The agony of defeat was never more manifest than Tuesday night in the bowels of John J. Lee Amphitheater, where Yale men’s basketball was edged by UNC Wilmington in their NIT opener, 68-67.
Yale
Penn men’s basketball draws a No. 14 seed, matchup with No. 3 Illinois in NCAA Tournament
TICKET PUNCHED. 🎟️@PennMBB is GOING DANCING once again! 🌿🏀
No. 14 Penn 🆚 No. 3 Illinois pic.twitter.com/WlJvnN8BHC
— Ivy League (@IvyLeague) March 15, 2026
Four hours after it secured its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018 on Sunday, Penn men’s basketball learned it’s a No. 14 seed in the Big Dance and will play No. 3 Illinois in Greenville, S.C. in the tournament’s South region.
Penn and Illinois will tip off at 9:25 p.m. Thursday in Greenville, S.C., with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the call on TNT.
In that previous NCAA Tournament appearance, Penn controversially drew a No. 16 seed and a matchup in Wichita, Kan. with No. 1 Kansas, to whom it lost, 76-60.
Quakeaways from No. 3 Penn men’s basketball’s Ivy League Tournament final win over No. 3 Yale
TJ Power just put up the best individual performance in Quakers history. His 44 points just led Penn to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years. pic.twitter.com/QfnBWFsIlo
— Ian Wenik (@IanWenik) March 15, 2026
ITHACA, N.Y. – Penn men’s basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years after outlasting Yale in overtime, 88-84, in one of the greatest games in recent Ivy League history Sunday at Newman Arena.
The Quakers (18-11) needed a transcendent performance from forward TJ Power to pull off the Ivy League Tournament final upset with leading scorer Ethan Roberts back in Philadelphia, sidelined with a concussion.
Boy, did Power deliver. The junior had a 44-point detonation, which matched Hassan Duncombe for the program’s single-game scoring record since it joined the Ivy League in 1954. Power personally erased what was a four-point Penn deficit with 12 seconds to play by simply dribbling into three-pointers on consecutive possessions.
The last of those threes, a contested shot from the right wing, tied the game at 75 with a second to go in regulation. Yale guard Trevor Mullin (who had hit two clutch free throws to extend the lead to three before Power’s heroic shot) nearly sank a three-quarter-court heave as the buzzer sounded, but it clanged off the back iron.
In overtime, Power — whose free-throw shooting struggles this season have been well-documented — put the Quakers ahead for good with 3:02 left in the extra session following two makes from the charity stripe. He got a ton of help from senior guard Cam Thrower, who had a five-point scoring burst in a 40-second span to give the Red and Blue some critical breathing room.
In his first campaign running his alma mater, coach Fran McCaffery has pulled off one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in recent college basketball memory.
What should Penn fans hold onto from an afternoon of unbridled joy?
Quakeaways from No. 3 Penn men’s basketball defeating No. 2 Harvard to advance to Ivy League Tournament final
AJ Levine drives and scores the game-winning layup for @PennMBB in OT over @HarvardMBB in an Ivy Madness semifinal. pic.twitter.com/D9skb7EZtg
— Steve Silverman (@gwynnitas) March 14, 2026
ITHACA, N.Y. — Penn men’s basketball is 40 minutes away from its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in eight years after outlasting Harvard in a 62-60 overtime thriller to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final.
Sophomore point guard AJ Levine — more on him later — played the hero after he blew by Harvard sophomore guard Ben Eisendrath off the dribble for a scoop layup with 6.1 seconds to play in the extra session.
With the Crimson in scramble mode, Levine got a hand in Harvard guard Tey Barbour’s face as the sniper put up a three-point attempt to win the game.
Barbour’s shot was off line to the right and a wild celebration ensued.
AJ Levine just sent the Quakers to the Ivy Madness final with a driving layup. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/WNP8gxIR1z
— Ian Wenik (@IanWenik) March 14, 2026
The Quakers (17-11) are now in a position that few expected them to be in back in November. What did we learn about this team as it preps for an empty-the-tank game against Yale for a conference tournament championship?
No. 1 Yale men’s basketball holds off No. 4 Cornell to advance to Ivy League Tournament final
ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell senior Josh Baldwin entered the center circle for the opening tip Saturday morning at Newman Arena and just smiled at Yale’s Samson Aletan.
At 6-foot-5, Baldwin knew he had no chance to win the jump, but his insertion into the starting lineup has been integral to Cornell’s late-season success, particularly on the defensive end, where the Big Red made great strides to win eight of 11 and somewhat improbably get to Ivy Madness at all after an 0-3 league start. The most prominent of those wins was an uncharacteristic 72-69 slugfest over two-time defending champ Yale two weeks ago.
Cornell men’s basketball buries Dartmouth, takes momentum into Ivy League Tournament
HANOVER, N.H. – When we last left the Cornell men’s basketball team, it had given up 100 points or more in three straight Ivy League losses and didn’t seem to have many answers, seemingly on its way to being the third straight Ivy Madness hosts to not qualify for postseason play.
Fast forward six weeks, and the Big Red will not only be on the court in Ithaca next week, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see them win it.
Yale men’s basketball thrashes Princeton on Senior Day
There’s little doubt that the Ivy schedule- makers intended Yale-Princeton on the last day of the season to have an impact on the Ivy men’s title chase.
Yale men’s basketball beats Columbia, clinches share of regular season title
In the second game of an Ivy League back-to-back weekend, the Yale men’s basketball team put aside Friday night’s loss to Cornell and gutted out a 60-54 victory over Columbia at Levien Gymnasium on Saturday night.
“Great teams respond to adversity,” senior forward Nick Townsend, who led the Bulldogs with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, told SNY’s Lance Medow after the game. “It’s good to get a win after that long ride from Cornell.”
The triumph for the conference leaders, coupled with Harvard’s 64-61 loss to Penn at the Palestra, gave the Bulldogs (22-5, 10-3 Ivy) at least a share of the Ivy League regular season title.
With wins by the Quakers and the Big Red, as well as a loss by Dartmouth, the Lions (16-11, 5-8), which have never appeared in the Ivy League Tournament, were officially eliminated from tournament contention.
Even if the Bulldogs and Crimson end the regular season tied for first, the former will have the No. 1 seed for Ivy Madness based on a better record against Penn.
Columbia women’s basketball pulls away from Yale
Columbia women’s basketball overcame a 14-4 deficit to Yale and pulled away for a 68-47 win before a sparse crowd at John J. Lee Amphitheater Friday night.
How Yale men’s basketball edged Penn sans Nick Townsend
No Nick Townsend. No problem.
Yale men’s basketball had sophomore forward Isaac Celiscar and senior forward Casey Simmons, and that duo powered Yale to a 74-70 win over surging Penn at John J. Lee Amphitheater Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Yale (21-4, 9-2 Ivy) clinched a bid to the Ivy League Tournament.