Isaac Cohen – Page 2 – Ivy Hoops Online

Ivy Friday roundup

February 27, 2016February 27, 2016 by Mike Tony

Princeton 88, Columbia 83

In a cruel twist of fate for Columbia fans, the Tigers outdid the Lions at Jadwin by the same score as they did earlier this month, when Princeton made not one but two unlikely comebacks in its overtime win at Levien. In Princeton’s previous win against the Lions, Henry Caruso, Spencer Weisz and Steven Cook shot 4-for-24 from the floor. Friday night, that trio shot 22-for-31 en route to 60 combined points, with freshman guard Myles Stephens adding 15 points in 26 minutes off the bench.

Yale at Princeton: A monumental matchup

February 18, 2016February 18, 2016 by Richard Kent

Yes, it should go a long way, perhaps all the way to determining the Ivy champion. If Yale beats Princeton at Jadwin Gym Friday, game over.

Ivy Power Rankings – Feb. 16, 2016

February 16, 2016 by Mike Tony

1. Yale (17-5, 8-0 Ivy)

Yale exorcised some demons (Big Green Goblins, maybe) at Leede Arena Friday night before subsequently trumping Harvard at Lavietes for the third straight season. Yale didn’t benefit from particularly hot shooting in either game, instead grinding it out on the strength of Justin Sears and Makai Mason, a formidable tandem since it always seems to loom large in games down the stretch. Nick Victor’s 12 rebounds and six assists were crucial in securing victory in Boston as well. But the Bulldogs may need to get hot again at Jadwin Friday night, as their on-fire shooting against the Tigers in New Haven last month was only enough to produce a four-point squeaker win.

Columbia’s defense carries Lions past Penn

February 13, 2016 by Ian Wenik

Tonight’s game between Columbia and Princeton is pretty much going to determine which one-loss team will be in the best position to challenge Yale the rest of the way. (Both teams have home games remaining against the Bulldogs.)

That the Lions are even in this position at all is due to the performance of their interior defense.

No, seriously.

Previewing Brown-Yale & Cornell-Columbia

January 16, 2016 by Mike Tony

IHO takes a closer look at Saturday’s two Ivy conference matchups.

Brown at Yale, 5 p.m.

Last season: Then-senior guard Javier Duren canned a jumper with 3.4 seconds remaining to break a 65-65 tie and help ensure a Bulldogs victory. Yale’s 69-65 win completed a sweep of Brown, and the Elis took the lead for good with 12:28 to go in the game after Brown had led 31-25 at halftime. Justin Sears and Duren scored 27 and 24 points respectively, combining for 15 of Yale’s 20 field goals. Brown got a more balanced scoring attack, with Rafael Maia, Steven Spieth and Tavon Blackmon combining for 50 of Brown’s 65 points just five days before it Leland King’s departure from the Brown basketball program was announced. (King played only in the first matchup of this series in Providence last season, his final game as a Bear.)

Ivy Power Rankings – Dec. 15, 2015

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 by The Ancient Quaker

Yes, it’s time for another completely biased, absolutely unrealistic Penn-centric IHO Power Rankings. Although it’s still early in the basketball season, the nonconference schedule will in no way stop me from mercilessly belittling and mocking the competition in the Ivy League. There is more fodder than usual as unfortunately no team has distinguished itself as “Q” worthy. So without further ado, I bring you the AQ’s “Special” IHO Power Poll.

As always, for the purists, out there here’s how the poll probably should look based on current results:

Ivy post-Thanksgiving (just Columbia, unfortunately) roundup

November 28, 2015 by Mike Tony

Fairfield 82, Columbia 81 (OT)

Two threes from senior guard Grant Mullins in the final 2:19 allowed the Lions to force overtime, but to no avail. Threes ruled all night for the Lions, with 41 of their 69 field goal attempts coming from beyond the arc against Fairfield’s zone. They can shoot 1,000 threes and it won’t matter if their defense doesn’t improve. Columbia fouls resulted in 8-for-8 free throw shooting from the Stags in the second half, and former Princeton coach Sydney Johnson’s crew shot 46.7 percent for the game, 9.6 percent greater than the Lions. Now let’s just skip to the real defensive meltdown:

Ivy Tuesday roundup

November 25, 2015 by Mike Tony

New Hampshire 88, Brown 77

This could have been a really solid win against a KenPom No. 165 team for Brown, but it didn’t happen because its defense hasn’t gelled around two-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Year Cedric Kuakumensah yet. New Hampshire shot 54 percent from the floor and got to the line 34 times, making more free throws (28) than Brown made field goals (26). Freshman forward Travis Fuller fouled out in just 10 minutes and the Bears racked up 23 fouls on the night. On offense, the Bears play fast and loose, and tonight, junior guard JR Hobbie stepped up with 12 points on 3-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc in 25 minutes off the bench. But just because Brown has a strong bench full of sharpshooters (now including freshman guard Corey Daugherty) and a defensive anchor doesn’t mean it has ample defensive discipline to make a run at the top half of the Ivy League.

Columbia 70, Wofford 59

This was a weird game for the Lions, and yet it revealed them to have one of the most complete offensive attacks the league has seen in some time. In the first half, senior forward Alex Rosenberg and senior guard Maodo Lo struggled offensively, with junior forward Jeff Coby leading all Lion scorers early into the next stanza – more than Lo and Rosenberg combined at that point. The Lions’ best ball distributor wasn’t Lo but senior guard Isaac Cohen, who notched nine assists. For more on Cohen’s crucial performance, check out Sam Tydings’ story on Columbia’s wonderfully weird win over Wofford.

Kyle Smith gives thanks for Isaac Cohen after Columbia beats Wofford

November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 by Sam Tydings

NEW YORK – Two minutes into Columbia’s final game before a brief Thanksgiving break, coach Kyle Smith’s face was redder than cranberry sauce. His team had turned it over on four straight possessions to start the game, the Lions couldn’t stop Wofford from stuffing the ball through the net and were generally playing like turkeys.

So Smith went to his bench and called upon junior forward Jeff Coby and sophomore guard Nate Hickman, the duo that helped turn the game from an 11-3 deficit into a 70-59 win for the Lions at Levien. Hickman hit a three-pointer on his first touch to get the crowd back into the game, and then it was time for the Isaac Cohen/Jeff Coby show. On three straight possessions, the Cohen to Coby combination resulted in layups for the big man and the Lions were back in it. Cohen said he just wanted to be aggressive early in the game, and noticed that Wofford was playing off him which presumably helped open up passing lanes for the senior swingman.

How Northwestern squeaked by Columbia, 83-80, in OT

November 22, 2015November 20, 2015 by Mike Tony

Columbia raced out to a 17-5 lead at Northwestern and led 74-68 as late as the 2:18 mark. So how did the Lions lose?

Maodo Lo’s foul trouble

Lo picked up his second foul with 8:10 left in the first half and his fourth foul with 11:31 left in the game. He never fouled out, he spent much of the second half limited defensively by his inability to stay aggressive, a huge loss since he had three steals in the game’s first 12:36 and the Wildcats had trouble with his on-the-ball pressure. Lo playing just 26 minutes – four fewer than any other starter and at least 12 fewer than starters besides Isaac Cohen – meant Columbia’s defense was that much more exposed for longer stretches than usual.