HANOVER — Disciplined. Unselfish. Fast. Together. A tough brand of basketball.

These were some of the traits Dartmouth men’s basketball coach David McLaughlin said would be central to defining his team’s success this season while addressing reporters during Ivy League Media Day in mid-October.

On the heels of a dismal 2023-24 campaign, one that saw the Big Green finish 6-21 overall and 2-12 in Ivy League play, McLaughlin did a “deep dive” in the offseason to examine where exactly the program sputtered. Ahead of his eighth season, McLaughlin wanted to foster a “completely competitive environment” amid changes on both ends of the floor.

He reinforced a need to take care of the basketball after Dartmouth’s turnover percentage ranked 320th nationally, according to KenPom, a website that uses advanced analytics to evaluate college basketball teams.

The offense, which finished 351st out of 362 teams in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metrics, needed to play fast and unselfish while involving all five players on the floor.

McLaughlin wanted his defense, which posted its worst adjusted efficiency rating since his second season in Hanover, “to be able to get stops on command.”

That starts with ending possessions with a rebound.

McLaughlin couldn’t have asked for a better start to the campaign. The Big Green scored 129 points, a program record, in a 72-point drubbing of VSU-Lyndon in the season opener. They followed that up with an 81-76 victory over Sacred Heart. McLaughlin’s squad posted 50 combined assists against 21 turnovers in the two games, while surrendering only 10 total offensive boards.

Dartmouth was unable to extend its win streak to three games, though, falling 87-73 to UAlbany at Leede Arena on Wednesday in a result defined by the hosts’ miscues.

The Great Danes snagged 15 offensive rebounds, hit 10 3s and scored 22 points off of the Big Green’s 16 turnovers.

“I thought they brought a more physical presence than we did today, and I didn’t think we handled that well,” McLaughlin said. “They set the tone on the offensive glass, for sure. Got them a lot of extra opportunities and allowed them to have 27 more shots. Statistically, it’s really hard to win a game when another team gets 27 more shots.”

Junior forward Brandon Mitchell-Day, who finished the game with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and eight boards, saw his first half limited with foul trouble. Although he was able to exert a much greater influence in the second half, especially in transition and in the paint, he said the battle on the glass came down to “who wanted to hit first.”

Apparently, the Great Danes did.

Junior forward Jackson Munro agreed with Mitchell-Day’s assessment, adding that the battle down low came down to “toughness and physicality.”

Sure, there were a handful of long rebounds off of Albany’s 21 missed 3s that it was able to collect, but the couple bad bounces don’t negate the work needed to establish better positioning.

“Bottom line, we just have to do a better job of being tougher, boxing out, trying to push the guys further back to try and get better positioning down low,” said Munro, who posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, to go with five turnovers.

The Great Danes’ ball pressure beyond the arc troubled Dartmouth as well, as evidenced by the 16 turnovers.

Senior guard Ryan Cornish, who tallied a team-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, said Albany’s defensive pressure disrupted the Big Green’s rhythm at times throughout the games.

The Great Danes are also a team that likes to run teams off the 3-point line.

Coach Dwayne Killings’ squad finished top-10 nationally in opponent 3-point percentage and opponent 3-point attempt rate. In doing so, however, Albany sacrifices rim protection, which opens up straight line drives and interior scoring to opponents.

It’s an area Cornish attempted to exploit, capitalizing on the lack of help defense with several uncontested looks at the rack in the first half.

The Big Green finished the game with 42 points in the paint, too. Despite the interior scoring success, though, Dartmouth was unable to overcome its host of turnovers and a 3-of-12 shooting performance from deep.

Cornish acknowledged that the Big Green “have to adjust a little bit better.” But he was also quick to say that the team “just needs some time.”

After all, it’s only the third game of the season and players are still getting familiar. The installation of a new system on both ends of the floor, one predicated on pushing in transition and playing with more freedom, Cornish said, requires its own adjustment period.

Following the game’s conclusion, McLaughlin said he didn’t belabor the loss. Instead, he kept his postgame message simple.

“We didn’t talk much about the game,” McLaughlin said. “Gave them a couple stats, and I said, ‘We have to get better. If we don’t get better from this, then why play the game?’ And I think they will respond to get better from this performance.”

He hopes the 14-point defeat is a result the team will take personally ahead of a 7-game stretch of away contests that begins on Saturday at Boston University — Dartmouth won’t host a game until Dec. 18 when Le Moyne comes to Hanover.

Cornish, Munro and Mitchell-Day all noted the connectivity between the team. There is perhaps no better place to test this team’s mettle than a month-long road trip that features games against Boston College and Notre Dame.

“This group loves making extra passes, loves cheering for each other,” Mitchell-Day said. “You could see it from the bench and from our reactions on the court that we love each other. So it’s going to play a huge part in this next road trip we have. It’s going to be a good time for us to strengthen that chemistry and we’re going to start reaping the benefits going into Ivy play.”

Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.