The Ivy League’s men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament representatives are set, with a record-high four of them thanks to #3bidivy achieved on the women’s side:
Ivy League Tournament
Ivy men’s final: No. 1 Yale takes Ivy League Tournament title in 90-84 shootout over No. 2 Cornell
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Faced with a 16-point deficit early in the second half against the conference’s best team, Cornell staged a furious rally to get within a single possession on several occasions. But Yale always found a way to hold on and came away with a hard-fought 90-84 win to claim the 2025 men’s Ivy League Tournament championship.
“You know, it’s a hard game between us and Cornell, what you might expect playing the team a third time,” Jones told the media after the award ceremony. “I thought our guys battled and played really tough.”
Celebrating on the floor of Brown’s Pizzitola Sports Center, the Bulldogs (22-7) hoisted their second straight Ivy League Tournament trophy and fourth overall. James Jones’ squad, the first to win the conference tournament as the top seed since Princeton did it in 2017, will wait a few hours to hear its name called for next week’s NCAA Tournament.
“A tough game, obviously, Yale is really hard to beat, as someone in the tournament is going to find out in a week, Cornell coach Jon Jaques told the media immediately after the game. “You know, I thought we gave him a really good punch.”
Ivy women’s final: No. 3 Harvard outlasts No. 1 Columbia, 74-71, to win Ivy League Tournament
The question entering Saturday’s Ivy League Tournament championship game between No. 3 Harvard and No. 1 Columbia was, “What can Harmoni Turner do for an encore?”
The answer: Win a championship.
The senior guard who exploded for a record-setting 44 points against Princeton in Friday night’s semifinal delivered a game-high 24 points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead Harvard past Columbia, 74-71, for the Crimson’s first Ivy League Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It’s Harvard’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2007.
Ivy Madness day two – Reporter’s notebook
Lots of alumni, former players and others from the basketball world at the Pizzitola Sports Center for the second day of the Ivy League Tournament Saturday.
Seated in row one were Harvard’s Ivy Rookie of the Year Robert Hinton, his mother, and his father Robert, a former Princeton quarterback in the 1970s. The Hintons sat through both men’s games to cheer on Princeton and also Cornell, where the Harvard standout’s brother Adam is a strong contributor.
Hinton will definitely be back at Harvard next season in this age of NIL and player poaching.
Robert was the No. 97 recruit in the class of 2024 and verbally committed to Harvard in his sophomore year at Harvard-Westlake. His finalists were Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
Former Yale players Steve Leondis, Chris Dudley, Azar Swain, Matt Minoff and Mike Williams were in attendance to cheer on the Bulldogs, as was former Yale president Peter Salovey.
Bill Kingston, former Princeton guard on the 1965 Final Four team and Bill Bradley’s roommate, was seated in the second row.
For the second consecutive year, the Legends of Ivy Basketball remained on hiatus, with hopes that the ceremony will resume in 2026 at Cornell.
Many writers, Ivy officials and former players offered varied explanations of the 2.9 seconds which were “added” to the clock at the end of the Princeton-Yale game. The supervisor of officials said that the clock did not appropriately stop after John Poulakidas hit his trey to seal the victory. Others differed.
The coaching changes at Columbia and Penn were also a subject of much media and Ivy administrators. There was a consensus that Penn alum and NYU coach Dave Klatsky will be in play at both schools. Also, there were rumblings that Colgate coach and former Penn player Matt Langel might have interest in the Penn vacancy. Some Princeton and Yale assistants were also discussed as possible Columbia hires. Columbia athletic director Peter Pilling was mum on topic but did add, perhaps in jest, that he had his phone turned off during the Ivy tourney.
Some media grumbled about the Ivy clearing out the gym in between all games and opined that with a potential paucity of attendees at Cornell next year, the league should rethink that policy – one not in place at the Big East or the ACC tourneys.
Ivy men’s semifinal: No. 2 Cornell decks No. 3 Dartmouth, 87-71
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Cornell men’s basketball team can’t really explain what happened in a 39-point loss at Dartmouth exactly one month ago today.
It did know that, presented with a second opportunity, it would not happen again.
