Enter the 2011-12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame lost a great deal from last season’s team that entered the month of March playing about as well as any team in the country. Gone from that team are Big East Player of the Year Ben Hansbrough and important role players Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott, the latter a big defensive leader for that team and a surprise early defection. Already, projections for this team were going to be that they were unlikely to contend for the top of the Big East. When they went 0-2 in Kansas City, including an 87-58 thrashing at the hands of Missouri, it looked like they would be who many thought they would be.

That wasn’t all. The Fighting Irish were not certain to have Tim Abromaitis back, as he played in two exhibition games in the 2008-09 season where he redshirted. But the NCAA granted him this year, so that helped as he was an experienced player and was second on the team in scoring last season. Then in late November, he tore the ACL in his right knee in practice, putting him out for the season.

At that point, the outlook was decidedly not good. But no one told head coach Mike Brey and his team that, and after Saturday’s convincing 76-59 win over Marquette, the Fighting Irish are alone in fourth place in the Big East.

“From the start of the season, no one thought we would be here,” said sophomore point guard Eric Atkins.

Notre Dame hasn’t compiled its record by beating up on the bottom feeders of the conference. Along the way, they have knocked off Louisville, Seton Hall and Connecticut on the road, and now Syracuse and Marquette at home.

“I am very proud of my group,” said Brey, who at this point looks like the runaway Coach of the Year in the Big East, if not nationally. “I told them in one of the final media timeouts that I felt like I was coaching men today. Last year’s team was men. That had a look of more than one fifth year senior on the court. I am thrilled where we are.”

Notre Dame can only get better given that this is a young team with a lot of players who are just finding themselves. Scott Martin is the only other senior besides Abromaitis on the team, while the emerging perimeter unit of Atkins, Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton are sophomore, sophomore and freshman respectively. Connaughton wasn’t expected to play much, but he scored 21 points on Saturday and now starts on the hardwood as well as the mound (the San Diego Padres drafted him last year).

“Right now, we’re really confident that we can beat any team – we can play with any team,” said Grant. “Our team confidence is really high right now, and I’d like to keep it that way because we are playing really well.”

That’s one thing no one can doubt at this point. The Irish have proven that to this point, and as a more confident team they will be even tougher to beat.

We take you coast to coast with news from around the college basketball nation.

Arizona had a big weekend, sweeping their trip to northern California after a 56-43 win at Stanford on Saturday. The Wildcats may be starting to come alive at a good time.

Syracuse got Fab Melo back for Saturday’s game, and they rolled to a 95-70 blowout win at St. John’s. The win was the 879^th in Jim Boeheim’s career, tying him with Dean Smith for third on the all-time list.

Seton Hall’s struggles continued as Connecticut annihilated them 69-46 in Hartford.

Kentucky had an easy time at South Carolina, committing just three turnovers in their blowout win.

The Big 12 gets a little more interesting at Missouri rallied to knock off Kansas in a big rivalry showdown. Both teams are now 8-2 in conference play.

Who’s on top of the ACC? No, not Duke, although the Blue Devils will be tied if they beat Miami on Sunday. North Carolina is in a tie after a big 83-74 win at Maryland to move into a tie for that spot. The team they are tied with is Florida State, as the Seminoles are 7-1 after a 58-55 win over Virginia.

Temple is now alone in first place in the Atlantic 10 after a 73-56 win at Rhode Island, combined with Saint Joseph’s knocking off La Salle earlier in the day. Temple’s perimeter trio continues to be the driving force for this team.

Wyoming knocked off road-weary UNLV in a close one after the Runnin’ Rebels ran into snow-related travel delays en route to Laramie.

Northern Iowa beat Creighton on a buzzer-beater, right after Creighton had tied it on a big shot.

Iona won a big showdown against Manhattan for the lead in the MAAC.

George Mason grabbed a share of the lead in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 54-50 win over Old Dominion in a first-place showdown. The Patriots are joined by VCU, 59-56 winners over Northeastern, and Drexel, 65-57 winners at Towson, at 11-2 in the conference.

