Home of the Roundball Poets
Ray Curren 
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After Friday night’s tough loss at Yale, Cornell first-year head coach Jon Jaques lamented that if a break or two had gone his team’s way down the stretch, the final result might have been different.
Sure enough, less than 24 hours later, in an even bigger spot for the Big Red at a Brown team they were tied with in the Ivy League standings, there they were in the closing minutes with the game in the balance.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Embarrassing and humiliating were words thrown around by Cornell last week after a brutal thrashing at the hands of Dartmouth, a loss so bad it dropped the Big Red 35 slots in KenPom. More importantly, the defeat put the Big Red in Ivy League Tournament peril because it was their third straight loss and a trip to unbeaten Yale happened to be next.
Another word was prevalent at practice in Ithaca: pride. The Big Red showed plenty of it Friday night at Lee Amphitheater, pushing the Bulldogs around and leading by double digits for most of the first half.
But Yale has plenty of pride as well, of course, and in the end gutted out a 92-88 victory that clinched it a share of its sixth Ivy League title in 10 years in a tremendous showcase of Ivy League basketball.
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.”
HANOVER, N.H. – It’s not often that Dartmouth has played the role of the hunted in the Ivy League in the last few decades. But they certainly looked the part Friday night at Leede Arena, beating Columbia in dominant fashion, 78-56.
HANOVER, N.H. – It’s getting to be Ted Lasso time for the Dartmouth men’s basketball team as we reach the midpoint of the 2024-25 Ivy League campaign.
The Big Green believe.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale students were back at Lee Amphitheater, Harvard was starting three freshmen, John Poulakidas hit his first couple of shots, and all that meant the Crimson had no chance Saturday afternoon.
Harvard fought in fits and starts, but in the end, the result was a formality, an 84-55 Yale win that brought the Bulldogs to the top of the Ivy League after Princeton’s loss and setting up a showdown with the Tigers Friday night in New Jersey.
“We jumped on them quick,” Yale coach James Jones said. “We were really efficient, we didn’t have a turnover (in the first 19 minutes), we were poised and focused. We lost it a little at the end of the first half and fought to get it back, and we did in the middle of the second half. When we’re playing at a high level like we were, we’re pretty good and it’s fun to watch.”
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Bez Mbeng was not in the mood for mincing words after setting Yale’s all-time career steals record in an 83-67 win over Dartmouth Monday afternoon.
“I love defense,” Mbeng, who passed former Yale standout Alex Zampier (2006-10) for the record, said.
And as he has for most of the last three seasons for Yale, Mbeng led the way in that department Monday at Lee Amphitheater, harassing Ryan Cornish, Connor Amundsen, or whomever else he was in the neighborhood of, finishing with three steals to go with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“It means a lot to me,” Mbeng said. “A lot of credit goes to my teammates and coaches for getting me better and putting me in good positions to get those steals. I’m just really thankful right now.”
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Two weeks ago, Harvard was down double digits to Division III Bowdoin and having trouble getting good looks in the paint.
Saturday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center, the Crimson took it to favored Brown, dominating the interior and seemingly scoring at will – particularly in the second half – on their way to an 80-67 victory that rekindles some hope Harvard might return to Providence in March for its first Ivy League Tournament since 2019.
BOSTON – There were plenty of mistakes, their shooting was inconsistent, and closing the game out was a mess. But in the end, it was a 68-64 road victory for Princeton over Harvard to open Ivy League play Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers will gladly take it and be on their way.
“The league is so even this year. Even this game, next weekend at Dartmouth, it’s going to be hard. On the margins, that’s where we’ve been really trying to get better,” Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said. “I think it’s kind of going to be whomever is needed on a night that’s going to get us through.”
PRINCETON, N.J. – By now, you’ve probably seen Dalen Davis’ game-winning three-pointer to beat Akron 76-75 on Monday afternoon, completing a remarkable comeback, not for the first time this season for Princeton.
The win over the Zips (7-5) may have been the most impressive comeback, down 11 with seven minutes left, but the Tigers also overcame deficits against Iona, Northeastern, Merrimack, Monmouth and Rutgers.
Impressive fortitude, yes. But is it a sign of a veteran team that will continue to do this for the next few months, or an ominous omen that the preseason Ivy League favorites might be extremely vulnerable this season?