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The lead-up to the season finale for the Dartmouth men’s basketball team was like no other in program history.
In fact, it was like no other in NCAA history.
Three times in the Ivy Tournament era, Mike Martin’s Brown teams have tied for fourth place only to lose out on a postseason bid due to being on the wrong side of the league’s tiebreakers. After a thrilling overtime victory over Harvard on Friday night and a blowout win against Dartmouth on Saturday, the Bears earned its first trip to Ivy Madness.
Brown (11-17, 7-6 Ivy) seemed out of the race for the tournament after starting off league play at 2-6 and hosting only two more games in the Pizzitola Sports Center. Three weeks later, Bruno, winners of five straight, is a serious threat to challenge Princeton, Yale and Cornell for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
After the weekend, Harvard (14-12, 5-8), which also lost to Yale on Saturday, missed out on its third straight conference tournament and can do no better than fifth place. Dartmouth (5-21, 1-12), which has never made it to Ivy Madness and was defeated by the Bulldogs on Friday, is locked into last place and plans on holding its historic unionization vote on Tuesday before welcoming the Crimson in the Tuesday season finale for both teams.
Penn did just about everything right against Cornell on Friday night at the Palestra.
The Quakers came out with more energy despite having no postseason hopes, forcing eight turnovers in the game’s first eight minutes. They hit 15 three-pointers on 33 attempts. They built a 14-point lead in the second half.
It still wasn’t enough.
The Big Red staved off a Quakers upset bid thanks to the efforts of AK Okereke, who backed up into an uncontested go-ahead three-point jumper with 2:12 to go that put Cornell up for good in an 87-81 win. Okereke finished with a team-high 18 points for Cornell (21-5, 10-2 Ivy).
Penn (10-17, 2-10) got two clean three-point looks to tie from star freshmen Sam Brown and Tyler Perkins in the final two minutes, but neither went down. It’s been that kind of season for the Red and Blue.
What did Penn fans learn from a game effort against one of the best teams in the Ivy League?
Is there such a thing as a good loss in college basketball? If you’re a top-25 team riding a 15-game winning streak, probably not.
And yet …
The dagger is officially in Penn’s season after the Quakers took a difficult-to-swallow road defeat at Harvard, 74-70.
Penn (10-16, 2-9 Ivy) completed a comeback from 17 points down in the second half after Clark Slajchert drained an open three from the right wing off an offensive rebound to tie the game at 62 with 5:45 to play.
But the Quakers were ultimately undone by a terrible break on a 50/50 ball when it mattered most.
With Penn down two points and the clock ticking below 3:45 to play, junior Nick Spinoso poked the ball free from Harvard’s Louis Lesmond in the post. Freshman Sam Brown dove but couldn’t come up with the loose ball. Instead, Harvard’s Malik Mack was able to recover it and swing the ball to Lesmond for an open corner three out of the scramble. Lesmond drained the shot to put the Crimson (14-10, 5-6) up two possessions.
Truth be told, Penn’s season effectively ended well before Saturday. That’s what happens when you lose eight games in a row during a 14-game conference season.
All that’s left to play for now is pride and future development. There’s plenty to rue about Saturday, starting with how …
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.
Columbia men’s basketball battled back several times against Brown on Friday evening, eventually taking its first lead with 4:10 to go. But clutch defense and free throw shooting helped the Bears claim a hard fought 68-66 victory at Levien Gymnasium.
The win for Brown (8-17, 4-6 Ivy), coupled with Harvard’s loss to Princeton, leaves the Bears, Columbia (13-10, 4-6) and Harvard tied for fourth place and the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament with only four games remaining in the regular season.
The No. 25 Princeton women’s basketball team travels to New York City on Saturday to face the Columbia Lions in a marquee showdown at Levien Gymnasium at 2 p.m. Here are three thoughts on the most anticipated clash of the season so far in the Ivy League:
KYLA JONES CALLED GAME!!! BEARS WIN!!!!
Bears rally and defeat Penn at home 61-59#EverTrue #NEXT pic.twitter.com/tnUT8wXgzX
— Brown Women’s Basketball (@BrownU_WBB) February 17, 2024
In case you had any doubts, it turns out the Brown women’s basketball team is for real. And Kyla Jones is one of the biggest reasons.