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The winning play.#Whānau | #FightOnPenn🔴🔵🏀 pic.twitter.com/7WsovBNGuj
— Penn Men’s Basketball (@PennMBB) February 20, 2022
Even before the last-minute dramatics that resulted in a stunning road 88-87 win for the Red & Blue, everything about Saturday night’s game between Penn (12-13, 9-3 Ivy) and Brown (12-15, 4-8) was set up to made it a classic Ivy League showdown.
As we near the halfway mark of the 2022 Ivy League season, here are five thoughts about the state of the race for the men’s league title:
Brown’s hastily scheduled tilt at Syracuse went south quickly in the second half, as the Orange powered their way to a 93-62 win Monday.
The Orange (6-5, 1-0 ACC) went on a tear after the Bears (8-6, 0-0 Ivy) clawed their way from an early hole to get within 38-32 at halftime of the clash scheduled as a COVID-19 replacement date after games against Lehigh and Cornell were postponed due to the pandemic.
It’s time for Ivy Hoops Online’s annual exchange with Wes Cheng of The Juice Online, except with Brown taking Cornell’s place – for now – after Syracuse added a home game against Brown to be held Monday after COVID-related cancellations of their games against Lehigh and Cornell. Big Red fans should take note that the latter has been rescheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.
Announcers and writers around the nation focused a lot of attention to the 600-plus days between games for the Ivy League. While many expected the teams to be a bit rusty out of the gates, the Ancient Eight acquitted itself quite well in the season’s first week.
Thirteen of the league’s 16 teams had at least one win, with the Princeton and Columbia women notching three victories each. The Brown men almost upset No. 19 UNC without their top player, and the Princeton men just missed out on winning the Asheville Championship.
Check out some of the highlights from a very successful and welcome week of Ivy hoops:
Playing in front of a raucous but often times stunned crowd at the Dean Smith Center, Brown almost pulled off the biggest shocker of the young NCAA season against No. 19 UNC.
Mike Martin’s squad went toe-to-toe against Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels but ultimately could not overcome injuries, foul trouble and the late-game heroics of RJ Davis. Despite huge nights from Dan Friday and first-year Nana Owusu-Anane, the Bears fell, 94-87.
Things did not look good for the Bears (1-1) as they arrived for their first game against a Division I opponent in 616 days. The team’s leader and 2020 second team All-Ivy forward Tamenang Choh was sitting on the bench in street clothes. Choh has a hip injury and is scheduled for an MRI on Monday, according to ACC Network analyst and Columbia hoops alum Dalen Cuff. With Choh out and 2020 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylan Gainey still not at 100% following a preseason injury and a bout with mononucleosis, Bruno would need others to step up if they had any hope of tackling the Tar Heels (2-0).
Bruno says hello
Brown men’s basketball last week announced the program’s five early decision admits that are part of the Class of 2025 and will join the Bears for the 2021-22 season: