Only five regular season contests remain against non-Ivy opponents, and Dartmouth will look to go .500 outside the league with a win tonight. The Ivy League’s record against other conferences sits at 53-55, so the Big Green also can help out the league with a victory.
New Hampshire (5-12) at Dartmouth (6-8, 1-1 Ivy) – 7:00 pm ET
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Both teams enter the battle for Granite State bragging rights coming off of disappointing results in Boston over the weekend. Dartmouth couldn’t pull off the sweep of Harvard on Friday night, falling to the Crimson 77-71. Meanwhile, New Hampshire’s Saturday performance — a 53-29 loss at Boston University in which the Wildcats shot 21.3 percent — was so atrocious that the school’s athletics department website hid the game write-up below an older game story. Both teams started the season very poorly (0-6 for the Big Green, 1-8 for the Wildcats), but had been playing better of late until this past weekend. The state’s only Division I basketball programs have met 56 times, with Dartmouth owning a 30-26 series edge — though New Hampshire won last year in Durham, 71-59. In an interesting note, Terry Dunn will be facing his son, Arin, who is a freshman walk-on for New Hampshire.
Even during its recent 4-4 stretch, UNH’s offense has been spotty, posting offensive efficiencies of over 1.04 points per possession on five occasions, but coming in under 0.95 in the other three games. The defense has deteriorated of late for Bill Herrion’s squad, which has given up 1.10 points per possession over its last seven contests. By contrast, since Leon Pattman’s return, Dartmouth’s offense has been decent (0.99 points per possession) and its defense very solid (0.94 points allowed per possession). Both teams play at a relatively leisurely pace, and neither team has shot well at all (48.1 effective field goal percentage for the Wildcats, 46.1 percent for the Big Green). While tonight’s shooting display may not impress, between the conservative tempo and the fact neither team commits or forces many turnovers, at least this could be a fairly mistake-free game. One thing in the visitors’ favor is that while both sides have made infrequent use of the free throw line this year, Dartmouth has exhibited a tendency to foul too much. This one may come down to a question of which team can hit its open shots, and if Dartmouth continues to make things tough on opposing offenses, New Hampshire simply may find it self with fewer good looks at the rim.
Pomeroy says: New Hampshire 55, Dartmouth 58
