Will It Be A Dozen for M. Cagers?

Dartmouth men's basketball Coach Dave Faucher has something that Harvard wants very badly.

A win.

Harvard (0-11, 0-1 Ivy) is like a ticking time bomb: at some point, the team will explode. Whether it explodes for a win or explodes itself remains to be seen.

The Crimson faces Dartmouth (4-6, 1-0 Ivy) in Hanover Saturday night, and Faucher, who favors the first scenario, is terrified that his team might be the unlucky opponent.

"Harvard's overdue for a win," Faucher said. "I can't believe that a team that plays as hard as they do has a record like they have."

Faucher's respect is grounded in Dartmouth's 56-53 win over Harvard in December. In that game, the Crimson shot 32% in the second half, but still blew several chances to put the game away.

Harvard's forwards, Captain Ron Mitchell, Mike Minor and Peter Condakes combined to shoot 8-for-25 from the floor that night.

"We really had the chances," Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said. "That was our one really good chance to win this year."

While Harvard was tossing up bricks, Dartmouth point guard Mike Crotty (brother of former Virginia guard John Crotty) scored a team-high 11 points without missing a shot, while his ball handling kept the Crimson on its heels for most of the night. Big Green forward Stan Kowaleski added nine on 3-4 shooting from downtown.

Only Tyler Rullman's heroics at the free throw line (8-for 9 in the second half) kept the game from complete disaster for the Crimson.

"We were very happy to escape with a win," Faucher said. "Every Ivy League game is a war."

The rematch should feature more of the same. If the shots fall for Condakes, Mitchell and Minor, the advantage will swing to Harvard for the simple reason that Dartmouth does not have the muscle to stop the Crimson's inside game.

"Harvard is a very big team, especially with Rullman at guard," Faucher said. "They physically battered us last time."

The Crimson is big. Mitchell, Minor and Rullman are listed at 6'7" while Condakes is listed at 6'8". No other team in the League can field four comparative players. The matchups are a coach's dream.

In December, Faucher was forced to match up his 6'2" sophomore guard Gregg Frame against Minor for part of the game. The Big Green forwards, Kowaleski and Jamie Halligan, are primarily perimeter shooters and not tough post defenders.

"We can get the ball inside easily," said Sullivan. "We just need to finish all our chances."

Dartmouth, on the other hand, will have to work the clock and look for quality shots. With its outside guns, it can rely on quickness and ballhandling, which Faucher has in spades.

The heavy burden of slowing Mike Crotty will fall on Harvard point guard Jared Leake, who will have to adjust his game.

"[Leake] will have a better sense of how Crotty brings the ball up the floor this time," Sullivan said. "He's much more familiar with him now."

One player the Crimson might not have to deal with is Frame, Dartmouth's leading scorer. Frame, who shot his way into the starting lineup as a freshman, has recently shot himself out of it with a 1-for-14 performance against Portland on Wednesday.

"He's in a bit of a rut," Faucher said. "I'll give him a couple of practices to find his shot, but he probably won't start.

Against Harvard, Frame scored two points on 0-for-6 shooting.

The power to dictate the pace of the game lies with the Crimson and its big inside game. Consistent lowpost play can put the Big Green on the defensive all night.

"We have to take what they'll give us," Faucher said.

But at the same time, he knows that given the chance, his smaller lineup can work magic against the lumbering Harvard players.

Power against finesse. It's a classic matchup, but muscle usually wins. Unless, of course, the team is Harvard, in which case anything goes.