The first time Yale and Dartmouth met last year, the Bulldogs pulled out a 71-69 double overtime victory over the Big Green in New Haven.
When the Elis made the return trip to Hanover, N.H., last year, Greg Buth was ready and waiting to avenge that painful loss.
The Big Green guard carried his team on his back. He took 24 shots and drained 14 of them, including five for eight from three-point range as Dartmouth prevailed 77-72. The 36 points Buth scored that night still stand as his career high.
When Buth returns to the John J. Lee Amphitheater tonight, fans probably will not recall that stellar night from Hanover last year. But they will remember an ugly incident involving Buth and Onaje Woodbine ’02 from Yale’s double overtime victory in New Haven.
In overtime, Woodbine stole a pass intended for Buth and headed down the floor. Buth responded by grabbing Woodbine and pushing him to the ground. Woodbine retaliated, and both players received technical fouls for the incident.
Buth could not be reached for comment.
Despite how Yale fans may remember him, Buth is known nationally for his shooting ability. Two years ago, Buth won the Edward S. Steitz award, given each year to the nation’s top male three-point shooter, beating out Duke star Trajan Langdon for the honor. That season Buth netted 83 of his 178 attempts from downtown, good for a superb 46 percent.
This year Buth continues to etch his name into Dartmouth history. Against Albany Jan. 20, the 6-foot-4-inch senior hit nine three-pointers, breaking the previous school record of eight three-pointers in a game, which he set the year before.
While Buth receives numerous accolades for his offensive prowess — he is currently third in Ivy scoring with 17.4 points a game — that is not what impresses Dartmouth head coach Dave Faucher.
“Very few teams can say that their leading scorer is also their top defender,” Faucher said. “The thing that makes him special is that he will guard people just as well.”
Buth will no doubt go down in history as one of the best players in the history of the Dartmouth program.
But there was a time when he might have been wearing Yale blue instead of Dartmouth green.
Yale head coach James Jones said Buth and his father made an unofficial visit to Yale while Buth was in high school, bringing game film to show to the Yale coaching staff. Jones, who was a Yale assistant at the time, said the staff, under the direction of then-head coach Dick Kuchen, decided that they were not interested in Buth.
Dartmouth was the luckier for it.