DURHAM, N.H. — Monday afternoon was an offensive fiasco for the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team.
“We just didn’t finish plays,” Big Green coach Dave McLaughlin said after his squad’s 70-56 loss to New Hampshire at Lundholm Gym.
“It could be a million things. It could be their defense. It could be their help coverage. Maybe forcing a drive we’re not used to or just plain missed shots.”
Anyone who braved the winter storm on Monday afternoon and traveled to UNH — or those who watched the live stream — saw that Dartmouth’s offensive production is in a turbulent place.
Lead scorer Chris Knight still finished with 15 points, but the 3-pointers weren’t coming and the post play Dartmouth relies upon was falling short.
Dartmouth was just 4-for-20 in the final 8:45 of play — when UNH pulled away — and ended the game at 19-of-60 (31.7%), its second-lowest percentage of the season, and 4-of-19 (21.1%) from beyond in the arc.
“I think we have to make improvements in terms of finishing plays,” McLaughlin said. “That’s on the defensive end and the offensive end. We’ve talked a lot about that, but also (executing) from the free-throw line, making shots.”
The starting five’s point production wasn’t enough to pick up the win on Monday, but so far this season it has been strong. Through 14 games the Big Green are 7-7, averaging 67.2 points per game and shooting 43.9% from the field.
Knight, a junior, leads the team in scoring, assists, blocks and steals. But on Monday, he missed three first-half field goals. Forward Aaryn Rai was 1-of-5, and point guard Taurus Samuels was 0-of-4 in the half, too.
The missed shots had a mental impact when Knight was taking shots later in the game, the forward said. A couple of his early misses came in the paint, a place he finds a large part of his success.
“I don’t think I went in with the focus I needed to have,” he said. “Then it became a mental battle that I wasn’t handling very well.”
Another aspect of Monday’s struggle for points came from bench production.
While the Wildcats’ substitutes scored 20 points and were key in their victory, Dartmouth only received eight points from its bench, all coming from Ian Sistare.
McLaughlin chose to use Sistare as a sixth man in Monday’s game, as opposed to his usual role in the starting five. The senior responded well, pulling down 10 rebounds and giving the Big Green a four-point lead midway through the second half on back-to-back layups. But the other four bench players who saw time produced six fouls, two rebounds, one assist and two field goal attempts.
“I think everybody needs bench production,” McLaughlin said. “And if you look at it, you know that it’s not easy to find that at this level; it’s very difficult. What you try to do is decrease that gap between the guys who are starting and the other guys. Teams that have great bench production are few and far between.”
Monday’s struggle to find points isn’t a new problem on McLaughlin’s radar.
In Dartmouth’s first loss of the season to Jacksonville, the Big Green only scored 37 points and shot below 27% for the game. On Dec. 26 at South Florida, Dartmouth turned the ball over 21 times, which directly impacted its chances on the offensive end in a 63-44 loss.
Troubles from beyond the arc and the free-throw line have been present, too. In the last four games, the Big Green has only hit 19 treys in 85 attempts. They are ranked 318th out of 350 Division I basketball teams with a 63.2% free-throw percentage.
Still, there’s time to figure it all out.
The Big Green returns to Leede Arena, where it is 3-1, on Thursday night to host Vermont to close out nonconference play. The Catamounts will end up being one of the best teams Dartmouth plays all season.
The loss to UNH was Dartmouth’s first since the holiday break, which may have led to some bad shooting in the first half. But bad shooting weekends once Ivy League play commences on Jan. 18 at Harvard could be disastrous.
Time will tell if Monday was a sign of future troubles or if it will be a turning point for the Big Green’s offense.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com.