Mississippi Valley State is now 10-0 in the SWAC and two games ahead in the standings, after knocking off Alabama State.

Sunday’s key matchups:

• Michigan at Michigan State
• Miami at Duke
• Northwestern at Illinois
• Stephen F. Austin at McNeese State
• The biggest one of all: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI

The Owls’ perimeter trio asserted themselves right out of the gates on Saturday, scoring the game’s first eight points on two three-pointers and a steal and layup by Moore, who leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring (Wyatt is second in that category). That helped them build a 16-5 lead before the first media timeout and later a 16-point lead in the half.

Moore, who led the Owls with a game-high 22 points, has been especially driven during his senior season. It isn’t just because it’s his last go-round, although that’s surely part of it for a player who has steadily improved over his career. Moore changed his uniform number to 10 this season after the death of his cousin in a car accident. The reason behind it was adding up the digits in his cousin’s football jersey (55) and a birthday of March 10.

Wyatt was last season’s top sixth man in the Atlantic 10 and has moved into the starting lineup without a hitch. While Moore has led the team in scoring ten times this season, Wyatt has done it nine times, and both scored 20 or more points in the same game twice in the last two weeks. In the second half, Wyatt buried a very deep back-breaking three-pointer en route to scoring 13 of his 16 in that frame.

More than just the individuals, this unit is clearly bigger than the sum of their parts for a reason. They play well together and none is caught up trying to score the most points. Moore and Wyatt each average over three per game, while Fernandez is known for his passing but has a jumper that must be respected. In fact, all three shoot over 40 percent from long range on the season. In addition, all three are at least 6’4″, so they have good size, which creates matchup problems.

“They all can score, but they all like to get the ball up and help their teammates,” said head coach Fran Dunphy. “It’s as much fun for them to make an assist as to score.”

Temple has been quite reliant on its perimeter trio for a couple of reasons. One is the absence of Scootie Randall, who is likely redshirting this season after having a more difficult recovery from off-season knee surgery. Last season’s Most Improved Player in the Atlantic 10, Randall figured to start and play a major role on this team, but the way the Owls have overcome his absence is another example of the depth they have and how this team in recent years has had another player fill a spot when the opportunity for an expanded role has presented itself.

The Owls have also had to go without big man Michael Eric for some of the season, although he has returned recently. The big man suffered a patella tendon injury to his right knee in late November, the same knee he fractured last season. He had been playing well before the injury, and while he’s still not all the way back, the Owls are 5-0 since he returned to action against Maryland.

“He gives us a presence down in the paint,” said Wyatt. “Without Mike, we were pretty good, so having Mike back should make us better.”

With Eric out, then limited since his return, Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson has been a key for this team. At times, he has been their only frontcourt player on the floor, Saturday included, but he has made it work at both ends of the floor. He and Anthony Lee have teamed with Eric to form a solid, unspectacular frontcourt that gets the job done for this team.

There are more riches on the perimeter than just the three starters, and that was also on display Saturday. Sophomore Aaron Brown has been a solid reserve, giving them good offense once he comes into the game. Brown, who scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting (3-4 from long range) off the bench in Saturday’s win, has started ten games in his career as well and looks to be one of the next Owls who first produces in a relatively limited role, then becomes a key player after waiting his turn.

Temple is looking more and more like a team that can make a run in the NCAA Tournament. They have proven themselves against the competition, entering the week with an RPI of 13 and a 3-0 record against teams in the top 50. More impressive is that of those three wins, only the win over Duke came in Philadelphia, and that was at the Wells Fargo Center instead of on campus. The Owls are 9-4 away from campus on the season after Saturday’s win, including a 7-3 record in true road games.

“We’re pleased to be where we are, yet know we have eight really tough games to go,” said Dunphy.

The Atlantic 10 has six teams bunched together within one game at the top of the standings after Saturday. Temple is on top and playing better than any of them right now, but Dunphy continues to reinforce that it’s a tough conference. With the way his perimeter trio is playing, they are in a good place to try to stay at or near the top the rest of the way.

