Dartmouth Athletics Game Notes for Big Green Visit to Cornell

Dartmouth Men Face Tough Test at Cornell, Columbia

Dartmouth Athletics

Copmlete Game Notes | Video | Audio | Live Stats

Opponents: Cornell, Columbia
Date: Friday, Jan. 29; Saturday, Jan. 30
Arena: Newman Arena, Levien Gymnasium
Location: Ithaca, N.Y., New York, N.Y.
Tip-off: 7 p.m.
Radio: Dartmouth Sports Network (WTSL FM 94.3 and AM 1400)

Ivy Play in Full Swing
• It’s time for the Friday-Saturday grind in the Ivy League, and Dartmouth begins with the longest league trip, going to Cornell (which has an RPI rating of 37) on Friday, then Columbia on Saturday.
• The Big Green were swept on this trip last year, but not without a fight against Cornell, taking the eventual Ivy champs to double overtime after rallying from a 19-point deficit.
• Dartmouth made a valiant effort in an upset bid against Harvard last Saturday, but came up four points short in a 62-58 loss in Leede Arena.
• Junior Ronnie Dixon had a season-high 15 points against the Crimson with a trio of three-pointers, while senior Robby Pride tallied 13 and sophomore Jabari Trotter had 12 off the bench.
• The star of the game for the Big Green, however, was their defense, holding Harvard 15 points under its scoring average and to a 39.0 percent shooting night; the Crimson entered the game ranked sixth nationally in field goal percentage.
• Pride has been on a scoring binge of late, averaging 17.0 points in the last two contests, including a career-high 21 in the win over St. Francis (N.Y.).
• As a team, Dartmouth’s shooting has improved since the new year began, clipping the nets at a 42.6 percent rate and topping 40 percent in three of the four games. In the first 12 contests, the Green shot just 38.4 percent and at least 40 percent just twice.

Series vs. Cornell (16-3, 2-0)
• Despite the Big Red’s success against Dartmouth of late, winning 11 of the last 12 meetings, the Big Green still own the all-time advantage at 101-97, making this their most-often played series.
• The Big Red have won the last eight games in the series, with the last Dartmouth victory coming in Leede Arena on Feb. 19, 2005, 67-54.
• The Big Green are 7-13 versus Cornell in Newman Arena, having lost the last six after winning five straight here.

Scouting the Big Red
• The unanimous choice to defend its Ivy title, Cornell enters this game with a record of 16-3 overall and 2-0 in the league having beaten Columbia twice by a combined total of 47 points.
• The Big Red received 38 points in the coaches poll this week, making them the second team outside the top 25.
• Only teams from the Big East (Seton Hall, Syracuse) and the Big 12 (Kansas) have defeated Cornell. The Jayhawks barely escaped with a five-point victory on their home court three weeks ago.
• The senior trio of forward Ryan Wittman, center Jeff Foote and guard Louis Dale average more than 41 points a game, with Wittman second in the Ivy League at 18.2 points.
• Foote is not only the league’s top rebounder by far at 8.6 per game, he is also the second-most accurate shooter at 59.1 percent and would be among the top 10 nationally if he had one more field goal.
• Strength against strength — Cornell is fourth nationally in three-point percentage (.419), while Dartmouth is 14th in three-point defense (.288).
• Wittman easily leads the conference in three-pointers with 62. The closest competitor has 39. Guards Chris Wroblewski (32) and Geoff Reeves (30) also rank among the league’s top 10.

Series vs. Columbia (6-10, 0-2)
• This is the 197th game in the series with the Lions holding a 102-94 advantage all-time.
• Dartmouth has gone 15-20 in Columbia’s Levien Gymnasium since it opened in 1974.
• Last year the two teams held serve at home with the Lions taking a 65-52 game here and the Big Green winning in Leede Arena, 67-53.
• The last 26 encounters have been split evenly, dating back to the 1996-97 season.

Scouting the Lions
• Since a promising 5-4 start, Columbia has dropped six of its last seven, including its first two Ivy League games to the favorite, Cornell.
• Dartmouth and Columbia have had four common opponents entering the weekend: Bucknell at home (wins for both), Quinnipiac on the road (losses for both), St. Francis (N.Y.) at home (Dartmouth won, Columbia lost) and Lehigh (Columbia won at home, Dartmouth lost on the road).
• Like Cornell, the Lions are an excellent shooting team from the perimeter, ranking fifth nationally in three-point percentage (.417).
• But in the last three games, Columbia’s sights have been off, hitting just 12-of-48 (.250) behind the arc. Predictably, the Lions have not scored more than 53 points in any of those contests.
• Noruwa Agho is deadly from downtown, shooting 54.2 percent, and he is the only Lion averaging double figures in points at 16.8.
• The Dartmouth defense also will have to be wary of Niko Scott, who has 23 treys and hits them at a 42.1 percent clip.
• Forwards Brian Grimes and Asenso Ampim lead the team in rebounding at 6.4 and 5.2 per game, respectively.

Almost Famous
Dartmouth has not played a ranked team in more than three years, but Cornell is awfully close at 27th in the coaches poll. The last ranked team to play against the Big Green was fifth-ranked Kansas on Nov. 28, 2006. Whenever Dartmouth gets another opportunity against a top 25 squad, it will do so with the goal of breaking a 39-game losing streak against them. The Green are 3-49 all-time versus ranked teams, with the last two wins coming in the 1955-56 season.

Shooting Improving
Over the first 12 games, Dartmouth managed to shoot better than 40 percent from the floor just twice, winning both games. But in the last four contests, the Green have cracked the 40 percent barrier three times, losing only to Harvard by four points.

Dixon Has It In For Harvard
Last year, junior Ronnie Dixon missed just one game, and that was the overtime win at Harvard. To make up for his absence, the guard cranked up the production against the Crimson, leading the team with 12 and 15 points in the two games while shooting 11-of-21 (.524) from the floor, including 5-of-10 (.500) from long range.

Secure the Perimeter
If there is one thing Dartmouth does exceptionally well, it is perimeter defense. Opponents have struggled shooting three-pointers all season against the Big Green, and it shows in the stats. Dartmouth is 14th nationally in three-point percentage defense at a measly .288.