Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Douglas Davis & Dan Mavraides:
One night after surviving at the horn against Harvard, it was Princeton who missed a tying shot at the end of regulation, as the Tigers fell 66-63 to Dartmouth. Dan Mavraides curled for a three pointer with under a second left, but could not convert the look.
Alex Barnett, the Ivy League's leading scorer, started the game 0-4 from the field, but finished with 22 in the final 26 minutes for the Big Green and was 7-7 at the free throw line, giving Dartmouth a one point lead with :47 remaining and making two additional pairs to hold off the Tigers.
Mavriades’ 19 led Princeton. Douglas Davis scored all 16 of his points in the second half.
"We gave up 66 points, the most any [Ivy] team has scored in this gym all year. We were awful defensively," Princeton coach Sydney Johnson said, clearly disappointed by how his team played on defense.
"Beginning, middle, end - we were awful."
Princeton shot a season-best 59.0% from the field, but were outrebounded 29-17. Dartmouth had 12 offensive boards, which they converted into 15 extra points. The Tigers did not obtain one second chance.
In a surprise, Michael Strittmatter - who had played just eight minutes all season coming into Saturday - started at forward in place of Zach Finley, Strittmatter was scoreless in six minutes of action, leaving in place of Patrick Saunders. He would not return.
When Strittmatter came out of the game Princeton was up 11-8. Pawel Buczak scored nine early points, sandwiching a lefty hook and a sweet Olajuwonesque "dream shake" on Kurt Graeber around a banked-in dead on three point shot from the top of the arc and a reverse pivot hook.
The lead reached 19-10 on a three from John Comfort and went up to 13 as Mavraides picked off a Dan Biber pass intended for Clive Weeden at the top of the key and raced ahead for the score.
Dartmouth called time out with 9:06 showing.
Buczak had to come out for the rest of the half when he picked up his second personal foul, replaced by Zach Finley. This did not look like an issue as Finley found a cutting Marcus Schroeder to make the score 27-14.
Barnett is too impressive a scorer to be kept in check all night. At the 5:52 mark, he finally got on track - a three point shot rolled down the chute after myriad bounces around the rim, pulling Dartmouth within seven.
Finley answered with an inside score, getting deep position on Herve Kouna.
The Tigers were up nine at the final media time out, but Dartmouth's repeated drives were starting to find success.
Marlon Sanders, who finished with 13 points on 6-9 shooting, scored to his left with two hands off the glass and the lead was seven.
Barnett dropped one in over Mavraides and drew the foul to make it a 32-27 game.
With one on the shot clock, Schroeder somehow found Mavraides for a layup as he passed in from under the Tiger basket.
Just like he did in Hanover, but from significantly closer to the three point line, Barnett nailed a triple at the buzzer, finding space over Kareem Maddox. Dartmouth had narrowed the 13 point deficit to a manageable four.
Princeton had no answers for the Big Green's drives in the second half, but Dartmouth also had no answers for Douglas Davis.
A line drive jumper by David Rufful was controlled by Elgin Fitzgerald, who put the ball home while being fouled by Saunders.
Davis got inside for his first points of the game to take the lead back to three.
Fitzgerald scored on Buczak, giving him five points in the first two minutes out of intermission
A second Buczak shake and bake created space for a hooker in the lane, but Barnett connected from outside over Mavraides to tie the score.
"Not enough of his shots were difficult," Johnson said about Barnett. "[Dartmouth] got great contributions from some guys that we felt like we needed to limit - and we didn't do it."
One of those guys was David Rufful, who scored a quiet seven with three turnovers when these two teams met in January. This time out Rufful had 10 points and was able to enter the paint off the dribble frequently.
"We were crystal clear in terms of our defensive preparation and we didn't follow through on it," said Johnson about how his team handled the scouting report. "We knew that [Rufful] was their number two guy, we knew Alex was their number one guy. We knew a couple guys were penetrators, and yet they all did what they wanted to do, so it falls squarely on us as a coaching staff and players in terms of not executing what we needed to do defensively."
The lead changed hands eight times in the second half.
Davis split the defense and went right at Barnett to make it 45-44 Tigers.
Robby Pride scored under the arms of Maddox, trying to swat the shot.
Davis crossed his man over and pulled up for a long two.
Sanders got in the lane and over Davis for a three point play.
Maddox's runner that had no business bouncing in did so anyway.
Back and forth it went.
Neither team led by more than two from the 15:22 mark until Davis answered a one handed Barnett jumper by setting up for three to make the score 56-53 Tigers with 5:40 on the clock.
Mavraides was first to an errant cross-court pass by Jabari Trotter as it rolled towards the sideline, and controlled at full speed, driving to the basket and being fouled hard by Pride from behind. Pride's play could have been ruled flagrant, but ended up being a great decision, as Mavraides could only make his second attempt at the line.
Pride's layup try rolled off, but Princeton could not snag the rebound as it bounded over the baseline. Barnett zipped a laser to Trotter under the hoop and he scored while being fouled by Davis.
Trailing by one with 2:19 left after Barnett hit a jumper over Mavraides, Mavraides lowered his shoulder at the other end and threw the ball up towards the rim as a foul was being called on Rufful. Somehow the basketball kicked enough of the rim to get on top of it and then settled through the netting. Mavraides' free throw completed the play and put Princeton up by two.
Trotter drove into the paint and dished to a cutting Kouna for a deuce, fouled by Finley. The free throw was no good and the ball eventually was tracked down by Buczak.
Davis found his way into the lane and was fouled by Rufful, but was short on his first attempt at the line and true on the second.
Barnett spun on Maddox and was fouled with :47.9 to go, and Barnett - an 83.5% free throw shooter - created the half's ninth tie and final lead change with two free throws.
Mavraides could not can a free throw distance jumper with :30.3 on the clock and Barnett rebounded, making both free throws to put Dartmouth up three.
Davis nearly tied the game when he was bodied by Kouna going to the glass with :17.8 left, but could not finish after the whistle sounded. Both free throws were good and it was 64-63.
Princeton opted not to double Barnett in the backcourt, even though he was the only Dartmouth player on that side of the floor. Instead Schroeder guarded the inbounder and Barnett had no trouble snagging a pass with Mavraides in his face. Barnett's two free throws were on the money and Dartmouth was set make history.
This weekend marked the first time that Dartmouth swept Penn and Princeton on the road in back-to-back games.
The Big Green never led by more than three, but they won their fifth game in their last seven outings.
Dartmouth made the plays they needed to in the final minutes, while the Tigers struggled to find a defensive stop. The Big Green scored on their final five possessions to pull it out.
It was, in the words of Dartmouth head coach Terry Dunn, "beyond my belief."
"Our defensive effort was miserable and that sticks with me," Johnson concluded as he tried to reflect on the outcome. "Absolutely miserable."
Notes:
-Princeton shot 23-39 (59.0%), 4-9 from three (44.4%) and 13-16 at the line (81.3%). Dartmouth went 25-54 on the night (46.3%), 3-7 from outside (42.9%) and 13-15 from the charity stripe (86.7%).
-The Big Green had three assists and eight turnovers, Princeton's ratio was 10:8.
-Barnett was 13-13 at the free throw line this weekend.
-Dartmouth won at Jadwin Gym for just the third time in 41 tries.
