Teams Ready For Ivy Rumble

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On Friday, in the biggest men?s basketball game in school history, Harvard will face Cornell. Ever heard of it? (It?s most famous alum is Andy Bernard).

Last weekend, Penn did the unthinkable and, with a 3-15 record, soundly defeated the then-No. 22 Big Red, 79-64. The score elicited double takes around the country with some calling it the biggest upset of the college basketball season.

Cornell bounced back the next night against Princeton in a battle for first place in the Ivy League. The Big Red survived a last-second three from Douglas Davis to escape with a gritty 48-45 win.

Meanwhile, the Crimson escaped an upset bid from Yale, rallying from three points down in the final minute. A free throw by sophomore Oliver McNally with 1.4 seconds left forced overtime, where Harvard edged Yale despite having Jeremy Lin on the bench after fouling out.

The following night against Brown, the Crimson pulled away late, winning 81-67, thanks largely to a monster effort from its two healthy big men, co-captain Doug Miller and freshman Kyle Casey.

Where does all this leave the Ivies?

Three teams control their own destiny. Cornell and Princeton will win the league outright if either runs the table, whereas Harvard will clinch at least a share of the title if it manages to win out. For that reason, the playoffs start tonight in Lavietes.

The Big Red is easily the favorite. Three weeks ago, it embarrassed the Crimson in Ithaca with an 86-50 drubbing. Jeff Foote scored at will. Cornell knocked down 12 threes. Lin led Harvard with eight turnovers.

Since then, the Crimson has lost another big man, sophomore Andrew Van Nest?this time to pneumonia (Van Nest and classmate Keith Wright are out of tonight?s game, and senior Pat Magnarelli is questionable with a high ankle sprain).

Yet the outlook is surprisingly bright for tonight?s contest. The Crimson is riding a wave of good karma after its first road sweep in 10 years, due mostly to the freshmen getting over their winter swoon: Casey won Ivy Player of the Week, Brandyn Curry carried Harvard on his back late in the Yale game, and both Christian Webster and Dee Giger found their stroke.

The Big Red, on the other hand, is not playing its best ball, with its shocking loss to Penn (which Harvard beat by 14 previously) and a narrow (albeit impressive) win over the Tigers.

The last outcome, 86-50, looms, but every sports movie has an equivalent. Henry Rowengartner surrendered a homerun, hit a batter, and threw a wild pitch in his first appearance for the Cubs in Rookie of the Year. The Little Giants trailed the Cowboys by 21 points at halftime. The Mighty Ducks lost to the Hawks 17-0 before beating them to win the state championship. The Jamaicans finished last in the first heat of Cool Runnings (maybe a bad example because they ultimately lose, but who isn?t jacked up by these Winter Olympics! No?).

For a real-life example, the Soviets beat team USA 10-3 before the Miracle on Ice.

I don?t know if this Crimson team is destined for Hollywood. All I know is, I?I Believe?I Believe That?I Believe That We?

CORNELL (21-4, 7-1 Ivy) at HARVARD (17-5, 6-2 Ivy)

?I Believe That We Will Play Very Well.

Harvard is certainly capable of taking down Cornell. It has the best player on the court in Lin, the hottest player in the league in Casey, and a raucous home crowd that is finally earning the ?Crimson Crazies? moniker.

But Cornell has far more weapons with as many as seven players capable of leading the team in scoring. It can go inside and outside, play on the break or in the half court.

Whether or not Magnarelli can offer meaningful minutes will be critical. In Ithaca, Foote abused every defender the Crimson threw at him, and Harvard is even more shorthanded now. I don?t know that Magnarelli can hold up, and for that reason, the smart money is on Cornell.

Pick: Cornell 74, Harvard 70.

YALE (10-15, 4-4 Ivy) at PRINCETON (15-6, 6-1 Ivy)

The Bulldogs showed a lot of fight against the Crimson last weekend. Ultimately, the team sinks or swims with standout Alex Zampier, who is terrifying to both his opponents and his teammates. He can catch fire and light it up, or he can force it and kill the offense.

Game after game, Princeton proves its worth. The three-point loss to the Big Red was nothing to hang its head over, and it bounced back nicely with a 58-51 win against Penn at the Palestra. I see the Tigers protecting their home court and continuing to roll.

Pick: Princeton 56, Yale 47.