Cornell has struggled offensively all year, and that’s the clearest indication that this isn’t the Big Red of a couple of years ago. That was abundantly clear in the first half on Friday, as they struggled to get anything going and committed several turnovers that were of the costly variety. They weren’t much better in the second half, as their better shooting percentage was masked by more turnovers as well as a few baskets with the outcome not in doubt that made the score closer than it looked.

“We tried to score in transition before the halfcourt defense could get set up,” said head coach Bill Courtney. “It is a problem that we don’t make shots. We know that the way this team is built, if we don’t make shots, we’re going to be in trouble a lot of nights.”

The Big Red haven’t run bad offense, and the feeling is that they have been able to get good shots often. But they have had trouble getting the ball in the basket, as they shoot less than 41 percent on the season and less than 33 percent from deep. Turnovers haven’t been as big a problem, but they were on Friday night and Harvard made them pay for it.

Even with the offensive struggles, the Big Red’s defense has helped keep them in games. The Big Red allow opponents to shoot less than 41 percent from the floor, which is good for third in the Ivy League, and they force a league-high 16 turnovers per game. They defend the three-point line better than any other Ivy League team. The down side at that end is fouling: the Big Red average over 20 fouls per game and allow teams to get to the line more than 23 times per game. That was a big part of how Harvard grabbed the lead in the first half, as the Crimson went 15-18 from the line (they were 29-34 from the line for the game). But when Cornell got them in the halfcourt and didn’t foul, they were often effective.

Cornell has lost only three games by double digits this season, and four losses have been by five points or less. The inability to pull out close games plagued last year’s team, and while this year’s team hasn’t been much better, that isn’t as big an issue this time around. Perhaps the best sign of how competitive this team has been is that during a tough four-game road stretch to close out December, the Big Red lost all four games by single digits, including two by less than five and one in overtime.

“The teams we’ve played on the road are very good,” said Courtney, now in his second season leading the program. “A lot of the times, we’ve given ourselves a chance to win, and when you’re playing a good team on the road, that’s all you can ask for.”

There is some good young talent on this team, and that tends to be what a team looks like in year two of a coaching staff. The Big Red have six freshmen and five sophomores, four of whom have played significant minutes thus far. A couple of their underclassmen have had more limited action or none at all due to injury, and that has also been the case for their most talented player, junior Errick Peck. Peck will redshirt due to a knee injury and come back for two more years, which means they can really build with this core. Peck had a breakout season a year ago with a larger role, and looked ready to contend for all-league honors this season.

Shonn Miller has started 13 games thus far for the Big Red and shown the most promise of the freshmen. He has won the league’s Rookie of the Week four times this season and is third on the team in scoring and leads in rebounding and blocked shots.

“Shonn just adds a different dimension as far as athleticism and altering shots on the defensive end,” said senior guard Chris Wroblewski.

Wroblewski is a key holdover from the championship days, having played a key role on those teams in his first two seasons. With that, it’s fair to say he knows a little about winning. That’s why it’s no surprise that Courtney singled him out in particular for the leadership on the team, especially with the young talent he has and while Wroblewski has had a tough season shooting the ball.

“Chris Wroblewski has done an incredible job of leadership,” said Courtney. “Even when he was playing bad and wasn’t making shots, he was being a great leader and really bringing this team together.”

Cornell has already shown they can be a factor in the Ivy League. The Big Red are unlikely to contend for the title this season, but they are 7-2 at home including a win over Princeton. But Courtney can see this team moving in a positive direction, and you get the feeling that if they get that first road win, it might spur them on to more. As it is, they are likely to be one of those proverbial “teams no one wants to see” down the stretch at home.

Northeastern is now 7-5 in CAA play, which is a respectable mark. But take a closer look, and one notices problems. One is that they are now three games out of fourth place, which means they need some help if they are to ultimately get a bye in the conference tournament next month. That has meant everything over the years, and it’s very difficult to win four games in four days. Perhaps more importantly, the Huskies have put that record together only against the teams they “should” beat. The Huskies are 0-4 against the teams that are ahead of them in the standings.

