Columbia to host Norfolk State in CIT first round Wednesday

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Columbia announced Friday it would host Norfolk State at Levien Gym in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament on Wed., Mar. 16 at 7 p.m.

The Lions enter the CIT with an overall record of 21-10, the most regular season victories for Columbia since 1950-51. Norfolk State, meanwhile, enters with an overall record of 17-16 and a second-place finish in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. (Columbia’s KenPom ranking is 114, while the Spartans’ ranking is 234.) Tickets are on sale now.

Columbia defeated Valparaiso on the road and Eastern Michigan at home in the first and second rounds of the 2014 CIT before losing to Yale, 72-69, in the quarterfinals.

Columbia accepts CIT bid for second time in three seasons

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Columbia is heading to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament for the second time in three years after advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament in 2014, the school announced Friday. The Lions will host a first-round game at Levien Gym on Wed., March 16, against an opponent to be determined.

The school news release notes that Columbia’s 21-10 record this regular season has already given the program its most regular season victories since 1950-51. Columbia defeated Valparaiso on the road and Eastern Michigan at home in the first and second rounds of the 2014 CIT before losing to Yale, 72-69, in the quarterfinals. Yale went on to advance to the CIT championship game, where it lost at Murray State, 65-57, sans Justin Sears.

The complete 2016 CIT field of 32 teams will be announced by CollegeInsider.com on the evening of Selection Sunday.

Ivy 60 for 60: Wesley Saunders

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All four of Wesley Saunders' seasons at Harvard ended with a NCAA Tournament appearance.
All four of Wesley Saunders’ seasons at Harvard ended with a NCAA Tournament appearance.

Following our countdown of the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s men’s basketball history this summer, Ivy Hoops Online is delighted to continue celebrating the 60th anniversary of modern Ivy League basketball by honoring the top 60 players in Ivy hoops history (in no particular order). For the next entry in our Ivy 60 for 60 series, we focus on Wesley Saunders, one of the greatest players in Harvard basketball history… 

A year ago, I argued that Wesley Saunders was the greatest Harvard player of all-time. Therefore it’s no surprise that Saunders is one of the top-60 Ivy League players of all-time. Here’s why he belongs:

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On the Vine – Mar. 11, 2016

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The panel analyzes a historic weekend for Yale and a hump to get over for Princeton, the pros and cons of the Ivy League’s embrace of a conference tournament format, All-Ivy selections from the Ivy League and Ivy Hoops Online, and gives postseason predictions.

Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO founder Ian Halpern, IHO writers Rob Browne and George Clark, and Kevin Spacey for this episode.

Former Yale captain Jack Montague reportedly expelled for sexual misconduct

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The Yale Daily News confirmed Wednesday what many already suspected: Jack Montague, former captain of the Yale men’s basketball team, was expelled from the university for sexual misconduct on Feb. 10.

The student who filed the November complaint declined to comment to the News for its story, as did Montague, the publication said.

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Ivy League announces addition of men’s and women’s conference tournaments

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The Ivy League announced Thursday it will add men’s and women’s basketball tournaments beginning with the 2016-17 season. It’s a historic move since the Ivy League was the last of the 32 Division I conferences that did not hold a conference tournament to determine its automatic NCAA Tournament representative.

The League’s Council of Presidents approved four-team tournaments in men’s and women’s basketball, with a one-game reduction for each team in the regular season. The tournaments will determine the conference’s automatic bids to the NCAA Division I Basketball Championships. Both the men’s and women’s tournaments will be held at the Palestra on March 11 and 12, 2017.

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The monkey on Mitch Henderson’s back

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With its season-ending defeat of the Penn Quakers last night, the Tigers ran their record to a gaudy 22-6 (12-2 Ivy), their best 28-game record in this century (when you are as old as Toothless you think of these things in terms of centuries). On only two occasions, 2004 (13-1) and 2011 (12-2) did a Tiger team win at least 12 Ivy League games, and both of those squads won Ivy titles.

It took Yale’s historic run, in which the Bulldogs suffered but one loss, to deny the Tigers another Ivy crown. (That one defeat came at the hands of Princeton.)

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Yale basketball apologizes “for the hurt we have caused” in show of support

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In a statement released by Yale Assistant Director for Sports Publicity Tim Bennett Wednesday, the Yale men’s basketball team apologized “for the hurt we have caused” in its show of support for Jack Montague, who was supposedly expelled from the university last month:

Yale Men’s Basketball fully supports a healthy, safe and respectful campus climate where all students can flourish,” the statement said. “Our recent actions to show our support for one of our former teammates were not intended to suggest otherwise, but we understand that to many students they did. We apologize for the hurt we have caused, and we look forward to learning and growing from these recent incidents. As student representatives of Yale we hope to use our positions on and off the court in a way that can make everyone proud.

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IHO 2015-16 Ivy Awards

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IHO’s writers voted on the best this Ivy season had to offer, voted on and tabulated prior to the announcement of Ivy League’s official awards Wednesday:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Justin Sears, Yale (Sr., F – Plainfield, N.J.)

For the second straight season, Sears wins IHO’s Player of the Year honors, a game theory-free decision. It’s no coincidence that Yale’s conference-winning wheelhouse – defense and rebounding – is centered on Sears’ own strengths. The POY was a much better ball distributor this season, scoring with slightly more consistency as well as he reached the 20-point plateau seven times and recorded five double-doubles. This is a clear case of the best getting better.

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Penn-Princeton Tuesday roundup

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Penn 62, Princeton 60 (Women)

Where to begin? With another storybook ending for the Quakers on Princeton’s home floor, and some delightful deja vu for coach Mike McLaughlin’s Red and Blue.

Two years after upsetting Princeton in stunning fashion with an outright Ivy League championship on the line at Jadwin Gym, 80-64, the Quakers toppled the Tigers again in the same scenario, clinching their second Ivy title in three seasons as Jadwin guests. Penn’s win followed another two-point victory over Princeton this season, a 50-48 overtime triumph at the Palestra.

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