Kale Catchings

2022-23 IHO Men’s Preseason Poll

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Only five points separated the top three teams in the Ivy League Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, and our final tabulation was even tighter. Just three points separated the team atop IHO contributors’ preseason poll.

Yale gets the slight nod here, with our contributors trusting James Jones to lead the Bulldogs to their fifth Ivy League title in an eight-season span in a bid to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament for a third straight time. Penn, the Ivy League preseason poll’s top team above Princeton by a single point, also finished a single point above Princeton in our standings. Our contributors saw potential for success in a roster that returns most of the key players from last year’s squad that placed third in the Ivy standings. We’ve got Princeton pegged to finish third, aided in their quest to repeat as Ivy League champions by returning 2021-22 Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan but losing significant backcourt production from last year’s conference title team.

Harvard was the clear No. 4 finisher in our poll, a showing that would improve upon the disappointing sixth-place result that locked the Crimson out of the Ivy League Tournament on its home floor last season. We have Cornell ranked slightly ahead of Brown as the Big Red look to build on last season’s overachieving Ivy League Tournament berth and the Bears look to bounce back from an underachieving sixth-place finish (tied with Harvard) a season ago. Columbia and Dartmouth tied in our voting tally at the bottom of the standings as both programs look to secure their first Ivy League Tournament appearances.

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Ivy hoops roundup – Recruits and assistants coming, transfers going

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Our latest Ivy hoops roundup features critical hires amid new starts for Harvard and Yale women’s basketball, an especially promising recruiting class for the Princeton women, some big men’s graduate transfer losses and more:

Princeton women introduce No. 19 class of recruits 

Princeton women’s basketball announced what ESPN.com deemed the No. 19 recruiting class in the nation:

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Princeton men top Harvard in final seconds to clinch share of Ivy League title

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Ivy Player of the Year candidate Tosan Evbuomwan hit a game-winning left-handed layup with 4.8 seconds left to clinch a share of Princeton’s second Ivy League title in 10 seasons under coach Mitch Henderson Sunday. (photo by Erica Denhoff)

The Princeton Tigers clinched a share of the Ivy League championship with a heart-stopping 74-73 victory over the Harvard Crimson at Lavietes Pavilion Sunday afternoon. The title is the second in coach Mitch Henderson’s career following the undefeated Ivy season in 2017.

 

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Princeton men notch Senior Night win versus Harvard, 74-67

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Princeton senior guard Jaelin Llewellyn scored a season-high 29 points on 10-for-18 shooting and added six rebounds and three assists versus just one turnover in the Tigers’ Senior Night win over Harvard. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Princeton-Harvard matchups in the Tommy Amaker era are usually exciting, closely fought contests, often with title or tournament implications for both teams.

For tonight’s Senior Night celebration, fans were invited back to the arena to bid fond farewell to an amazing group of players who were adversely affected by the COVID-19-imposed restrictions on their college careers: Ethan Wright, Drew Friberg, Jaelin Llewellyn, Elijah Barnes, Max Johns and Charlie Bagin.

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Another huge game for Jordan Dingle as Penn men complete season sweep of Harvard

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Sophomore guard Jordan Dingle became the first Penn player in program history to record three 30-point scoring games against Ivy opponents in a season in Penn’s 82-74 victory over Harvard Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

ESPN thinks Yale’s Azar Swain and Noah Kirkwood have the inside track to the Ivy League Player of the Year award. But don’t expect Vince Curran and the Penn faithful to agree.

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Yale men notch second three-point victory over Harvard in five days

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Sharpshooting Yale senior guard Azar Swain (5) hit just one three-pointer in two games against Harvard the past five days. But the Bulldogs’ defense propelled them past their archrivals for three-point victories in both contests.  (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Entering this month, Yale had gone nearly six years without beating Harvard in the regular season.

Now they’ve pulled it off twice in five days.

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Penn men survive early knockdown to take round one at Harvard, 78-74

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Penn sophomore guard Jordan Dingle rang up 31 points on 9-for-16 shooting in a win at Harvard Friday, becoming the first player in program history with back-to-back games scoring 30 points or more in Ivy play. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Down 12-2, starting power forward Michael Moshkovitz off the court with two quick fouls and a boisterous sellout Lavietes Pavilion crowd on top of them, things looked bleak for the Penn men as they made it to their bench for the first media timeout in Friday night’s nationally televised game at Harvard.

Fortunately, Steve Donahue settled his team and the Quakers bounced back for an important 78-74 road victory that has the Red & Blue at 5-2 (8-12 overall) halfway through the Ivy League schedule.

Tommy Amaker’s Crimson, meanwhile, left the court with their third loss in five league contests (10-7 overall).

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Undermanned Harvard men lose at UMass, 87-77

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The addition of starting forward Kale Catchings to Harvard’s already sizeable frontcourt disabled list proved too much, as UMass defeated Harvard, 87-77, at the Mullins Center on Saturday afternoon.

Facing a Minutemen squad that lives and dies at the three point line, Tommy Amaker, whose Crimson (5-4) have been without the services of forwards Mason Forbes, Justice Ajogbor and Bennett Pitcher for the first part of the season, opted to use highly touted rookie wing Louis Lesmond in place of Catchings and go with a four-guard lineup.

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Ivy League men’s basketball Media Day roundup

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Two days after the Media Day for Ivy women’s hoops, the men had their turn at the virtual podium.  A day prior, the results of the preseason poll were released.  While five different teams earned top votes, the overall totals showed no changes from the last day of competition in 2020.

Yale, two-time defending Ivy champion, was again picked to come in first with 115 points and seven first-place votes.  Harvard, the 2019 co-champion, was close behind, tallying 110 points and four first-place votes.  Princeton, the 2017 title winner, closed out the top tier with 108 points and two first-place votes.

Penn, the 2018 co-champion, secured the last slot in the upper division with 93 points and two first-place selections.  Brown, which last held the title in 1986, again found itself behind the Quakers for fifth place with 79 points and a pair of title votes.

Dartmouth, which last entered the winner’s circle in 1959, was tabbed in the six slot with 43 points, four points more than Cornell, which last held the top spot in the Sweet Sixteen season of 2010.  Columbia, the 1968 champion, was projected to finish last with 25 points.

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Harvard men struggle at home in loss to Brown as Bears stay in Ivy League Tournament contention

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After a six-game winning streak gave Harvard a fighting chance to seize the top seed in the Ivy League Tournament from arch-rival Yale, the Crimson men fell to Brown, 64-55, at home Friday night and locked themselves into a matchup with Princeton. The Bears, who are wrapping up an impressive season but failed to vault into the top tier of the league, completed a season sweep of Harvard on the strength of 20 points from Zach Hunsaker and a solid defensive effort. On Senior Night, Harvard was as usual led by Chris Lewis, who had 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting, but sorely missed the steady hand of injured guard Christian Juzang. The usually reliable Noah Kirkwood struggled from the floor, shooting only 4-for-13 with no assists, and freshman guard Idan Tretout was not able to pick up the backcourt slack after having been thrust into action.

Chris Lewis of Harvard is defended by Brown’s Zach Hunsaker and Jaylan Gainey during the Bears’ 64-55 win over the Crimson at Lavietes Pavilion Friday night. Brown held Harvard to 0.81 points per possession, and Harvard’s offense often looked discombobulated, committing 15 turnovers. | Photo by Erica Denhoff

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