Week seven for the Ancient Eight saw Yale avenge its shocking opening day loss at Columbia and move into a tie at the top of the conference leaderboard. After a close half that saw the Bulldogs holding onto a slim 31-26 lead, the Bulldogs outscored the last-place Lions 58-32 for the dominant 31-point win. Yale, winners of six straight, had 13 different players in the scoring column and shot 65% from the field.
The Columbia loss, the team’s ninth in row, officially eliminated the Lions from the Ivy League Tournament.
In another bit of Ivy League revenge, Dartmouth defeated Princeton 83-76 to avenge a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Tigers on Jan. 21. In game one, the Big Green were up five with two minutes to go in regulation but succumbed to Princeton’s defensive pressure. This past Saturday, however, Dartmouth used a 30-8 run to turn a seven-point second half deficit into a 15-point lead. While the Orange & Black got within two with just over two minutes to go, the Green went 10-for-10 from the free throw line to seal the deal.
With the win, Dartmouth has beat Princeton, Yale and Harvard for the first time since the 2009 Ivy League season. The Big Green also moved to .500 in conference play and sit in a tie for fifth place, one game out of a spot for a coveted spot in Ivy Madness.
In the third act of Saturday’s revenge weekend, Brown held serve and took down Cornell 80-66 at the Pizzitola Center. Bruno dominated from the start, opening up a 20-point lead with just over two minutes left in the first half and extending it to 30 with around 15 minutes left in the game. The huge lead proved too much for the Big Red, a team known for its second-half comebacks, and the Bears cruised to its third straight win.
The victory, which put Bruno into a tie for third place, was the 134th of head coach Mike Martin’s career and moved him ahead of Stanley Ward for the top spot in program history.
On the other side of the ledger, Cornell, which was tied with Princeton after the first half of the league schedule, lost its third straight and sits in a tie for fifth place with Dartmouth. If there was a bright spot in the defeat, it was the return of Nazir Williams, a 19-game starter who missed the previous three games. The sophomore guard out of Nyack, N.Y. came off the bench to add 14 points on 67% shooting and four rebounds.
Penn made sure it wasn’t a complete revenge-filled weekend, traveling to Lavietes Pavilion and sweeping the season series against Harvard. The Quakers opened up a 41-31 lead at the half and extended it to a 59-45 advantage around the 10-minute mark of the second half. The Crimson used a 14-3 run over the next seven minutes to make it a three-point game. While the Red & Blue didn’t make a field goal over the final 4:29, their 18-for-21 performance from the free throw line during that same time put the game away.
The Quakers’ fifth straight win and fourth in a row over the Crimson puts them in a tie for third with Brown, while Harvard’s four game losing streak places them in seventh place, three games off the pace for Ivy Madness.
Saturday’s results
Brown over Cornell, 80-66
Penn over Harvard, 80-72
Dartmouth over Princeton, 83-76
Yale over Columbia, 99-68
Standings
Yale 7-3 (17-6, overall)
Princeton 7-3 (16-7)
Brown 6-4 (13-10)
Penn 6-4 (14-11)
Cornell 5-5 (15-8)
Dartmouth 5-5 (9-15)
Harvard 3-7 (12-12)
Columbia 1-9 (6-19)
Week eight, the last back-to-back weekend of the regular season, will see big matchups amongst the top four teams, as well as a showdown between the two teams tied for fifth place.
Yale will visit Penn on Friday night, looking to break a six-game Palestra losing streak that includes four conference and a 2018 Ivy semifinal loss to the Quakers, as well as a 2017 Ivy Madness final loss to Princeton. The Red & Blue, meanwhile, will seek their own revenge on a Bulldogs team that beat them 70-63 on Jan. 21.
At the same time, Brown, which defeated Princeton by two on Jan. 14, will be seeking a season sweep at Jadwin Gymnasium. The Tigers, which defeated the Bears 76-74 at home last season aim to avoid its first sweep by Bruno since the 2019 campaign.
