With Manhattan experiencing Ithaca-like frigidity on Saturday afternoon, the visiting Cornell men’s basketball team felt right at home and used that wintry familiarity to dominate Columbia, 88-67, at Levien Gymnasium.
Kevin Hovde
LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball clips Columbia for first road win
Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps an 80-68 win Saturday night at Levien Gym for Princeton men’s basketball (8-14, 4-3 Ivy) over Columbia (14-7, 3-4):
Columbia men’s basketball ends three-game skid win at Dartmouth
HANOVER, N.H. – Kevin Hovde knew his first order of business coming into Columbia was cleaning up the defensive end of the floor, which turned out to be his predecessor Jim Engles’ undoing, along with some unfortunately timed injuries.
Brown men’s basketball takes down Columbia in overtime for first Ivy League win
In a physical battle that featured 17 lead changes and 15 ties over 45 minutes, Brown men’s basketball opened up its largest lead of the game in the extra session and held on for an 86-80 victory over Columbia at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
Mike Martin’s Bears (7-8, 1-2 Ivy League) picked up their first conference win in three tries, while Kevin Hovde’s Lions (12-5, 1-2) dropped their second straight Ancient Eight contest.
“Really, really pleased,” Martin told the ESPN+/NESN broadcast team after the game. “That was a hard, hard-fought game. They’re (Columbia) a heck of a team.”
Harvard men’s basketball cruises to victory at Columbia
Harvard men’s basketball jumped out to an 11-2 lead before the first media timeout and never looked back, as the Crimson notched a 79-54 wire-to-wire win over Columbia at Levien Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
“I thought it was a tremendous effort from start to finish from our guys,” coach Tommy Amaker told Harvard Athletics. “It really was defensively. We had energy. We got the stops. We were able to get out and play from ahead. We were able to play a fun style early, which makes you get confidence quickly. On the road, that is so critical.”
Amaker’s squad improved to 1-1 in Ivy play and 8-8 on the season, while Kevin Hovde’s Lions, which lost their first home game of the 2025-26 campaign, dropped to 1-1 in the Ancient Eight and 12-4 for the year.
Columbia men’s basketball exorcises Newman Arena demons in Ivy opener versus Cornell
In a game of runs with 12 lead changes, the Columbia men’s basketball team flipped a nine-point deficit midway through the second half into a nine-point advantage entering crunch time against Cornell and cruised to a 104-99 victory in both teams’ Ivy League opener Monday.
Columbia men’s basketball overcomes injuries to thump Fairfield
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After going 1-13 in Ivy League play last season, the Columbia men’s basketball team was picked dead last in the 2025-26 media poll, and it wasn’t particularly close.
The all-knowing computers disagreed a bit, taking into account Columbia’s solid nonconference campaign last season and the fact the Lions returned a decent amount of minutes in a year where many others did not.
The story of the 2025-26 Ivy League basketball season has barely begun, but it’s starting to look like the media projections are in big trouble.
Columbia men’s basketball bests New Haven in Kevin Hovde’s debut at the helm
WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Contrary to popular belief, Friday’s Columbia season opener at Division I neophyte New Haven was not Kevin Hovde’s first shot at being a head coach.
No, back when he was a young assistant on the Upper West Side from 2011 to 2016 under Kyle Smith, there was an opportunity to schedule a handful of junior varsity games with Columbia’s big roster and Hovde drew the short straw to roam the sidelines as the man in charge.
“We had a three game schedule, we played the Army and Navy JV, and I want to say a prep school,” Hovde said. “But I went 2-1, so I had a winning record, even though I did lose one.”
2025-26 IHO Men’s Preseason Poll
The 2025-26 Ivy men’s basketball season tips off Friday, so it’s time for Ivy Hoops Online’s preseason poll – not to be confused with the Ivy League-released media preseason poll. Here’s how our contributors collectively predict the league will shake out, with select observations from some of them:
Columbia men’s basketball hires Kevin Hovde to be its next coach
Columbia athletic director Peter Pilling announced that Kevin Hovde, an assistant coach at Florida, has been named the Columbia men’s basketball program’s next coach Monday.
“I am honored to be named head coach of Columbia men’s basketball,” Hovde said in a statement. “Columbia is truly a special place for my family and me, and we are thrilled to be back. It’s humbling to have the opportunity to develop young men into leaders on and off the court at one of the top universities in the world. I am eager to get to work and build a program our alumni and community can be proud of. Our team will focus on having a consistent approach and an unrelenting competitive spirit as we strive for success in the Ivy League and beyond.”
This will be Hovde’s second stint in Morningside Heights, where he was an assistant to then-head coach Kyle Smith from 2011 to 2016.
Hovde will remain with the 2025 SEC Tournament champion Gators, which is in the Sweet 16 of this year’s NCAA Tournament, for the duration of the team’s run.