This is about what was expected of the Huskies. They have just one senior on the roster, Niagara transfer Kashief Edwards, so this team looked to be about a year away from contending. They were one of several teams that one could put in a hat and pull them out when trying to project the middle of the pack before the season. There is some experience in the backcourt, but youth up front, and depth was an unknown. The youth up front has shown plenty of promise, adding to the idea that this team could contend next year.

In fact, that the Huskies are even in the first division of the CAA might seem like a case of over-achieving when looking at their non-conference record. A six-game losing streak in December doesn’t usually foreshadow being 7-5 at this point in conference play. The issues the Huskies showed in December – turnovers and a lack of backcourt depth – are still around, although the former has been lessened. But the lack of backcourt means starting guards Jonathan Lee and Joel Smith are playing without much rest, and will be more likely to wear down later in the season.

If the Huskies don’t at least continue to knock off the teams they should beat, they could slip back in the standings quite easily. They are now tied for fifth with Georgia State, and Delaware is breathing down their neck one game back. Both teams have proven themselves against the conference’s best teams. The Panthers handed Drexel their only loss in the last 17 games and have won at VCU, the latter marking the only time the Rams have lost at home all season. The Blue Hens almost beat the Huskies at Matthews Arena just a week earlier, beat Drexel in December and knocked off George Mason on Wednesday night.

There is still time for Northeastern to change where they stand. The Huskies are at VCU on Saturday and get George Mason at home on February 22. Last season, the Huskies had their struggles but managed to knock off VCU along the way. That game was in Boston, but it’s proof that a team like this is capable of beating one of the contenders. A month left in the regular season is a good amount of time for improvement to happen, especially in the crucial backcourt area off the bench since the two reserves there are freshmen.

But right now, where Northeastern stands is clear in the CAA. They are not contenders yet, and until they knock off a team ahead of them in the standings, that’s where they will be. They will continue to be a year away.

Northeastern took an early 29-27 lead in the second half, which was their first lead since the first minute of the game. But that lead was short-lived, and once Drexel went up 36-31 on a layup by Frantz Massenat, the Huskies were never within one possession the rest of the way.

“We pride ourselves on defense, so that was really our goal after we got up in the second half,” said guard Damion Lee, who led the Dragons with a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds.

Drexel is the hottest team in the CAA right now, having won ten straight and 16 of 17. The only slip-up in that stretch was at Georgia State just after the calendar turned over to 2012. Since then, they have turned back all CAA challengers, handing George Mason their only loss before last night and beating VCU. They also knocked off the two teams that have defeated them, Delaware and Georgia State, in their second meeting with each.

The Dragons haven’t done this easily, and it’s rarely the case that a team does this easily. The Dragons have had injuries, which was one contributor to their 2-4 start to the season. The most noteworthy one was the off-season knee injury Chris Fouch suffered, which kept the junior guard out for the first four games. Freshman Tavon Allen has missed the entire season with multiple injuries, and he figured to help this team out had he been healthy.

Even though Fouch returned earlier than first thought, he hasn’t played well yet. He’s had a couple of good games, but not a consistent stretch, and he hasn’t shot the ball well. Partly, it’s from the timing of the injury. He missed early practice, which meant no chance to mesh with new teammates, and he barely had any practice before playing. His first game was on November 30, a loss at Saint Joseph’s, and that was two days after he was cleared to play.

Another example of how this team hasn’t made it easy came leading up to Wednesday night. Drexel got off to a fast start on Wednesday night, leading 12-3 in the early going. Damion Lee was the best player on the floor, but then disappeared the rest of the half. Northeastern out-played Drexel the remainder of the half and into the second half, before Drexel turned it around and took control. Lee was a key part of that, starting with an old-fashioned three-point play to break a 31-31 tie and put them ahead for good.

Despite the convincing win, Flint said the Dragons didn’t prepare well. It would be easy to think that a veteran team like this has reached a place where they understand the target on their back as preseason favorites and what it takes to win, but the bottom line on Wednesday obscured that.