The opening game of the weekend will be a colorful matchup between the Big Red and Big Green at Newman Arena with the winner being in a tie for third place, tie for fourth place, or sole possession of fifth place. Cornell, which beat Dartmouth by 11 in Hanover on New Year’s Day and is 3-1 at home, will look to get back into the win column for the first time since Jan. 28.
The last game of night one will see seventh-place Harvard and last-place Columbia tangle in New York.
Saturday night has two huge showdowns, with Yale traveling to Princeton and Brown heading to Penn.
The Bulldogs, which defeated the Tigers by 22 on Jan. 28, are 9-1 over the Orange & Black in their last ten matchups and haven’t lost at Jadwin since a three-point overtime defeat in Feb. 2018.
The Bears and Quakers will meet up in what has become an annual Ivy Madness implication game. The Quakers have won the last four games in the series, including a 76-68 victory on Jan. 2. Bruno will try to take down the Red & Blue at the Palestra for the first time since a 75-63 win on Valentine’s Day 2020.
Harvard will make the torturous New York City-to-Ithaca trip and face Cornell on Saturday night, while Dartmouth will pass them on the other side of the highway and take on Columbia in the last game of the weekend. In the opening games of each series, the Crimson took down the Red 95-89 on Jan. 21 and the Green were victorious over the Lions by ten on the same day.
Fri., Feb 17
Dartmouth at Cornell, 6:00 p.m.
Yale at Penn, 7:00 p.m.
Brown at Princeton, 7:00 p.m.
Harvard at Columbia, 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Feb 18
Brown at Penn, 6:00 p.m.
Yale at Princeton, 6:00 p.m.
Harvard at Cornell, 6:00 p.m.
Dartmouth at Columbia, 7:00 p.m.
Below are 10 of the top performances from the weekend:
Dame Adelekun (Dartmouth)
vs Princeton: 25 points (10-14 FG, 3-3 FT), five rebounds, two assists, two blocks, one steal; KenPom MVP
Jordan Dingle (Penn)
vs Harvard: 25 points (6-13 FG, including five 4-8 from three, 9-9 FT), five rebounds; KenPom MVP
Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton)
vs Dartmouth: 23 points (8-12 FG, 6-8 FT), nine rebounds, six assists, one steal
Dan Friday (Brown)
vs Cornell: 26 points (5-9 FG, 5-7 FT), seven assists, five rebounds, two steals, one block
EJ Jarvis (Yale)
vs Columbia: 17 points (7-14 FG, 2-2 FT), five rebounds, two blocks, one assist, one steal
Matt Knowling (Yale) – Ivy League Player of the Week
vs Columbia: 22 points (9-10 FG, 4-4 FT), seven rebounds, three assists; KenPom MVP
Kino Lilly, Jr. (Brown)
vs Cornell: 25 points (10-13 FG, 2-2 FT), one rebound, one assist
Dusan Neskovic (Dartmouth)
vs Princeton: 21 points (7-11 FG, 4-4 FT), four rebounds, two assists
Nick Spinoso (Penn)
vs Harvard: 16 points (8-13 FG), six rebounds, four assists, two steals
Idan Tretout (Harvard)
vs Penn: 21 points (8-15 FG, 2-3 FT), seven rebounds, three assists, one block
Bonus Ivy Madness Update
Per the Ivy League office, the following tournament clinching scenarios are possible for this weekend:
Princeton
If Princeton wins both of its games AND Cornell and Dartmouth each lose at least one game, Princeton will secure a spot.
• Princeton would be 9-3, worst possible record of 9-5
• Cornell could be 6-6, best possible record of 8-6
• Dartmouth could be 6-6, best possible record of 8-6
• Only three teams (Yale, Brown and Penn) could have a better possible record than Princeton
Yale
If Yale wins both of its games AND Cornell and Dartmouth each lose at least one game, Yale will secure a spot.
• Yale would be 9-3, worst possible record of 9-5
• Cornell could be 6-6, best possible record of 8-6
• Dartmouth could be 6-6, best possible record of 8-6
• Only three teams (Princeton, Brown and Penn) could have a better possible record than Yale