Men's basketball faces tough competition on weekend trip

In all of athletics, perhaps the most important physical concept is that of momentum. While certainly the applications of force and the need for acceleration are vital to success in any sport — as well as a touch of chaos theory in the guise of luck — gaining momentum at the right time can bolster a team's confidence and increase its quality of play.

Coming off a series of home victories, including a vital Ivy sweep last weekend, the men's basketball team travels to the northern reaches of the Ancient Eight to battle Dartmouth tomorrow, and Harvard on Saturday.

Princeton (9-7 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) currently shares the Ivy lead with Penn (7-12, 4-0) heading into their Nordic excursions. While both teams share the same conference record, their respective momenta are heading in opposite directions.

Tuesday night, Penn was outmatched in all phases of the game by a strong Villanova squad, falling 80-51. While the Tigers are in Hanover, N.H., they might just check the Ivy scoreboard to see if the Quakers slip up. Perhaps reeling from that convincing defeat, Penn faces Harvard (11-7, 4-2) — the stronger of the leaders' opponents this weekend — Friday.

Dartmouth (6-13, 1-5), however, will not be a pushover for the Tigers. Senior guard Greg Buth — the third leading scorer in the Ivy League at 17.8 points per game — has the ability to burn the nets with his outside shot.

Even if Buth is off his game, senior center Ian McGinnis' six-foot, eight-inch frame is usually in good position for a rebound. McGinnis averages just a hair under a double-double per game — pulling down 9.6 rebounds and scoring 9.5 points per contest.

To counteract Dartmouth's perimeter game and strength inside, the Tigers will have to continue to play the style of game that has brought them to this point in the season.

"I think we're just going to try to do what we've been doing," head coach John Thompson '88 said. "It's a simple game. On defense we're going to try to keep our bodies in front of their guys and on offense we're going to try to throw the ball in the basket. It's a real simple game."

The Crimson boast a veriable S.W.A.T. team of sharpshooters. Senior forward and captain Dan Clemente is the second leading scorer in the Ivies with 18.3 points per game and shoots a consistent 36.9 percent from beyond the three-point line.

Remarkably, this is only good enough for third best on the Harvard roster. The Crimson's strong sophomore backcourt tandem of point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman and shooting guard Patrick Harvey each make more than 44 percent of their shots from downtown.

"[Harvard and Dartmouth] both pose similar problems in that they both have guys — looking at Clemente and at Buth — that score a lot of points and play well against us," Thompson said.

Though the status of junior forward Mike Bechtold — Princeton's leading scorer — is still uncertain, the Tigers have persevered by having a different player rise to the occasion on any given night.

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If the Tigers can keep their mass of bodies from further injury, and continue moving at their current velocity through the Ivy League, they may well be able to capitalize on their momentum and roll through the New England snow this weekend on a vector towards Philadelphia on Tuesday.