CORNELL at BROWN
This yawn-inducing Ivy League matchup will be played at Brown’s own Pizzitola Sports Center, or “the Pizza,” as I will disrespectfully refer to it. Did you know John Heisman went to Brown? Yeah, the guy with the trophy. It so happens that one of the lobbies inside the Pizza is named after him. One of the most distinguished athletic alumni in the university’s history gets a lobby inside a building called…the Pizza. Get the man a weight room, at least.
Pick: Cornell
COLUMBIA at YALE
Yale’s Javier Duren won Ivy Player of the Week for his performance last weekend. Here are his combined numbers: 24 points on 44 percent shooting, nine-for-nine from the free throw line, nine rebounds, and two assists. Harvard’s Wesley Saunders did not win Ivy Player of the Week for his performance last weekend. Here are his combined numbers: 41 points on 61 percent shooting, 12-for-14 from the free throw line, five rebounds, and two assists. Javier Duren has a flattop hair cut. DJ Jazzy Jeff is an Ivy League lobbyist.
Pick: Yale
PENN at DARTMOUTH
These two teams have played a combined 11 conference games, and already they are both all but irrelevant in the race for the league title. The 14-game tournament that is the Ivy season is a meritocracy, which fits well with the missions of the universities that compose the conference, but must be infinitely frustrating to the five or six schools who have nothing to play for by mid-to late-February. One wonders if this sentiment will eventually push the league toward a postseason tournament. But it won’t be anytime soon, as Ivy League bylaws require administrators to commune with Teddy Roosevelt’s ghost and hatch a dragon before they can be secure in altering “tradition.”
Pick: Penn
PRINCETON at HARVARD
In conference play, the Crimson’s current starting lineup—freshman guard Siyani Chambers, senior guard Christian Webster, Saunders, junior guard Laurent Rivard, and sophomore forward Jonah Travis—allows 1.17 points per possession and scores 1.08 PPP, per the Ivy Basketball Twitter account (the NCAA average is around 0.99). However, the defense ratchets up when sophomore forward Steve Moundou-Missi enters the game for Travis; Harvard gives up just 0.92 PPP with this lineup, while putting up 1.32 PPP. Moundou-Missi recorded six blocks against Columbia, and the Crimson will need more of that defense to match up with Princeton’s big front line. Harvard fans can hope the team’s coaching staff has glanced at the stat sheet recently.
Pick: Princeton