Dartmouth beats Penn in key Ivy League game
The Quakers are set to visit Harvard on Saturday.
HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth has AJ Brodeur’s number. Penn’s senior standout has scored double figures in 44 of his last 46 games, with the two exceptions coming this season at the hands of the Big Green.
Brodeur and the Quakers (13-9, 5-4 Ivy League) were stifled Friday, losing to Dartmouth, 66-59, at Leede Arena.
Brodeur’s low output (eight points) was mostly offset by the production of Devon Goodman (17), Lucas Monroe (12), and Jordan Dingle (11), but it wasn’t enough against Dartmouth (10-14, 3-6), which ended the Quakers’ five-game winning streak against the Big Green.
“He’s such a good passer, so you can’t flat-out double,” Penn coach, Steve Donahue said of his big man, who averages 17 points a game. “But they do a good job of digging off their guards and making it a difficult read. And for the most part, when he did pass it out, it was the right play, but unfortunately, we just haven’t been consistent enough shooting and then I think he tried to force some things, got frustrated and just didn’t play his normal game.”
Brodeur, who led Penn with 10 rebounds, was well defended by Dartmouth post player Chris Knight (16 points and seven rebounds) and company.
“You’ve got to guard him with multiple guys, and I think we did that,” said Dartmouth coach Dave McLaughlin. “And Chris did a terrific one-on-one job with him. You need to make him work; he can’t have single pivots to his shot. He needs to have multiple pivots and that’s what we tried to do; just make him work for everything he earned.”
The Quakers began cold, going the first 7 minutes, 19 seconds of the game with only a layup from Goodman. Dartmouth, which got 18 points from Aaryn Rai and 16 from Trevon Ary-Turner, jumped out to a 26-17 lead before the visitors cut the lead down to one point just before the half on a Goodman three-pointer.
Penn took its second and final lead when Max Martz scored on a layup after intermission. Eddie Scott hit a three-pointer for the Quakers to pull them within four points with 16.6 seconds remaining in the game, but Dartmouth’s Ian Sistare hit two free throws to cap the win.
The Quakers will attempt to regroup in time for Saturday’s matchup at Harvard (17-7, 6-3).
“In this league, there’s no reason to even think about this game,” Donahue said. “You somehow, over the next 22 hours, have to prepare to play your best game of the season.”
Notes: The Quakers fell to 1-8 this season when trailing at halftime. … Penn had just six turnovers in Saturday’s win over Yale, compared with 15 at Dartmouth. … The hosts won Friday’s rebounding battle, 40-31. … Ryan Betley (12 ppg) missed his fourth straight game with an ankle injury.