TAMPA, Fla., (Dec. 15, 2022) – South Florida aims for its third consecutive win when the Bulls host Dartmouth Friday night at Yuengling Center. The game marks the beginning of a three-game homestand.
USF played its second true road game of the season Monday at Northern Iowa and posted a 72-69 victory thanks to a Tyler Harris game-winning three-pointer from the logo at the buzzer.
Dartmouth fell to Boston University Tuesday. It was the Big Green’s third consecutive loss.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Dartmouth:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (4-6) vs. Dartmouth (4-8)
Date: Friday, Dec. 16
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 102.5 The Strike HD-2 & Bulls Unlimited (TuneIn)
History: USF is 2-0 all-time against Dartmouth. In their last meeting, the Bulls defeated the Big Green 63-44 at Yuengling Center on Dec. 6, 2019.
The Opponent: Dartmouth returns two starters from last season’s team which finished fifth in the Ivy League. The Big Green were picked to finish seventh in the eight-team league this season.
Sophomore guard Ryan Cornish leads the Big Green in scoring at 11.8 points per game. He has scored in double-digits a team high eight times this season. Cornish did not play Tuesday night (coach’s decision) and his status against USF is unknown. If he plays Cornish is a capable shooter – makes 41.7 percent of his three-pointers – who can drive it either way off the bounce. Defenders must keep their chest in front of him and closeout with a high hand.
Junior Dusan Neskovic (doo-SHAHN NESH-koh-Vitch) is a 6-foot-7, 205-pound forward who is active, he runs the floor and is a good cutter. Neskovic is not a great athlete but he knows how to move for open shots in their system. Almost 80 percent of his jump shots are no-dribble. He is making 46.4 percent of his threes.
Manning the post for Dartmouth is 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior Dame Adelekun. He leads the team in rebounding (7.3 rpg), is second blocks (1.9 bpg), assists (2.0 apg), and is third in scoring (9.8). He likes to score off post-ups on the left block and use a drop-step to spin to the basket to score. Adelekun is a good ball handler so he will post up in the short corner and use a variety of moves to get to the basket. He is also comfortable driving it from 20-feet to score or dish. If he is not posting, he is screening or moving/cutting to the basket.
Dartmouth runs a version of the Princeton offense – which is ironic when you think about it – and they shoot A LOT of threes. Through 12-games Dartmouth has attempted 331 three-pointers (27.6 three-point attempts per game). They average nine made threes per game but in their victories they made at least 13-threes in each win.
The Big Green also goes deep into its bench each game. In the three games we watched, at least 10-players saw a minimum of five minutes of action. In one game that number was 13. No Dartmouth player averages 27-minutes per game.
Defensively Dartmouth is almost exclusively man (97 percent) but they use a 3-2 zone and a 1-2-2 three-quarter court press. The mainly press to eat clock. Teams are shooting 42.8 percent against Dartmouth’s man defense.
KEYS TO A WIN
USF needs to apply consistent ball pressure, suffocate the three-point line, rebound, get paint touches, be physical, play well against Dartmouth’s 3-2 zone and its press.