BROWN (8-17, 2-6 Ivy) at PENN (4-17, 3-4 Ivy)

The overall records of these two teams are misleading. The last six games provide a clearer picture: Brown, 1-5, and Penn, 3-3. The Quakers topped the Bears three weeks ago on a contentious tip-in at the buzzer. That game was in Providence. This game is in Philadelphia, the fourth of five straight home games for Penn. Zack Rosen?s reputation continues to grow after engineering the upset over Cornell (?We expected to win,? he deadpanned after the game). I like the resurgent Quakers grabbing another win over struggling Brown.

Pick: Penn 70, Brown 64.

COLUMBIA (9-13, 3-5 Ivy) at DARTMOUTH (4-18, 0-8 Ivy)

Dartmouth is doomed by its inability to score. Only three times this season have the Big Green scored more than 60 points (by comparison Cornell and Harvard have scored less than 60 points a total of four times combined). Dartmouth will only win a game if the other team beats itself. I can?t predict when that will happen. I?ll guess it?s not tonight.

Pick: Columbia 67, Dartmouth 61.

BROWN at PRINCETON

The Bears? front line of Mullery, Sullivan, Halpern, and McCarthy is its supposed strength, yet it all but disappeared against a very shorthanded Crimson team. Brown is simply incapable of winning without those four. I see Princeton winning this game and setting the stage for another first-place showdown with the Big Red.

Pick: Princeton 55, Brown 50.

YALE at PENN

Yale handled Penn last time the two squared off, 61-48. In that game, the Quakers shot an abysmal 1-for-18 on three-pointers. This Penn team is playing with far more swagger now than in January, when it was 1-14. But Yale has also been playing well for the last month. The Bulldogs? only bad league loss came at the start of conference play against Brown. The winner of this game will likely claim sole possession of fourth place in the Ivy. I give Yale the slight edge.

Pick: Yale 68, Penn 66.

CORNELL at DARTMOUTH

This could get ugly. The Dartmouth team might have more fun if it goes to see Shutter Island instead.

Pick: Cornell 80, Dartmouth 60.

COLUMBIA at HARVARD

Columbia?s wins have come against some of the worst teams in college basketball: Bryant, Bucknell, Wagner, American, Dartmouth, Brown, and Penn all have an RPI lower than 250. Harvard is banged up and is facing the Lions on the back end of the weekend, but it would be a monumental upset if Columbia prevailed.

Pick: Harvard 70, Columbia 64.



?Staff writer Timothy J. Walsh /Harvard Crimson

 

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Yale, Brown to challenge at Jadwin


The men?s basketball team began its Ivy League journey on the road three weekends ago with double-digit victories over Brown and Yale. Princeton (15-6 overall, 6-1 Ivy League) starts its second round of Ivy League games when the Tigers square off against the Bulldogs (10-15, 4-4) in Jadwin Gymnasium at 7 p.m. tonight. On Saturday, Princeton will take on the Bears (8-17, 2-6).

Coming off a mid-week victory over Penn, the Tigers are not approaching this weekend as an opportunity to repeat their earlier victories.

?If we?re thinking about past successes, we?re thinking the wrong way,? head coach Sydney Johnson ?97 said. ?Although we were able to win at Yale and Brown, they both had good moments against us the first time we played. They know that, and so do we. The important thing for us is to realize that playing well and having a chance to win comes with creating the same focus and energy each time we take the floor.?

Tonight, Princeton will have to concentrate on shutting down Yale forward Alex Zampier, who has been averaging 17.8 points per game this season, an Ivy League best. Zampier has also posted three 30-point games so far this season, most recently last Saturday when he netted 32 against Harvard. Brown?s main threat is center Matt Mullery, whose 15 points per game ranks sixth in the league.

Yale and Brown have both scored more points per game than Princeton in conference play. The Bulldogs averaged 67.6 points per game, which places them third in the league, followed by the Bears, with 61.8 points. Princeton has netted just 55.6 points per game against Ivy opponents. But for the Tigers, the name of the game is defense.

?Defense has been what we?ve talked about since the first day our team was together, and I think this weekend, for us to have success, our defense needs to be great,? senior guard and co-captain Marcus Schroeder said.

So far this season, the Tigers? defense has spoken for itself. Princeton holds the No. 1 spot in the nation in scoring defense, allowing opponents 52.2 points per game as of last Sunday. This statistic is close to the modern Division I record of 50.9 points per game, held by the 2004 Air Force team.

