HANOVER, N.H. – The hottest men’s basketball team in the Ivy League is Dartmouth.

Any controversy in the above statement lies only because of the school in question. The results speak for themselves, the latest an absolute obliteration of Cornell, 88-49, Saturday night at Leede Arena.

Dartmouth’s fourth straight win (by an average of 22.8 points) vaults them into solo second place in the Ivy League, heights the Big Green haven’t seen in the 21st century (and not too much before that, either). And at the moment Dartmouth looks like the main threat to Yale repeating its conference title in March, a strong statement from a team that hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1959 and was picked dead last nearly unanimously in the preseason Ivy poll.

But, again, the facts and results speak for themselves. All that’s left is for David McLaughlin to channel Lou Brown and declare, “We’re contenders now.”

“I don’t pay any attention to the polls at all,” McLaughlin said. “This team plays like it practices and they play for each other. It’s a player-led team and I’m not just saying that. I can go into a huddle knowing the message is already given.”

Cornell had a dreadful first half in a loss at Harvard Friday night, but Saturday was worse. Much worse. The Big Red missed 12 of their first 13 shots and were down 21-2 by the second media timeout. That was pretty much it for the competitive portion of the game, Cornell never got closer than 17 the rest of the way, and it was 44-18 at the half after back-to-back layups by Brandon Mitchell-Day and Ryan Cornish.

The rest served primarily as an exhibition for the near sell-out crowd of fans and students on a snowy night. The promotion was Youth Dance Night and there was plenty of reason to boogie, as seldom-used seniors Connor Christensen and Ben Brown added six points each. By the end, McLaughlin was trying to temper the celebrations on his bench so as not to embarrass the clearly distraught Big Red.

“You could tell even in walkthroughs that we were ready to play on a lot of levels,” McLaughlin said. “They followed the gameplan on both sides of the ball. Making shots early in the game really energized us and carried us through. Our physicality, our ability to communicate, everything was working tonight. We also had an awesome environment here tonight, especially with bad weather. I think the crowd energized us as well.”

Ironically, much of Dartmouth’s success this season has come by imitating Cornell, specifically trying to push tempo and get good shots in transition or early in the shot clock. It has freed up Cornish and Mitchell-Day to get to the rim and shooters such as Cade Haskins (who returned to the lineup Saturday and led all scorers with 17 points). Jayden Williams, another shooter who looks freer in the new and improved offense, added 10 in the balanced attack. In all, Dartmouth was 15-for-34 from behind the arc.

“When the ball goes in, it’s a lot easier,” Haskins said. “Everyone had it going tonight, and it felt good. It was fun.”

But what has really made Dartmouth so good lately is its defense. Cornell, which came in 65th nationally in offensive efficiency, finished at an unfathomable 0.64 points per possession. The Big Red started the night leading the nation in two-point shooting and eFG%, but finished 14-for-34 (41.2%) inside the arc and 30.3% eFG, more than 30 below its season average.

“We forced them to make tough shots, accepted the contact when they tried to drive,” McLaughlin said. “After that we rebounded, you can’t allow second shots after playing good defense, and we were great at that, too.”

Quite simply, Dartmouth was just more physical than Cornell, led by Mitchell-Day and Cornish again, along with senior Romeo Myrthil. Cornell shot 3-for-27 from behind the arc, meaning on Dartmouth’s three-game win streak (all at Leede Arena), opponents shot 10-for-77 (13.0%), which probably isn’t sustainable for the Big Green, but there was plenty of margin for error Saturday.

“Pregame, we talked about being relentless over and over,” Williams said. “We all just said we have to do what we had to do in a relentless manner and the rest would take care of itself.”

Meanwhile, there’s really nothing Cornell can do except move on and look for answers in practice this week. The Big Red has dropped 47 KenPom spots in its three-game losing streak and more importantly sits in a precarious position to make its fourth straight Ivy Madness appearance. At 5-4, it is a game ahead of Brown and Harvard, but faces two tough road games next weekend at Yale and aforementioned Brown.

First-year coach Jon Jaques was visibly frustrated several times Saturday and now faces the toughest test of his young coaching career. Cornell does finish with three home games (against Penn, Princeton, and Columbia), but would rather not have must-win pressure at the end if they can help it.

At 6-3, McLaughlin has already tied his most Ivy victories in a season. But as great a story as Dartmouth is, nothing is accomplished yet. The Big Green will face desperate Penn and Princeton on the road next week before coming home to face Yale and Brown (it finishes at Harvard). But for now, it’s Dartmouth’s world and the rest of the Ivy League is living in it.

At the close on Yale’s blowout of Princeton on ESPNU, there was discussion of who could possibly stop Yale in the Ivy Tournament. Princeton was mentioned. Cornell was mentioned. Brown was mentioned. Dartmouth was not.

Which might be just how they like it.

“You’re not in the top four until the season is over,” Haskins said. “Every game is as valuable as the last and the one that’s coming up. I feel like we’re coming together at the best part of the season right now, which is the most important thing. Obviously it’s a long season, but I think we’re putting things together at the right time.”