and I tried to be a leader, guarding my man as hard as I could, leading by example."
Mosley lead all scorers with a team-high 18 points while Barnett registered a strong performance with 16 points, nine rebounds, and a team-high five assists. Fitzgerald added 10 more points for the Big Green.
Dartmouth's play started to pick up near the end of the first half when Robby Pride '10 placed a behind-the-back pass right into the driving hands of Barnett, who finished the play with an emphatic dunk to put Dartmouth up 29-19. The Big Green continued to extend its command over the game, leading by as many as 30 points throughout the contest.
Dartmouth's defense, which had failed on Friday, limited Princeton to just 35 percent shooting on Saturday night, in contrast to 54 percent for the Big Green.
Dartmouth will need to be more consistent with its play, however, to remain competitive in conference play.
"I know that we are a good team, but that needs to show up every time on the floor," Ball added. "We're on the brink of turning Dartmouth basketball around. We've shown people what we can do."
The Big Green will travel to Cornell and Columbia (12-12, 5-4 Ivy) next weekend for two tough contests. Cornell sits comfortably atop Ancient Eight standings with a perfect 10-0 conference mark. Dartmouth will have to pull out all the stops if it hopes to come away with victories.
"These last few games are my last," Ball said. "I'm trying to make the most of it and give it my all because there probably won't be much basketball after this. My teammates are all playing for me and Michael [Giovacchini '08]."
