HANOVER — By Chris Knight’s standards, the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team was unlucky last season.
The 6-foot-7 forward is willing to admit that the 2018-19 defense didn’t lend itself to good play. The Big Green allowed 1.038 points per possession, which ranked 250th out of 353 NCAA Division I programs in the nation.
But 11 of Big Green’s 19 losses came within a five-point margin, making them one of the 10 unluckiest teams according to KenPom.com, whose work on tempo-based basketball statistics is compared by many to the work of Bill James in baseball. There was the 82-79 overtime defeat at Penn on Feb. 15 followed by a one-point loss on the road to Princeton the day after, for example.
Things seem to be going in Dartmouth’s favor early this season, however.
The Big Green ranks third in the country in luck this time around on KenPom.com. On Sunday, Dartmouth squandered a 19-point second-half lead to UMass Lowell but rallied to pull off an 80-75 overtime victory. Better defensive play has come along with the luck, too. Heading into Tuesday night’s Leede Arena day with D-III Thomas College, Dartmouth was allowing just .847 points per possession through five games, best for 58th in the nation.
The mix of good luck and strong defensive play has the Big Green off to a 5-1 start after their 108-59 win over Thomas at Leede Arena. It’s the best start since the 1996-97 team started 8-1.
Yet Dartmouth’s competition has varied. The season-opening win at Buffalo came against a team that made the NCAA Tournament the two previous years, but the home-opener versus FGCU featured a foe that graduated five seniors and is off to a 0-4 start.
This past weekend at the River Hawk Invitational at UMass Lowell, the Big Green faced three teams (Merrimack, Jacksonville, UMass Lowell) with a collective record of 8-10. UMass Lowell hasn’t finished a season above .500 since 2012-13 when it competed at the Division II level. Merrimack is in its first season of Division I play, and the Dolphins are coming off a 20-loss season.
“You look back to all the previous years where we’ve had games so close that we were kinda unlucky,” Knight said on Monday. “And finally, for one of those games, to get a dub feels really great.
“We feel like when we’re in a close game, in the previous years where there was a kind of like a panic of what do we do, but now there’s relaxation and like, ‘OK, we need to do this.’ We need to execute and there’s no panicking at the ending of the game.”
Fourth-year coach David McLaughlin expects a high intensity from his man-to-man defense, so this summer Dartmouth rededicated itself to his defensive philosophies: communication, ownership and finishing plays. That means the Big Green must compete on the glass and create turnovers.
“We need to be a team that can get stops on command,” McLaughlin said. “We need to be confident enough in a close game that we need a stop right now. We need to be a team that can do that, and then do that consistently. And when we can do that, then that’s where we need to be defensively.”
Dartmouth has been without starting point guard Brendan Barry, who will miss the season with a hip injury. The 3-point threat made 44.5% of his shots from beyond the arc and led the Big Green in points per game a year ago.
While Barry’s point production is absent, his ability to command the offense and bring the ball up the floor has also hurt.
Dartmouth’s produced 74 turnovers through its first five games, but some stability is starting to emerge.
“Yeah, it’s been tough. We we feel for them. We’re definitely dedicating this season to him,” said senior captain Ian Sistare, who has been Dartmouth’s leading rebounder thus far at 7.8 per game. “We wish more than anything he could be out there with us, but yeah, it’s definitely different. The style plays a little bit different, but we’re adjusting to that.”
Sophomore Taurus Samuels has started every contest and is averaging 26.8 minutes. He scored a career-high 16 points against Buffalo and pulled down four rebounds against Florida Gulf Coast.
He’s received help from the bench, too. Weber State transfer Trevon Ary-Turner has injected 7.8 point per game, and Wes Slajchert has been a reliable option. Still, only time can produce the experience that is needed at the position.
During Monday’s practice, it was obvious how attentive Dartmouth was trying to take its walk-through. Being prepared for any opponent will be vital to the Big Green’s success this season.
For the moment, it’s worked. McLaughlin and his players know that they still have much to prove; Dartmouth hasn’t qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 1959, have only produced six double-digit win seasons since 2000 and were picked to finish in finish last in the Ivy League this year.
Step one will be to make it through fall finals and rest up after playing four games in five days. Then Dartmouth will have to gear up for five straight road games over 14 days, which features three teams that finished last season with 20-plus wins.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com or (603) 727-3306.