The Tigers? national defensive dominance shines even brighter in the Ivy League. Princeton has only allowed league rivals to score 46.6 points per game, a category it leads by nine points. Brown and Yale have both let their conference opponents score 67 points per game, placing them in the bottom of the Ancient Eight in scoring defense. The Tigers also have the best field-goal percentage defense.

?On defense, our focus is to play smart and to have the same level of energy each time we take the court ?playing smart in the sense of knowing who to box out or how many fouls we?ve used on defense, for example,? Johnson explained. ?In terms of playing with a lot of energy, we understand that now and then we will make a mistake, but if we?re playing hard, it seems like we?re able to cover for each other?s mistakes on the defensive end.?

Princeton?s defensive teamwork has served it well so far this season. The Tigers? 15-6 record is the best 21-game record the team has posted since 1999, when Princeton was 16-5. In spite of its success, though, Princeton is focused on taking its games one at a time.

?We have to be more intense and play harder in the coming weeks because the second half of Ivy League play is tougher than the first,? junior forward Kareem Maddox said. ?We?re looking at it as though we are 0-0. We can?t be content with what we?ve done so far because it could turn around on any given night. But we?re excited because we have mostly home games left and hopefully that helps us as we move forward, especially since we?re expecting every game to be a battle.?

The Tigers are the only team in the Ivy League that is undefeated on the road in conference play. This weekend, Princeton is looking to transfer its road success to its home court.

?We know that it is tough for us to win on the road, so we need to remember that our opponents will be on the road this weekend, and we need to make it hard for them,? senior forward and co-captain Nick Lake said. ?We also really appreciate all of the fan support we get at home. It makes it a fun environment to play in.?

Last weekend Princeton hosted 5,775 fans in the team?s valiant 48-45 loss to Cornell. That game had the highest attendance of any Ivy League game this season and the most spectators for a game at Jadwin since 2004. While the Tigers appreciate their fans, at the end of the day they know the game is in their own hands.

?Our fans have been amazing, and we are able to feed off their energy,? Schroeder said. ?[But] we still need to bring our best effort, and that comes down to us.?

 

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Bulldogs back on the road

The men?s basketball team will appear on an ESPN network for the third time in the program?s history tonight when the Bulldogs head to New Jersey to take on second-place Princeton (15?6, 6?1). That matchup will be followed by a Saturday night trip to Philadelphia for a date with Penn, which, despite its 4?17 overall record, is just a game behind the Bulldogs (10?15 4?4) at fourth in the Ivy League standings.

This weekend marks the start of the second half of the Elis? Ivy League schedule this season. Yale went .500 in its first go-round, splitting each of its first four Ivy League weekends. The New Haven edition of the Princeton-Penn weekend saw the Bulldogs beat Penn 61?48 in New Haven Jan. 29 and drop a 58?45 decision to Princeton the next day.

Since then, the Elis have gone 2?2, winning games against Dartmouth and Columbia and suffering losses to first-place Cornell and Harvard. Last weekend saw some new faces step up for the Bulldogs, who received a career-best 19 points from Greg Mangano ?12 in Yale?s heartbreaking overtime loss to the Crimson, and several key plays from Raffi Mantilla ?11 in their second-half comeback against the Big Green. Alex Zampier ?10, who fell out of the Ivy League?s scoring lead after two less-than-stellar performances against Columbia and Cornell, regained the league lead with a 32-point effort against Harvard that pushed his average back up to 17.8 points per game.

The Tigers come in to Friday?s contest fresh off a 58?51 victory over the streaking Quakers Tuesday night. The Tigers? 6?1 conference record is good for second, half a game behind Cornell. Princeton has the top scoring defense in the nation, holding opponents to just 52.3 points per game and 39.3 percent shooting. On the offensive side, they are led by Douglas Davis (13.3 ppg), who helped Princeton?s offense shoot a devastating 54 percent from the field against Yale earlier this season.

Despite their record, the Quakers will present the Bulldogs with a tough challenge. This is not the same Penn team the Elis dominated two weekends ago, as leading scorer Zack Rosen has helped the Quakers to three Ivy League wins ? and pushed Princeton within 10 points of another one ? since that matchup, proving that their 39.7 percent shooting effort against Yale in the teams? last meeting was an aberration. Penn was just 1?18 from behind the arc in the first meeting Jan. 29.

The key for Yale this weekend will be, as it has all season, play in the paint. The Bulldogs are 0?8 this season when they are outrebounded and 10?7 when they hold the advantage on the glass. Getting the post men in on the scoring will also be a crucial part of a successful Eli offensive attack.

