Cornell men’s basketball earns No. 3 seed in Ivy Madness, even matchup with No. 2 Yale

Heading into the final day of the regular season, the Cornell men still had an outside shot at a share of the Ivy League regular-season title. For starters, the Big Red needed to beat Columbia. That happened.

Cornell shot 55% from the field and six players scored in double digits as the Big Red won 98-76. Sophomore guard Cooper Noard had 17 points off five triples, junior guard Nazir Williams and senior forward Sean Hansen each had 14 and junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. scored 13.

Then, the Big Red needed Yale to lose to Brown — which also happened as Aaron Cooley sunk an improbable last-second shot in overtime. Lastly, Princeton needed to lose to Penn, but that didn’t happen as the Tigers dropped 105 on the Red and Blue.

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Columbia women’s basketball storms past Cornell to capture second straight regular season Ivy League title

After needing overtime to beat Cornell and capture its first-ever Ivy League regular season championship last March, the Columbia women used a dominant second half to crush the Big Red, 82-46, and secure its second straight Ancient Eight title Saturday at Newman Arena.

The Lions (22-5, 13-1 Ivy), winners of 10 straight for the second time this season and 20 of their last 21, now head home to Morningside Heights, where they will host Ivy Madness on March 15-17.

“This was a really important moment for us, not just to win this game, but to put an exclamation point on our regular conference season and head into the Ivy League Tournament with some confidence,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith told ESPN+ immediately following the game.

Cornell (7-19, 1-13), meanwhile, completed its season with an eight-game losing streak and ended up tied for seventh in league play. 

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Princeton women’s basketball beats Penn to secure sixth straight Ivy League title

The Princeton women’s basketball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Jadwin Gymnasium by beating the Penn Quakers, 72-55, for a sixth straight Ivy League regular season title. 

It was a triumphant day for Princeton’s spectacular troika of seniors:  Kaitlyn Chen, Ellie Mitchell and Chet Nweke.  Chen finished the game with 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting and 11 assists, a career high for the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year.  Asked by the ESPN+ broadcast crew to reflect on having played her final game at Jadwin Gym, Chen said,  “I honestly don’t think it’s hit me yet.  It just sort of felt like another game.  We had a job to do and we did it.”

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Princeton women’s basketball dismisses Dartmouth, 68-42, to complete weekend Ivy sweep

It was virtually a foregone conclusion that the Princeton women’s basketball team would beat the last-place Dartmouth Big Green  on the second leg of a back-to-back weekend on Saturday afternoon at Jadwin Gymnasium.  

The only real questions coming into this contest were how many points Princeton would win by and whether the Tigers could use the game to regain its swagger.  

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Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 84-72 win over Columbia

There haven’t been too many happy moments for Penn men’s basketball over the course of the last two-plus months. But the Quakers got one on Saturday night.

Penn cruised to a fairly stress-free win over Columbia at the Palestra, 84-72. The Quakers (11-17, 3-10 Ivy) roared past the Lions (13-13, 4-9) on the back of standout performances from the two players they expected were going to carry the team on opening night: senior guard Clark Slajchert and junior forward Nick Spinoso.

Spinoso scored a career-high 23 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the field, while Slajchert added 22 and finished with an eye-popping KenPom offensive rating of 163 points per 100 possessions while on the floor. He crossed the 1,000 points scored barrier late in the first half.

For once, it’s all happy Quakeaways.

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LISTEN: Thoughts on Princeton men’s basketball after its 84-70 win over Columbia

Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reflects on Friday’s 84-70 win for Princeton men’s basketball (22-3, 10-2 Ivy) over Columbia (13-12, 4-8) and looks ahead to the Tigers’ high-stakes matchup with Cornell (21-5, 10-2) Saturday evening:

Q&A with Columbia men’s basketball legend Jonathan Schiller

chiller (Boies Schiller Flexner)

Jonathan Schiller was a three-year letterwinner for Columbia men’s basketball and was a member of the legendary 1967-68 Columbia team. He was inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 and named a Legend of Ivy Basketball in 2017. He is a founding partner of the law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Ivy Hoops Online recently sat down with him: 

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LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball’s press conference after 84-70 win over Columbia

Coach Mitch Henderson, freshman guard Dalen Davis and junior guard Blake Peters look back on an 84-70 win for Princeton men’s basketball (22-3, 10-2 Ivy) over Columbia (13-12, 4-8) and their adjustments after the early exit of senior guard Matt Allocco:

Yale men’s basketball secures bounce-back win at Columbia, 84-76

 Yale men’s basketball shook off the rust of a narrow loss in Ithaca Friday night and closed strong to defeat Columbia at Levien Gym, 84-76.

“Really gutsy performance with some guys injured,” Yale coach James Jones said.

Seven-foot sophomore frontcourt stalwart Danny Wolf played the game with a mask after suffering a broken nose against Cornell. Wolf, Yale’s leading scorer, was coming off two subpar performances at Princeton and Cornell. Wolf finished with 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting and added a team-leading nine rebounds.

Jones said that Wolf “played the way he is capable (of).”

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Columbia women’s basketball stops No. 25 Princeton, 67-65, and ties up Ivy League race

The Columbia women’s basketball team toppled No. 25 Princeton, 67-65, before a sold out and raucous crowd at Levien Gymnasium on Senior Day.  The win pulled Columbia (19-5, 10-1 Ivy) into a tie with Princeton (20-4, 10-1) for first place in the Ivy League with three games remaining for each team in the regular season.  Both teams have already clinched spots in the Ivy League tournament, which will be held in three weeks at Columbia.

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