Since the 95th Academy Award airs Sunday night, here are my choices for the Ivy Madness Oscars from day two of the Ivy League Tournament:
And the Ivy Madness Oscar goes to …
Yale
Yale handles Cornell in Ivy League Tournament men’s semifinal
PRINCETON, N.J. – A 12-0 run at the start of the second half fueled No. 1 Yale to an 80-60 win over No. 4 Cornell to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final Sunday.
Yale had difficulty with the Cornell press in the first half, especially without sophomore guard Bez Mbeng, who picked up two early fouls.
“[I’m] really happy how we executed,” Yale coach James Jones said.
Reporter’s Notebook – Ivy League Tournament day two
The morning of day two of Ivy Madness had more people in the media room and arena as the men’s teams took the stage for their interview sessions.
It’s certainly worth noting the empty media room seat left unoccupied as a tribute to Grant Wahl, the award-winning college basketball and soccer journalist who died a few months ago due to complications associated with Marfan syndrome. Wahl attended Princeton from 1992 to 1996 and began his career as a reporter for the Daily Princetonian. A very nice touch by everyone at the Ivy League office and Princeton Athletics.
Some more observations from the pre-semifinal part of the day:
Ivy League Tournament men’s semifinal preview: No. 4 Cornell vs. No. 1 Yale
Ivy women’s week 10 roundup: Ancient Eight’s top 10
Heading into the last two days of the regular season, Columbia and Princeton were tied for first, while Penn held a one-game lead over Harvard for third place. After the Lions, Tigers and Crimson each grabbed a win, the Ivy League Tournament semifinal matchups of Columbia against Harvard and Princeton versus Penn had been set. What needed to be determined was the seeding of the four teams and the timing of the two matchups.
When the updated NCAA NET rankings were posted on Sunday morning, Princeton’s convincing road victory over upper division Penn combined with Columbia’s narrow escape at home against seventh-place Cornell resulted in the Tigers overcoming an 11-position difference from last week and taking the No. 1 seed away from the Lions.
Ivy men’s week 10 roundup: Ancient Eight’s top 10
A wild Saturday capped the regular season for the Ancient Eight. When the dust settled, Yale and Princeton tied for the league title, while Penn settled for third place and Cornell captured the final spot for this weekend’s Ivy League Tournament at Jadwin Gymnasium.
In what was arguably the conference game of the year, it was the worst of times in the opening half and the best of times in the second stanza for the hometown Tigers.
Yale men best Brown on the road to claim Ivy title, deny Bears Ivy Madness berth
Yale won its fifth Ivy League championship in the last eight seasons Saturday with an 84-75 win at Brown before a sold-out, rowdy crowd of 2,003 at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” 24-year Yale coach James Jones said. “To be able to win on the road in a hostile environment shows the character of the guys in our locker room.”
Brown, meanwhile, missed out on an opportunity to punch the program’s first ever Ivy League Tournament ticket with the loss, allowing Cornell to sneak into the tourney.
Yale women deliver on Senior Day in 63-53 win over Brown
Yale won’t be making an Ivy League Tournament appearance in coach Dalila Eshe’s first season at the helm after finishing fifth in the conference, but the Bulldogs came through on Senior Day with a 63-53 victory over Brown before many program alumni Saturday at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
The only senior captain for Yale (13-14, 7-7 Ivy), Camilla Emsbo, was honored before the game. Emsbo was injured all season and will compete at Duke next year as a graduate student.
Q&A with Yale senior center EJ Jarvis
EJ Jarvis, Yale’s 6-foot-8 senior center from Washington, D.C., recently sat down with IHO following a dominant 34-point, 10-rebound outing in a win over Cornell Saturday:
Ivy women’s week nine roundup: Ancient Eight’s Top 10
The conference’s next-to-last weekend began on Friday night with a nationally televised game between Princeton and Harvard, two of the four teams headed to the Ivy Tournament. The last time they met in January, the Crimson came away with a 67-59 victory, ending the Tigers’ 42-game Ivy League win streak.
Playing in front of more than 1,700 fans at Jadwin Gymnasium, Harvard took a 14-12 lead after the first quarter. The visitors used a late 13-2 run to open up a 12-point lead before Princeton cut it to 10, 30-20, at the half.