“I told them, don’t set yourself up,” said Flint. “We’re going up to a tough place to play, these guys are good in there. They gave us everything we can handle today.”

Still, Flint said there’s a lot to like with the intangibles on this team. The chemistry has been great, as Fouch and Samme Givens aren’t putting up big numbers (and as noted, the former hasn’t played all that well), but they know they don’t need to with this team and have been fine with it because the wins keep coming. The leadership has been very good, and the team plays the way one expects a Bruiser Flint-coached team to play.

Right now, the Dragons are also playing very well when one looks at the bottom line. The preseason favorites are looking that part more and more as they continue to win and in the fashion they did on Wednesday night.

“I thought our guys stayed very poised,” said Larranaga, currently in his first season at the school. “Early in the season, we tended to go our own way and tried to do it on our own. Tonight, I thought we stuck with some things and were able to fight through it, and our defense got better as the game progressed. They were at 49 for a long time.”

In fact, Boston College went over three minutes without scoring, and never got another field goal. They shot 35 percent in the second half after shooting over 42 percent in the first half, and turnovers were once again a problem. In the meantime, Miami turned the ball over just five times on the afternoon, the second straight game with a single digit figure in that column.

Miami was a mixed bag early in the season. They won their first four games, then lost four of the next five in part from playing tougher opponents and having to go on the road a few times. At 5-4, they got back big man Reggie Johnson, who suffered a knee injury last summer, and he has certainly made a difference.

“Reggie’s made a huge difference for a number of different reasons,” said Larranaga.

Johnson hasn’t been a dominant force at either end of the floor, nor has he posted eye-popping numbers. But since he has returned, a lot of the Hurricanes have benefited. Alongside him, Kenny Kadji is perhaps the biggest beneficiary, averaging 17.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game since Johnson’s return. Larranaga noted that Johnson now guards the biggest opponent, which allows Kadji more freedom at both ends. On the perimeter, Durand Scott and Rion Brown have seen their percentages make a big jump, with Scott shooting just over 30 percent before his return and over 51 percent since.

Most of all, the team has benefited as they are 7-3, and have gone from being out-rebounded to out-rebounding opponents. Johnson isn’t all the way back physically as of yet. While he’s healthy, he’s still not in the kind of game shape most players are by this season, and he wasn’t in the best shape even before the injury. But the effect his return has had is clear.

Another player who has helped others is freshman point guard Shane Larkin. The son of baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, he has moved into the starting lineup and made life easier for Scott and Malcolm Grant. Larkin is a good defender as well, and putting him alongside Scott and Grant gives them three ball handlers to start the game. Scott admirably played the point for a lot of his first two years for a guy who isn’t natural at the position, but Larranaga likes making his and Grant’s life easier.

“Quite frankly, ball handling wears you out,” said Larranaga. “Having three ball handlers sharing the ball, sharing the responsibility, definitely helps.”

“We really don’t go by positions. We just go out there and try to play,” said Scott, who had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists on Sunday. “Coach knows what’s best, he put him at the point for a reason, and I trust him putting him at the point and me at the 2. The last couple of games, we got wins, so how can I complain about that?”

There’s a lot of room to maneuver in the ACC aside from what appears to be a clear top four teams. Based on play thus far, the top four looks to be some combination of Duke, Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia. After that, though, there’s a drop-off, and places 5-12 in the standings could go a number of ways. In the mix are teams like Clemson, Maryland, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech. All of those teams have things to like about them, but none will bowl you over. Based on how Miami has played since Johnson’s return, they would be as good a pick to get into the top half as anyone.

Of the Hurricanes’ remaining 10 ACC contests, six are at home. That’s a plus, and of the four teams that project to be at the top, they have as many games on the road against them as at home (two each). If they continue to buy into the ideas of defense and taking care of the ball, Sunday’s decisive run may turn out to be a microcosm of the season. They certainly have the personnel with which to do that.