Second-seeded Cornell not only gained revenge but booked its place in the Ivy League Tournament final for the first time with an 87-71 win Saturday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
“It really started the night before when we lost to Harvard and didn’t play well,” Cornell senior Nazir Williams said. “There were some things that happened that weekend that weren’t good and it showed on the court. We needed to reset and get back to the basketball we knew we could play. We obviously knew we were much better than that, and our coaches helped us understand that, we had a good week of practice, and we were back.”
That loss at Dartmouth, in which the Big Red trailed 21-2 and then 44-18 at the half, was a catalyst for Cornell (18-10), which has played some of its best basketball since, especially on the offensive end. Saturday’s win was its fifth straight and the first one in three that it hasn’t scored 100 points.
Ivy men’s semifinal: No. 1 Yale gets big plays late to take down No. 4 Princeton, 59-57
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – They say it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season, but it’s more likely when you have as talented and poised a team as Yale.
The top-seeded Bulldogs (21-7) relied on clutch plays from their three First-Team All-Ivy stars, senior guard Bez Mbeng, senior guard John Poulakidas and junior forward Nick Townsend to overcome a furious second-half Princeton rally to take Saturday’s opening Ivy League Tournament semifinal at the Pizzitola Sports Center, 59-57.
“I thought our kids were gutty and played hard, and we had controlled the game for 30-some-odd minutes until the end, when Princeton took over,” coach James Jones said after the hard-fought contest. “What was great about my guys, there was no hesitation, there was no nervousness. They stayed with the game plan and were able to make some great pays and pull it out.”
The Tigers (19-11), blown out in both regular-season losses to the Bulldogs, battled back from a sluggish start to have a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but a right-elbow three from the Orange and Black’s First-Team All-Ivy guard, junior Xaivian Lee, clanked off the back of the net and fell to the court.
Jones’ squad, which looks to be the first No. 1 seed to win Ivy Madness since Princeton in 2017, lives another day to take on No. 2 Cornell, which defeated No. 3 Dartmouth, 87-71, in the day’s second game.
Ivy women’s semifinal: No. 1 Columbia gets by No. 4 Penn, 60-54
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Despite having multiple double-digit leads, the No. 1-seeded Columbia women couldn’t find a way to dominate No. 4 Penn and had to fight for a full 40 minutes to secure a 60-54 victory in Friday’s opening semifinal of the 2025 Ivy Tournament.
“Credit to them (Penn) for getting to this point and giving us their best,” coach Megan Griffith told the media in the postgame press conference. “Conversely, in our locker room, I don’t think we played our best, but that’s honestly what you’re going to get again in these games.”
With the win, the Lions (23-6) head to the program’s third-ever conference final. A victory in Saturday night’s contest against No. 3 Harvard. which won an instant classic against No. 2 Princeton in the nightcap, would give Columbia its first-ever Ivy Madness title, as well as the Ancient Eight’s automatic bid.
For Penn (15-13), the season is over and the drought for an Ivy League Tournament title now extends to eight years.
“I thought we really played well enough to put them (Columbia) in jeopardy,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. “I’m just so proud that they hung in there … and gave ourselves an opportunity to beat a really good team tonight.”
2025 Ivy Madness fields are set
The field is set for Ivy Madness.
Penn finished with a higher NCAA NET ranking (No. 162) than Brown (No. 184), the Ivy League confirmed Sunday morning, making the Quakers the fourth and final team to clinch an Ivy League Tournament berth with the Bears on the outside looking into the tourney to be held on their home floor at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
The full women’s and men’s slate for the Ivy League Tournaments are below, with automatic bids going to the tourney winners:
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball clinches Ivy League Tournament berth with 13th straight win over Penn
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 95-71 victory for Princeton (19-10, 8-6 Ivy) over Penn (8-19, 4-10) at Jadwin Gym Saturday that clinched an Ivy League Tournament berth for the Tigers: Audio Player
“We’re not done”: Dartmouth men’s basketball clinches first Ivy tourney berth with 78-58 win over Brown
HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth inadvertently flashed a graphic momentarily before Saturday’s pivotal game against Brown that read, “Ivy Madness Clinched.”.
Fortunately for the Big Green, there has been little to jinx them in the 2024-25 Ivy League season, as they shook off a dreadful start and halftime deficit to win by another lopsided margin, 78-58, and clinch its first Ivy League Tournament berth in school history at Leede Arena.