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Dartmouth’s Ryan Cornish splits the Penn defense during their game in Philadelphia on Jan. 6, 2024. Cornish had 17 points and three assists in the 80-51 loss. (Dartmouth Athletics — Justin Lafleur) -
Dartmouth’s Jayden Williams looks for an open teammate against the defense of Penn’s Sam Brown during their game in Philadelphia on Jan. 6, 2024. Williams had 13 points, four rebounds and two assists in the 80-51 loss. (Dartmouth Athletics — Justin Lafleur) -
Dartmouth’s Jaren Johnson (5) and Jayden Williams scramble for control of the ball with a Penn opponent as Dartmouth’s Dusan Neskovic (3), Penn’s Andrew Laczkowski (15) and Niklas Polonowski stand by during their game in Philadelphia on Jan. 6, 2024. Penn won, 80-51. (Dartmouth Athletics — Justin Lafleur) -
Dartmouth’s Brandon Mitchell-Day shoots over the defense of Penn’s Nick Spinoso during their game in Philadelphia on Jan. 6, 2024. Penn won, 80-51. (Dartmouth Athletics — Justin Lafleur)
PHILADELPHIA — There’s not a whole lot you can say when your opponent makes 13 straight shots — nine of them 3-pointers — and 15 of 16, especially when there seems to be a lid on the basket on your end of the floor.
Still Dartmouth coach David McLaughlin wanted his team to know they’ll need to play with a much different mindset than they did on Saturday while getting blown out by Penn, 80-51, if they want to survive in a conference he calls one of the top 10 in the nation.
“I thought they set the tone the first possession and came out harder than us early” said McLaughlin, as the Big Green (4-10) dropped its Ivy opener for the sixth straight season and its 12th straight road game stretching back to last season. “That energy gave them confidence in their shooting and they were letting it fly.
“I told our team after the game, when things aren’t going well individually or collectively there are two things you can be: an energy giver or an energy taker. I think mental toughness and being unselfish allows you to be an energy giver even when things aren’t going well for you individually.”
The Big Green were down as many as 29 points late in the first half and got as close as 50-33 with 15:37 left before the Quakers reasserted themselves.
Dartmouth made just 15 of 50 shot, 32.0%, for the afternoon.
“That’s a lot on us not being physical enough and not guarding the ball,” said Dusan Neskovic, who came into play averaging a team leading 16.4 points per game before suffering through a nightmarish one-point performance. “We have to be tougher at both ends. We’ll take this home and get ready for the next one. Try to learn from our mistakes.”
Dartmouth, which fell for the sixth straight year at Penn’s famed Palestra, was trying to win its opening Ivy League road game for the first time since 1998.
“I think were not fully trusting the system,” said sophomore forward Jayden Williams who scored 13 in the Big Green’s third straight loss. “We weren’t running our offense right and weren’t locked in on the defensive end.
“We lost the toughness battle and it just snowballed from there. It doesn’t reflect who we are, but how we played.”
McLauglin said something will have to change if the Big Green want to have any success in the league this season, with play resuming a week from today when they trek to Princeton, before taking on Yale in Hanover Jan. 20.
Knowing the conference scheduled that sits ahead is the reason McLaughlin scheduled trips to Duke, Saint Louis and Vanderbilt on their early season dance card.
“You want to play a really competitive non-league schedule because it’s going to get you prepared for what is a top 10 league in the country right now,” explained McLaughlin, who remains at 249 wins for his coaching career. “The Ivy League has a chance to be the best it’s ever been this year.
“That’s based on the talent level… Based on the percentage of returning players in rotations in the league last year… Based on how teams have competed in the NCAA Tournament. Ivy basketball is the real deal and you have to be ready.”
Penn was missing its injured top scorer, Clark Slajchert. The Quakers started out just 1-for-8, but then couldn’t miss.
“They were hitting a lot of shots,” conceded guard Ryan Cornish, whose 17 points topped the Big Green. “Obviously they shot it well, but we need to be more disciplined. One mistake leads to another.”
Now Cornish and he teammates need to make sure one Ivy loss doesn’t lead to another. In an league that figures to be tougher than ever this season, that won’t be easy.