“I think it’s a team on a mission this year,” said junior Kyle Casey, who led Harvard with 20 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s 68-59 win at Brown. “Last year, we got down early, and being a veteran team, we learned from those experiences and tried to nip them in the bud.”

Last year’s trip to Providence and New Haven wasn’t so good for the Crimson. First, they didn’t play well but pulled out a win at Brown after being down by 11 at halftime. A night later, they went to New Haven and lost to Yale in overtime. Had they won that game and every other one turned out the same, the Crimson would have been dancing with an outright Ivy League title. (Interestingly, Brown’s gym was home to the other loss by the team that tied the Crimson, as the Bears knocked off Princeton at home.)

This time around, it was different. A more mature and battle-tested Crimson team won these two games convincingly. It’s undoubtedly a sign of maturity for what is a veteran team, but head coach Tommy Amaker also noted that it comes at a different point in the season, and this time it might have been advantageous.

“This is the beginning of our conference race, so there’s a lot of excitement and energy with everyone right now,” said Amaker.

On Friday night, the Crimson simply shut down Yale in their biggest win ever against the Bulldogs. They held Yale below 32 percent from the field and forced 22 turnovers, which they turned into 26 points. They kept it up the entire game, turning an 11-point halftime lead into the final 30-point victory margin with a strong second half where they outscored the Bulldogs 35-16.

Saturday night’s win over Brown will go into the book as a nine-point win. Don’t let that fool you; Harvard was in control throughout the second half after scoring the first 11 points to turn a 31-27 halftime lead into a 42-27 advantage. While Brown had some good spurts, you never had the feeling they were truly within striking distance, perhaps one play away from going on a run to make it a close game. Harvard never relaxed, aided by some good bench play (freshman Steve Moundou-Missi, in particular, had a solid weekend), and kept Brown at arm’s length as a result. They held the Bears to 37 percent shooting on the night.

Harvard’s 4-0 start in league play includes a 3-0 mark on the road. They will be playing from being ahead, which can never be underestimated in this league, and they now get to go home for a weekend. The Crimson have been excellent at protecting their home floor, so it would not be a surprise if they are 6-0 a week from now. They look like a team on a mission, and one part of that has been fulfilled.

“We continue to hang around and be in games and have opportunities,” said the Hofstra mentor.

Hofstra is now 1-10 in CAA play, but they have been agonizingly close in all but two CAA losses. They have dropped 17 and 12-point decisions to VCU. The other eight games have been losses by a combined 37 points, including a one-point and two two-point losses. While the Pride are now tied at the bottom of the CAA, they aren’t all that far away from knocking on the door of the first division.

The biggest issue for the Pride is offense. Although they could be better defensively, the Pride isn’t losing games at that end of the floor. Opponents are shooting over 43 percent against them, and they have been okay on the glass. They force over 15 turnovers per game as well.

“We have to continue to find ways to get the ball in the basket,” said Cassara. “I think our defensive effort is in the ballpark of where we have to be to win.”

The Pride have shot the ball reasonably well on the season, although they could improve there. The biggest stat is one that they actually did well with on Saturday, which is taking care of the ball. The Pride turn it over more than 15 times per outing, a number topped by only two CAA teams. Even with just ten turnovers, though, at crucial times the Pride committed them. On several occasions on Saturday, they had a chance to get closer and keep a rally going, but an unforced turnover would snuff that out.

“One turnover, for us, almost seems like four or five right now,” said Cassara.

A particular area of concern has been the point guard spot, and it’s not that the Pride are lacking capable players there. Rhode Island transfer Stevie Mejia started the first seven games, but an injury led to senior Dwan McMillan taking over that spot. Mejia hasn’t been anything like he was at Rhode Island, where he took very good care of the ball and ran the offense well. He’s still not 100 percent, and while McMillan has provided a steady hand, they can’t effectively rest him without losing something while Mejia is still not all the way back.

There hasn’t been an issue getting scoring from CAA leading scorer Mike Moore, and at times that has also been true of Nat Lester, who redshirted last year. Lester struggled with six points on Saturday and while he’s had big games like his 33-point effort early on, he’s also had games where he hasn’t been much of a factor offensively. Saturday was his fourth single-digit outing on the year, and he’s had five games where he has scored exactly 10 points.

