Currently holding on to an 8-4 record the Florida Gators will look to close out their non-conference schedule on a high note on December 29 when they take on the Dartmouth Big Green. This will be Florida’s final game before entering SEC play, and an opportunity to shake off any rust that may have accumulated during the holiday break. The Gators should be riding high after their performance against Colgate but the week off certainly has the opportunity to mess up a team’s rhythm and they’ll hope that isn’t the case against Dartmouth.
In year 10 under Dave McLaughlin, Dartmouth has settled into the middle of the pack in the Ivy League, a conference that used to have two regular contenders in Yale and Harvard though has recently been dominated by mostly Yale. Picked to finish 5th (of 8 teams) in the Ivy preseason poll there may not be a ton of expectations on the Big Green, but they will look to position themselves in a way where they could try to topple heavy favorite Yale in the Ivy tournament.
Currently Dartmouth is 5-6, and they’ve taken some difficult losses in games they were favorites to win. Losses to Bryant, Appalachian State, and Sacred Heart are not ones that they’ll be proud of, and it shows a bit of volatility with their style of play (more on that later). So far Dartmouth’s two best opponents have been Wyoming and Colorado State, so their game against Florida will be their first and only high-major opponent.
While there are many challenges that come with recruiting players to the Ivy League, one advantage these teams have is that oftentimes once they get a player they are likely to play out their eligibility, and this is a league that doesn’t suffer the same kind of turnover as pretty much every other conference in the country. Yes, some players still leave (see Xaivian Lee), but for the most part there is good retention in the league and that is definitely the case for Dartmouth who was able to bring back much of their roster. According to KenPom they have the 16th most roster continuity, and much of their starting rotation is multi-year Dartmouth guys.
Leading the way in scoring is Kareem Thomas at 19.1 points per game which has been a huge boost to Dartmouth’s offense. Thomas is a sophomore who hardly played as a freshman and his emergence as a leading offensive weapon has been massive for the Big Green. A 6’5” guard, Thomas is particularly skilled at getting to the rim and putting defenders in binds where they often have to commit fouls, and Thomas has lived at the free throw line where he can put up points efficiently. He’s also 19-31 (56%) from three so far this season, but the low number of attempts speaks to how he will only take the wide open ones and is mostly wired to get downhill which is perfect for what Dartmouth needs.
Another fascinating player is Brandon Mitchell-Day, a 6’8” forward who actually leads Dartmouth in assists with 3.3 per game. That number might seem low, but it speaks to how Dartmouth plays as they don’t have a guard who just pounds the ball into the ground and waits for plays to develop–they move the ball and play a free-flowing style, and often it ends with Mitchell-Day operating in the mid-post and finding open cutters or shooters. He is also a strong rebounder and a capable shot blocker making him an extremely versatile and effective piece.
Jackson Munro is another piece to be aware of as a 6’8” center who is undersized for the position but is effective at patrolling the paint and contesting shots without fouling. While he’s not a big piece on the offensive end he plays a key role on the defensive side and his ability to battle larger players inside without resorting to fouling is something to be admired.
Something you notice with the way Dartmouth plays is the extremes they play with from a pace standpoint. If you were to look at their numbers in terms of number of possessions in a game you would think that the Big Green play slowly, but that doesn’t paint the whole picture. In fact, Dartmouth takes a ton of their shots in transition and is always looking to push whenever possible, but if nothing is there then they will completely slow down and work the ball around the perimeter looking to wear out a defense. Between the transition style and the free-flowing half court offense there isn’t one player who is going to get a ton of assists, and the strength of the Big Green is how many good passers they have up and down the lineup.
Defensively, Dartmouth has started to play a bit more zone and it has been a lot more effective than their man-to-man defense and you have to wonder if they bust it out even more against the Gators. Opponents have been reluctant to play zone against the Gators largely due to the threat of the offensive rebound, but the Gators have struggled with their first shot offense against zones and that’s something that Dartmouth is likely to pick up with their scout.
Florida had one of their best games of the season against Colgate and look to be on an upward trajectory, and they’ll now look to avoid stubbing their toe coming out of the holiday break by coming out with a high degree of focus.
Florida and Dartmouth will tip off Monday, December 29th at 6 PM ET and it will be televised on SEC Network.