Tommy Amaker

Strong second-half defense propels Brown men’s basketball to 59-52 win at Harvard

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In an early Friday evening battle between fifth-place teams at Lavietes Pavilion, the Brown men’s basketball team held Harvard without a bucket for over nine minutes in the second half to help overcome an 11-point deficit and come away with a hard-fought 59-52 victory.

The result marks the eighth time in the last nine meetings between the two New England rivals that the visiting team came away with the win.

After all of the Ancient Eight’s contests were in the books for the evening, the Bears (14-11, 6-6 Ivy), which evened their season series with the Crimson (10-15, 5-7), sit alone in fifth place one game off the pace of Cornell, Dartmouth and Princeton. Harvard, meanwhile, is alone in sixth place with only two games left in the regular season.

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Elegy for the Killer Ps

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Not so long ago, the Princeton Tigers and the Penn Quakers – the Killer Ps – ruled the realm of Ivy League men’s basketball.  

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Hot shooting leads Harvard men’s basketball to 87-75 win over Columbia

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Behind a career high 31-point performance from sophomore forward Thomas Batties II, the Harvard men cruised to an 87-75 victory over visiting Columbia at Lavietes Pavilion on Saturday night.

The win gave head coach Tommy Amaker his 301st as head coach at Cambridge and, coupled with a 75-73 triumph over Cornell on Friday night, a weekend sweep of the Empire State Ivies. The Crimson (9-13, 4-5 Ivy) finish the weekend where it started, in fifth place in the conference, only one game out of the running for the Ivy Tournament.

The Lions (12-10, 1-8), which lost to Dartmouth by 22 points the previous evening, have been in the loss column for nine of its last ten contests, including five of six since leading scorer Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa went down to an injury. Jim Engles’ squad heads back to New York City in sole possession of last place.

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Why Dartmouth men’s basketball believes after a 76-56 romp over Harvard

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Harvard and Dartmouth tip off at Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H. in what became a 76-56 win for the Big Green Saturday. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online)

HANOVER, N.H. – It’s getting to be Ted Lasso time for the Dartmouth men’s basketball team as we reach the midpoint of the 2024-25 Ivy League campaign.

The Big Green believe.

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Yale and Princeton: This era’s Ivy League men’s basketball duopoly

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I am old enough to remember the Princeton-Penn hegemony in Ivy hoops.

We’re talking 1965-2015. That’s 50 years. That’s a long time. Names like Carril, Dunphy, Bradley, Petrie, Calhoun and many, many more.

Tommy Amaker entered in 2007 and assisted in disrupting the world order. In 2010, Cornell made a run to the Sweet 16.

Since then, it has been mostly Yale and Princeton.

And the rivalry is very heated.

James Jones and Mitch Henderson could not be more different, personally and stylistically. But since 2016, their hegemony is crystal clear.

Yale has gone 88-28 and Princeton 85-31 in the Ivy regular season. Yale has won three Ivy League tourneys and Princeton two. They have each won two NCAA tourney games.

Little to separate them, but Yale has won 11 out of the last 14.

Princeton and Yale have, as a duo, separated from the pack.

This year, Yale sits atop the Ivy standings at 4-0. Princeton is 3-1 after a home loss to Cornell.

Yale has a league-leading NET ranking of 79 and a KenPom ranking of 75. Princeton sits at 130 and 137, respectively.

“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Yale coach James Jones. “That’s what college basketball is all about.”

And he is correct. The 5 p.m. start at Jadwin Gym will be televised by ESPN2.

Keys to the game:

  • Yale senior guard John Poulakidas shooting from long range.
  • Princeton senior guard Blake Peters making three-plus treys.
  • Yale senior guard Bez Mbeng not picking up two quick fouls guarding Princeton junior guard Xaivian Lee.
  • Princeton being able to rebound with Yale, especially on the offensive glass. How vocal an expected sold-out crowd is at Jadwin.

“We jumped on them quick”: Yale men’s basketball routs Harvard, 84-55

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Harvard and Yale tip off Saturday at John J. Lee Amphitheater, where the Bulldogs dominated in an 84-55 win. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale students were back at Lee Amphitheater, Harvard was starting three freshmen, John Poulakidas hit his first couple of shots, and all that meant the Crimson had no chance Saturday afternoon.

Harvard fought in fits and starts, but in the end, the result was a formality, an 84-55 Yale win that brought the Bulldogs to the top of the Ivy League after Princeton’s loss and setting up a showdown with the Tigers Friday night in New Jersey.

“We jumped on them quick,” Yale coach James Jones said. “We were really efficient, we didn’t have a turnover (in the first 19 minutes), we were poised and focused. We lost it a little at the end of the first half and fought to get it back, and we did in the middle of the second half. When we’re playing at a high level like we were, we’re pretty good and it’s fun to watch.”

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

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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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Princeton men’s basketball survives Harvard, 68-64

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Princeton and Harvard tip off at Lavietes Pavilion on Jan. 11, 2025 in what became a 68-64 win for the Tigers over the Crimson. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online)

BOSTON – There were plenty of mistakes, their shooting was inconsistent, and closing the game out was a mess. But in the end, it was a 68-64 road victory for Princeton over Harvard to open Ivy League play Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers will gladly take it and be on their way.

“The league is so even this year. Even this game, next weekend at Dartmouth, it’s going to be hard. On the margins, that’s where we’ve been really trying to get better,” Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said. “I think it’s kind of going to be whomever is needed on a night that’s going to get us through.”

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Harvard men’s basketball nips New Hampshire amid growing pains

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Harvard and New Hampshire tip off Sunday for what became a win for the former at the latter. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online)

DURHAM, N.H. – As Tommy Amaker watched one of Harvard’s 13 first-half turnovers fly past his head Sunday afternoon, he resisted the urge to admonish the guilty party. Instead, he kept his gaze on the next play, not even acknowledging the mistake.

That’s not to say Amaker wasn’t angry about it. It was as tough for him to watch as anyone. But Amaker knows this might not be a team like the Harvard squads that went to four straight NCAA Tournaments (winning two games) or even one of his 10 teams in an 11-year span earlier in the century that posted double-digit wins in the Ivy League.

Amaker has a young team, a freshman point guard (and three freshman starters Sunday), and patience is key. He wasn’t able to work out all the flaws at halftime, as the Crimson finished with 19 turnovers, but they did enough down the stretch to gut out a 72-62 win over New Hampshire at Lundholm Gym. That’s a step forward for the Crimson after they lost seven of their last eight contests.

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Harvard men’s and women’s basketball victorious in doubleheader sweep

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After more than four hours of opening night basketball at Lavietes Pavilion, the Harvard faithful were in a great mood following wins by their men’s and women’s programs.

The men (1-0) started off the festivities with a convincing 79-66 victory over Marist (0-1), while the women (1-0) pulled away late from in-state rival UMass (0-1) on its way to a 71-55 triumph.

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