?We need to get our big guys a lot more touches,? head coach James Jones said following last weekend?s loss to Harvard. ?We?re at our best when the ball goes inside.?

If the Bulldogs can control the paint and earn a sweep this weekend, it would be the Yale has swept the Princeton-Penn road weekend since the 1986-?87 season. A win against Penn would give the Bulldogs a sweep of the season series with the Quakers for the first time since 1966-?67.

The Elis and Tigers tip off their second meeting of the season tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

 

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Big Red's Three-Pointers Sink Crimson



Published: Saturday, February 20, 2010

Facing Cornell at home on Friday night, Harvard (17-6, 6-3 Ivy) was forced to pick its poison.

Focus on challenging the appropriately-named Big Red (22-4, 8-1) in the paint or attempt to shut down a three-point offense ranked fifth in the nation.

In the end, it was the dominant long-range shooting of Cornell?s Louis Dale and Ryan Wittman that defined the game and denied Harvard the upset.

Overall, the Big Red shot for 52.2 percent from long range on 12-of-25 attempts.

Wittman, seemingly able to sink a shot from anywhere on the court, contributed six treys on the night. The senior demonstrated the value of experience late in the game, when he stepped up and stymied Harvard?s 12-0 run by responding to freshman Christian Webster?s momentous three with one of his own. Wittman led all players with 27 points on the night.

?In transition, he?s always running the floor,? Dale said. ?When I?m dribbling coming up, I?m always looking for him. I know he?s going to have his feet set and he?s going to be ready...you can?t give him much space, and I think that?s what makes him so great. He?s got a quick release and he?ll knock it down.?

To add to the Crimson?s woes, another long-range threat emerged after the first 20 minutes. Following a relatively docile first half, former Ivy League Player of the Year Dale rediscovered his stroke in the second half and drained three consecutive three-pointers in under two minutes to build up a substantial lead for the Big Red.

?We?re a good three-point shooting team,? Wittman said. ?That?s something that we do well?that?s not necessary something we rely on, it?s just something that was really going today.?

Dale struck again later on, succeeding just seconds after Harvard co-captain Jeremy Lin failed to connect with the net.

Harvard had difficulty shooting threes all night?its first successful long-range shot came with 11:30 to go in the second, as Curry broke the frustrating streak to reduce the Crimson?s deficit to 61-47 and score his first points of the game.

The Crimson shot just 2-of-10 from beyond the arc.

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BIG DEFICIT

Harvard?s big men also encountered big difficulties on Friday night. Forced to take on a larger workload in wake of injuries, the upperclassman forwards could not keep pace with the Big Red.

Sophomore Keith Wright and co-captain Doug Miller combined for only five boards while committing five turnovers.

On a positive note for the Crimson, Harvard did keep Cornell?s post game under control.

Big Red center and primary down-low threat Jeff Foote was held to only two points in the second half. Although Harvard?s focus on Foote clearly affected its efforts against the long ball, the Crimson did outscore Cornell in the paint, 30-22. The last time the two teams squared off last month, the Big Red dominated the paint, generating 32 points relative to Harvard?s 14.

With forwards senior Pat Magnarelli and sophomore Andrew Van Nest unable to suit up, one of the Crimson?s touted freshmen was forced to step up on Friday night. Last time out against Cornell, freshman Kyle Casey?coming off the bench at the time?shot 1-of-4 from the field and tallied only six points.

This week the 6?7 forward came up big for the Crimson, contributing two steals and leading all Harvard players with six rebounds. On defense, Casey executed clean blocks to rob Cornell of easy transition points, as well as momentum, in the first half. The freshman also redoubled his efforts on offense and witnessed success drawing fouls while driving to the post. Although Casey shot for just 2-of-6 from the field Friday night, he did his job at the charity stripe to rack up 14 points on the night.

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FREE FOR ALL

Whereas Cornell inflicted the most damage from the three-point line, Harvard?s offensive front emphasized getting to the free-throw line and making consistent shots.

?We did a sensational job of getting to the foul line?using that as a weapon to stay in the game and stay within striking distance,? Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said.

The Crimson sunk 32-of-34 free throws and was successful in all of its attempts throughout the second half. The Big Red gained only a third as many shots and converted at a 78.6 percent clip.

Casey and Lin both shot 10-of-11 from the free-throw line, while all other Crimson players were perfect in their attempts.

?A lot of things went wrong,? Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. ?I?ve never been on the winning side of a game where a team shoots 32-of-34 from the foul line.?