Men's Hoops Bruised and Battle Tested

Following his team’s 56-54 victory over Harvard (1-12, 0-1 Ivy) last Saturday in Hanover, N.H., Dartmouth men’s basketball coach Dave Faucher already had a prediction about tomorrow’s rematch at 2 p.m. in Lavietes Pavilion.

“Next week will be a freakin’ war. I’ll tell you that right now,” Faucher said. “It will be an absolute war.”

The sentiments from the Harvard locker room would serve to confirm that statement.

“We’re looking to win, and we’re looking to win big,” sophomore forward Matt Stehle said. “We were embarrassed by [the result of] the last game. Defensively we were fine, but offensively we didn’t execute.”

If the final statistics from last weekend’s Ivy opener between the Big Green (3-8, 1-0) and the Crimson offer any insight into this weekend’s game, one should expect a defensive struggle.

Neither team shot better than 40 percent from the field in any half. Neither team recorded a fast break bucket, despite a combined 35 turnovers in the game. And only three players managed to crack double figures in points for the contest.

“We always want to get out and run,” junior captain Jason Norman said. “We had a few fast break opportunities but we couldn’t convert on them.”

Harvard’s lack of depth in the frontcourt proved to be the difference maker in last week’s matchup.

Stehle battled foul-trouble all day, finally fouling out with just under six minutes to play. Dartmouth center David Gardner dominated in the second half—recording 11 of his 12 points and six of his eight boards in the final 20 minutes—while Stehle spent most of the frame on the bench.

“It hurts the team when we don’t have a consistent rotation,” Stehle said. “When we get in foul trouble early, we’re not able to get ample rest and it screws up the rotation.”

Stehle has now fouled out of four contests and is tied with sophomore guard Michael Beal for most fouls on the season with 51—an average of nearly four a game. Stehle leads the team in rebounding and field goal percentage, but ranks only fourth in minutes due to foul-trouble.

“Each individual has to [avoid fouling] on his own,” Stehle said. “We’ve seen this team once now and we know its plays, so we should be able to do a better job of guarding without fouling.”

The Crimson will once again be without the services of sophomore center Brian Cusworth, who has been out since the start of the year with a stress fracture in his leg.

One bright spot for Harvard has been its improved free throw shooting. The Crimson has shot better than 75 percent from the line in each of its last four games. In last weekend’s matchup, Harvard and Dartmouth combined for 49 free throw attempts, dramatically increasing the impact of free-throw percentage on the outcome of the contest.

Harvard will be seeking its first Ivy League win as well as its first home victory of the season on Saturday. The Crimson is 0-5 in Lavietes Pavilion this season.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.