One month ago, Dartmouth had the lead against Princeton University, but a Xaivian Lee dagger three with six seconds left snatched away the win. This time, Dartmouth grabbed the lead early and never let go.
Dartmouth’s 76-61 demolition of Ivy League giant Princeton on Saturday night secured the Big Green’s first conference .500 season since 2015 — and its first win at the Jadwin Gymnasium since 2009. With its win, Dartmouth avenged the heartbreaking 81-80 loss at Leede Arena it suffered to Princeton this past January.
“You know, I’m just really proud of the guys,” Dartmouth head coach David McLaughlin said. “And more so than the win, I’m proud of how they responded to a tough outing [Friday] night to beat a good opponent today.”
On Saturday, Dartmouth bounced back from a tough loss Friday evening against the University of Pennsylvania, falling 88-75 after leading by as much as 13.
“I think the difference is we learned from the game,” Brandon Mitchell-Day ’26 said. “[On Friday] we got out of what we do well. Things didn’t go our way.”
Dartmouth started the Princeton game off hot, jumping out to a 21-4 lead with less than nine minutes to go in the first half. Like in the Penn game, however, Dartmouth’s lead began to slip as junior Lee and sophomore Dalen Davis combined for 24 points to reduce the deficit to a mere four points at the break. Princeton came as close as two points but, unlike Penn, could not close the gap before Dartmouth’s offense kicked back into gear, going on a 20-5 scoring run that put the Big Green up for good.
The win comes off the back of a dominant performance from Ryan Cornish ’25. With 19 points in each game, Cornish led the way for the Big Green against the Quakers and leveled up his efficiency against the Tigers — rebounding from a dismal 4/18 shooting performance against Penn to shoot 7-14 from the field. He also dropped six dimes after only registering two against the Quakers.
Jackson Munro ’26 said team chemistry was on point.
“With the Penn game, I think we really struggled with communication,” Munro said. “So that was definitely a big point of emphasis going into the Princeton game.”
The defense also elevated its game, holding Princeton to just 34% from the field and 23.5% from beyond the arc after letting Penn shoot nearly 46% from the field. The defense helped cool down Lee and Davis, who scored only a combined 14 points in the second half. The Dartmouth defense made it a point to contest shots all the way to the final buzzer, combining for five blocks. Jayden Williams ’26 led the way with two rejections — including when he sent a Lee layup hurtling toward the bleachers near the end of the first half.
“That’s the way we’ve been defending all year,” McLaughlin said. “We’re leading our league in defense for a reason, protecting the paint, making sure guys are taking challenging shots and not allowing second opportunities.”
Thanks to that incredible defense, Dartmouth never trailed and looked in control for all 40 minutes.
Another key point of improvement from Friday’s loss was rebounding. On Saturday, Dartmouth collected 42 rebounds — eight more than in Friday’s game against Penn and 10 more than Princeton’s total.
“I thought we did a good job rebounding the ball,” McLaughlin said. “I think last night we didn’t rebound the ball as well. … So, by rebounding the ball we were able to get out in transition and therefore keep our foot on the gas.”
Mitchell-Day grabbed 10 of those boards — along with 15 points — to record his fourth double-double of the season and his second in the past four games.
With 90 seconds to go in the game, Mitchell-Day came down hard after missing a transition dunk, picking up a noticeable limp. His condition is yet to be evaluated by the training staff, according to McLaughlin. Romeo Mrythil ’25 also went down with an injury, clutching his right knee early in the second half after his leg came out from under him. Despite the initial scare, Myrthil looked on the mend as he found his way back to the court later in the game.
Dartmouth now sits at a 7-4 record and second in the Ivy League standings. With three games to go, a win can secure a spot in Ivy Madness and earn Dartmouth its first winning record since the 1998-99 season.
However, the path to Providence (pun intended) is difficult, with Dartmouth to face 11-0 Yale University and fifth-place Brown University next weekend at Leede Arena before traveling to Cambridge for the last game of the regular season.
