Second-half comeback propels Dartmouth men’s basketball to an 84-83 win at Brown

After battling back from a 13-point second-half deficit, Dartmouth men’s basketball stymied Brown on its last two possessions and senior guard Ryan Cornish netted the last four points of the game, including two clutch free throws with 18 seconds left in regulation, to notch an 84-83 win at the Pizzitola Sports Center Saturday.

“As a senior, these guys are counting on me to get wins,” Cornish told ESPN+ after the team’s first Ivy League road win of the season. “If I’m shooting two free throws at the line, I’ve got to think who I’m doing it for.”

With three weeks of Ancient Eight competition in the books, the Big Green (8-9, 2-2 Ivy) are tied for fourth with Penn, while the Bears (9-8, 1-3) are matched with Harvard for sixth.

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Brown men’s basketball leaves Cornell with a hard-fought 83-82 win

Despite having one of the worst offensive performances of his storied Brown career, star senior guard Kino Lilly Jr.’s go-ahead free throw with 10 seconds left withstood two Cornell chances, and his Bears came away with an 83-82 victory in Ithaca on Monday afternoon.

Bruno’s victory, its first league win of the 2024-25 season, was much needed after Brown was upset at home by Harvard on Saturday.

“Really pleased,” head coach Mike Martin told the ESPN+ broadcast crew. “Really excited and happy for my team, after a tough one on Saturday.”

With the first two weeks of conference play in the books, the Bears (9-7, 1-2 Ivy) sit in a log jam for fourth place with Dartmouth, Harvard and Penn, while Cornell (10-6, 2-1) is alone in third place.

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Harvard men’s basketball bests Brown on the road, 80-67

Harvard and Brown tip off at the Pizzitola Sports Center Saturday for what became an 80-67 victory for the Crimson over the Bears. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Two weeks ago, Harvard was down double digits to Division III Bowdoin and having trouble getting good looks in the paint.

Saturday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center, the Crimson took it to favored Brown, dominating the interior and seemingly scoring at will – particularly in the second half – on their way to an 80-67 victory that rekindles some hope Harvard might return to Providence in March for its first Ivy League Tournament since 2019.

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Kino Lilly Jr. late three-pointer leads Brown men’s basketball at Bryant, 76-75

Down by two and the clock quickly approaching zero, Brown senior guard Kino Lilly Jr. separated himself from his defender, took a pass from senior guard/forward Aaron Cooley and launched a potential game-winning three from the left elbow.

The ball hit the rim, bounced off the backboard and fell through the netting with 2.2 seconds to give the Bears the 76-75 road victory over Bryant on Friday evening.

Bruno, winners of five straight and six of their last seven, are now 6-3 on the season.

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Brown men’s basketball looking to gel more after College Hill Classic

There’s room for more years to add to Brown’s Ivy League title banner at the Pizzitola Sports Center. (Ray Curren)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The brown banner at the Pizzitola Sports Center sits ominously among a slew of white ones and reads “Men’s Basketball Ivy League Champions.”

Below that sits a lone number: 1986 — with plenty of space for a companion or two.

It almost read 2024, of course. We don’t have to rehash what happened last March in New York on this site, but Brown had earned its first NCAA Tournament in 38 years by upsetting Yale and Princeton. Until it hadn’t.

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Impressions from Ivy League men’s basketball Media Day

The Ivy League hosted media day on Tuesday for the upcoming men’s basketball season.  

Here’s one key impression from interviews with players and coaches from each of the eight Ancient Eight programs:

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Ivy men’s basketball Media Day highlights

With the non-conference schedule set to begin in less than three weeks, the Ivy League held its annual Media Day on Tuesday afternoon. The three-hour event, hosted by Lance Medow, featured coaches and players from each of the eight programs.

Fans can check out the recording on the conference’s YouTube channel.

Below are some highlights:

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Princeton men picked as preseason Ivy favorites in media poll

Princeton, last year’s undisputed regular season champions, were picked to take home the 2025 Ivy title in the preseason media poll released on Tuesday.

Led by junior forward Caden Pierce, the 2024 Player of the Year, and first team All-Ivy junior guard Xaivian Lee, Mitch Henderson’s Tigers picked up 15 of 16 first place votes and 127 of a maximum 128 points.

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Brown’s Nana Owusu-Anane at risk to miss 2024-25 season

Brown’s Nana Owusu-Anane underwent left shoulder surgery this week and the recovery timeline is expected to keep the senior forward out of action through March, according to Bill Koch of the Providence Journal,

“We obviously feel so badly for Nana, and our main focus is getting him the support and treatment that he needs,” Brown head coach Mike Martin said in a statement to the Journal published Friday. “He’s in great hands with the medical team that is in place, and I know that he’ll attack his recovery like he always does and will come back from this better than he was before.”

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Reporter’s Notebook: Ivy Madness day four

The final remnants of the 2024 Ivy Tournament being packed away for another year (Photo: Rob Browne)

The final day of the 2024 Ivy League Tournament was an incredibly chaotic one, which started hours before the noon tipoff of the thrilling men’s championship and ended with a near-midnight zoom celebratory conference call with Columbia women’s basketball coach Megan Griffith.

For the second day in a row, the tournament provided its fair share of emotional highs and lows. There may still be people who haven’t taken to the thought of Ivy Madness, after eight years and six events, but it is an amazing weekend to celebrate the talented players and coaches and showcase this shouldn’t-be-under-the-radar conference to the nation.

I’m still in a bit of a stupor from the last few days, but I’ll try my best to recount scenes from a lengthy final day:

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