Hofstra’s frontcourt isn’t one of the best in the CAA, but it’s not bad. Junior David Imes is better than serviceable and sophomore Stephen Nwaukoni has made his way into the starting lineup, and freshman Moussa Kone has been serviceable off the bench and has better days ahead. As much as this team was sure to miss Charles Jenkins, they also miss Greg Washington quite a bit, because he was a defensive presence inside and was also a senior on that team last season.

After playing four of six on the road, Hofstra now goes home for a week. Included in that recent stretch was being on the road for three of the four games they just played during the conference’s annual stretch of four games in eight days from one Saturday to the next. Cassara indicated that there is a level of frustration from the close losses, and that’s not surprising. When a good effort doesn’t have a bottom-line reward, it’s never easy, but this team hasn’t quit yet and surely won’t in the future. They’re going to keep hanging around and try to do more than just that.

Dartmouth gave Harvard a battle for much of the game last month when they visited Cambridge for the league opener. For years while they have struggled, they have been known for giving even the best teams a run for their money in Hanover. Thus far, they are 0-3 in the early going after dropping a 66-59 decision at Brown on Friday night, and it’s a game they could have had. The bottom line isn’t going to show it, but the future is looking bright for this team.

The Big Green had two freshmen and a sophomore in their starting lineup on Friday, and another freshman was among the first players off the bench. It’s not a stretch to say that the three freshmen are among their four or five best players right now, and head coach Paul Cormier is giving them plenty of opportunity early on.

Right behind this group will be more good talent. Next year they will add a solid point guard in Alex Mitola from New Jersey and two from the New England prep ranks: an excellent shooter in Kevin Crescenzi from the Tilton School and a versatile wing in Tommy Carpenter from Northfield Mount Hermon. With that on the way, a fan of the team can be forgiven if they lose sight of what’s in front of the team right now, although the coaching staff isn’t doing that.

“We’ve got to try to win games now as well,” said Cormier, who is in his second stint as head coach at the school. “We’ve got to learn how to win. A game like tonight, where you had the lead going into the second half, and then you made that comeback, it would be nice to make some big plays and big stops down the stretch, which we just did not do.”

Dartmouth led for most of the game after Brown scored the first four points. Brown got close several times, but Dartmouth consistently had answers to push the lead back up. Even when the Bears finally grabbed the lead at 35-33 just three minutes into the second half, Dartmouth scored the next six points and at one point led 48-40. The Big Green had another answer when Brown took a 53-52 lead with 4:07 left, but the next time they lost the lead would be the last time they held it on the night.

Cormier cited shooting as a primary concern for this team, and a look at the box score certainly shows it. They Big Green shot 37 percent from the field, including just 29.2 percent in the second half. They did well to get to the foul line 19 times (making 16), but that couldn’t make up for their struggles to make a basket. They shoot below 40 percent on the season and have shot 44 percent or better just four times this season.

At the top of those struggles on Friday night were top shooter David Rufful (2-11 from the field, including 0-3 from long range) and Gabas Maldunas (3-12). Maldunas did have 11 rebounds and has already become their best player, as he’s a tough matchup with his skill level inside and out. Cormier said Maldunas and classmate Jvonte Brooks, who led the Big Green on Friday with 16 points, were hobbled recently by the flu.

Rufful, Jabari Trotter and Kirk Crecco are the only seniors on this team. With freshmen coming in and getting good minutes and key roles right away, it could threaten the chemistry on some teams. Thus far, Cormier has seen none of that.

“We have good chemistry,” said Cormier. “The older kids have done a lot as far as helping them adjust from high school or prep school into the Ivy League and deal with both playing a Division I schedule and handling the rigors of the Ivy League academically. The upperclassmen have done a wonderful job as far as leadership, and that’s all been a help.”

Cormier said he hopes the upperclassmen get to experience more wins before they are done. They may not be here to see this team become relevant again while the talent that is in Hanover and on the way tries to develop into a contender, but they will have set the stage for it. In a couple of years, Dartmouth may well be a contender in the Ivy League, leaving recent seasons and this season’s 0-3 start in league play as relics of the past.

The Bulldogs’ 2-19 record is a little deceptive. While they have been blown out a few times, with four losses by 25 points or more, they have had their share of close games like Thursday night. The Bulldogs are 2-6 in games decided by single digits and 1-4 in games decided by five points or less. Those are stats that can sometimes determine the course of a season for a team.

“We just can’t catch a break right now,” said head coach Tim O’Shea.

This wasn’t quite how the season was supposed to go. While no one expected Bryant to be at the top of the conference, surely no one expected a 2-19 mark after 21 games. But a look at the statistic just mentioned lends some insight into things: last season the Bulldogs were 6-4 in games decided by five points or less. A team can’t win every game like that, but some pull out more than others.

About a year ago at this time, the Bulldogs were in the midst of showing the future potential in the program. They won four straight games in January en route to nine on the season, including a 7-11 mark in Northeast Conference play. With a lot of the core of that team returning, there was reason to believe this team was on the upswing, although they would also appear to be a year away as they have no seniors.

The Bulldogs have struggled in just about every statistical area. On Thursday night, they led in rebounding for most of the first half, but trailed at halftime and ended the game even in that category. They’re not as good a shooting team they were last year. Defense has been a struggle as teams have shot over 46 percent from the field against them.

O’Shea said a couple of things come to mind that this team may be missing. For one, there’s no clear go-to guy, whereas in the past Cecil Gresham held down that role. They have a couple of players who could take that role on, like reigning NEC Rookie of the Year Alex Francis or Dobbs, but neither has done it yet. He also noted that this team doesn’t have a lights-out shooter. Dobbs and sophomore Corey Maynard are capable of shooting well from deep, and Raphael Jordan has had a few games where he has shot very well, but none can shoot like transfer Joe O’Shea (Tim’s nephew) or Dyami Starks. When they become eligible next season, they might provide a sizable boost to the offense.

Despite the struggles, this is a better team than the record indicates. The Bulldogs have played a murderous schedule that featured only two non-conference home games and trips to San Diego State, Notre Dame, Providence, Boston College and Arizona. They are also in a conference that is better than last year; O’Shea described the NEC as “tremendously improved” since he took the job. Not only that, but the Bulldogs have to play each of the top six teams in the standings twice or solely on the road.

Through it all, this team is a few plays away from having a few more wins and possibly feeling better about their progress during the season.

“I really don’t think we’re far away from being pretty good,” O’Shea said.

Next year is the first year where the team’s record really matters. Bryant will be eligible for the NEC Tournament and its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and they’ll have a veteran team by that time. That’s part of what the growing pains all lead toward, and there will be a big goal in sight once next season comes. That’s what O’Shea and his staff have been building for.

Most won’t expect the Bulldogs to be in the mix, but they could be a sleeper. They’ll have the entire team back and add the aforementioned transfers. They will be experienced playing with one another, with additional help from an overseas trip that O’Shea is planning to take them on during the off-season. The non-conference schedule will also be lighter, with more home games, which means they could win more games early and have something to show for their efforts. The confidence a team can gain from early wins can’t be underestimated.

“Next year, I think we’re positioned to have a really good turnaround,” said O’Shea.

All along, O’Shea has been able to take a long view of things, and he’s kept a proper perspective on the situation. That has undoubtedly helped him through this season, as it’s easy to think it’s been very taxing on the soul but he says he’s managing fine and trying to hold it together for his team. Thus far, this team has continued to compete, so they aren’t playing like a defeated group, and there is good talent and a well-constructed team.

This season has had more tough losses than good wins, more close calls than breakthroughs. But the Bulldogs will come right back on Saturday against Monmouth and later in the season, as O’Shea and his staff continue to move the team forward for next year. They want to get some wins now, but they know there is a bigger goal, and they also know the team they have isn’t in dire straits.