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Mike Tony Penn Athletics announced today that junior guard Tony Hicks was suspended by coach Jerome Allen for Penn’s games at Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that Hicks did not travel with the team to New England.
Observers say Hicks twisted the hand of a Brown player in what appeared to be a sign of poor sportsmanship, which followed Hicks getting charged with a technical foul with 6:22 remaining in a 71-55 home loss to Brown for arguing with an official.
Check out our archive of the latest On the Vine podcast, in which Kristyn Brundidge of WKCR Sports and Ashley Wu of the Yale Daily News join Peter Andrews & Mike Tony to cover the latest Ivy action. Segments include reflections on Harvard’s championship pedigree, Yale’s success at Jadwin and predictions on who will prevail in this weekend’s matchups:
It was a ‘meh’ Valentine’s Day for Ivy basketball, with all four games being decided by eight points or more and no massive upsets:
Harvard 61, Cornell 40
The Crimson, previously on the wrong end of a 26-2 run against Dartmouth earlier this season, reeled off a 22-2 run of their own to shake off the Big Red. Senior guard Wesley Saunders somehow compiled eight rebounds but zero points in the first half, but steady efforts from senior forward Steve Moundou-Missi and sophomore guard Corbin Miller allowed Harvard to win with comfort. Cornell’s got an amply stout defense, but no offense when Shonn Miller isn’t clicking (and he didn’t at Lavietes, going 1-for-10 from the field).
Harvard 72, Columbia 68
All season long, Ivy pundits (including myself) questioned the Crimson’s ability to rely on outside shooting to win tight games down the stretch. So it’s ironic that Harvard dismissed that doubt – if just for tonight – against one of the most potent three-point shooting teams in the league, Columbia. Wesley Saunders and Siyani Chambers combined to go 6-for-10 from beyond the arc, and Corbin Miller went 2-for-5 as well for a healthy 40 percent clip. The Lions overcame a 48-31 halftime deficit to tie Harvard at 68-68 with eight second left with a Jeff Coby trey, but Siyani Chambers responded with the game-winning jumper, an indication that he may be ready to shake off the slump he’s been working through all season. This is Harvard wins – it teases us, it allows big runs, it struggles with lineup groupings. But it always comes through in the big games.
Home of the weekly live podcast On the Vine with Peter Andrews and Mike Tony, where our roundball poets delve into all things Ivy hoops.
Check out our archive of the latest On the Vine podcast, in which IHO’s own George Clark (Toothless Tiger) and Ian Halpern (Bruno March) join Peter Andrews & Mike Tony to cover the latest Ivy action. Segments include reflections on the ugliness of Harvard-Yale, Princeton’s identity issues, reasons to watch out for Dartmouth down the stretch, and predictions on who will prevail in this weekend’s matchups:
1. Harvard (5-1)
Harvard’s still the class of the conference. The Crimson held Yale to 11 points in the entire first half at Payne Whitney Gym to tie Yale atop the Ivy standings at 5-1 in league play. Wesley Saunders’ career-high 33 points did Brown in in overtime the night before. Reports of the Crimson’s demise were clearly premature. Harvard hosts Columbia and Cornell at home, two more solid defensive squads that will not be easy outs at Lavietes. The thing about Harvard is that the Crimson win the close ones – they’re 8-1 in overtime games since 2010. I have a feeling that that stat will be coming into play at least one more time down the stretch.
2. Yale (5-1)
The Bulldogs responded to the biggest game for their program in quite some time by going 3-for-22 in the first half. Harvard’s defense is awesome, but the Elis were visibly a little tense in the early going too. Still, Yale is 5-1 and tied for the conference lead with its greatest rival and another shot at that rival at Lavietes, the same place Yale trumped Harvard last season. All is not lost for the Elis, but it was disconcerting to see them abandon Justin Sears in the second half.
More importantly, the Whiffenpoofs are full steam ahead.
NEW YORK — I covered Penn-Columbia after being graciously invited by friend of IHO Rob Browne to speak about Penn and Ivy basketball at a Penn Club event in New York prior to Saturday’s game. Here the gist of what I said:
Check out our archive of last night’s On the Vine podcast, in which Steven Tydings of the Daily Pennsylvanian, David Freed of the Harvard Crimson and IHO’s own George Clark (Toothless Tiger) join Peter Andrews and Mike Tony to cover the latest Ivy action. Segments include reflections on last weekend’s intense conference slate, insights into how Harvard could cool Yale’s Justin Sears down, and predictions on who will prevail in Harvard-Yale and the rest of this weekend’s matchups:
Check out our archive of last night’s On the Vine podcast, in which Michael James (@ivybball), John Phillips and Sam Tydings join Peter Andrews and Mike Tony to cover the latest Ivy action. Segments include how to turn Harvard around, how much momentum Penn really has after beating St. Joe’s, what losing Leland King means to Brown’s program and predictions for the first full Ivy weekend slate of the season:
Brown Athletics announced today that the team’s leading scorer, sophomore forward Leland King, has decided to leave the program for personal reasons.
The news is very unexpected with Brown just two games into Ivy League play (both losses, making Brown the only Ivy with two losses thus far).
And now that King is gone, so are his 14.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, a huge blow for a team that has already struggled on both offense (worst assist-turnover ratio in the conference) and defense (worst scoring defense in the conference) this season.
King had missed Brown’s last two road games, including the Bears’ 69-65 loss at Yale Saturday, a game in which senior forward Rafael Maia and sophomore guards Steven Spieth and Tavon Blackmon combined for 50 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists in King’s absence.
Senior guard Zeve Sanderson left the team earlier this team as well, and highly touted freshmen Aram Martin and Matty Madigan also left the program after their freshman campaigns in 2013-14.