In strategy and execution, Penn outplayed Harvard on Saturday night. The Quakers threw a variety of defenders at Crimson point guard Siyani Chambers, consistently applying pressure in the backcourt and accepting the series of borderline fouls that came as a result. Harvard also failed to contain Penn’s pick and roll offense; freshman forward Darien Nelson-Henry and his soft hands punished the Crimson, as he drove to the basket over and over on his way to 18 points and 11 rebounds. The young Quakers don’t have a single senior on their roster, like Harvard two seasons ago, and could be an early Ivy darkhorse in the fall of 2013.
Pick: Penn
PRINCETON at BROWN
I remember softly chuckling to myself during the press conference that followed Harvard’s 65-47 drubbing of Brown on Feb. 22. First-year Bears coach Mike Martin was close to rending his garments in frustration. “We will not accept that type of performance,” Martin growled at the assembled reporters. Come on, Mikey, I thought, it’s time to grow up. You guys have been doormats for a while, and that’s not going to change overnight. Fast forward a week and a half, and Brown is now on a three-game winning streak, including a road sweep of Columbia and Cornell that boosted it to a tie for third place in the conference standings. Crimson fans can hope Martin throws a couple chairs and gets his boys to make a serious run at the Tigers on Saturday.
Pick: Princeton
PENN at YALE
Did you know that “Penn Quakers” is an anagram for “Prank Queens”? I’m not sure what the implications are here, but they must be significant. Similarly, we can rearrange “Yale Bulldogs” to get “Balls-ugly Ode,” which is as apt a description of “Boola Boola” as I have ever heard.
Pick: Yale
COLUMBIA at DARTMOUTH
Get the shotgun out of the shed, Pa, it’s the mercy game: the final time the league’s two cellar-dwelling teams will set foot on the court this season. It’s hard to get a good read on Columbia. Despite their 4-8 Ivy record, the Lions have only been outscored by 1.0 point per game in conference play—but I don’t mean to suggest that they’re consistent. The final margin in five of Columbia’s eight Ivy losses was four points or less, and the other three came by an average of 16.7 points. On the other side, it’s pretty clear what Dartmouth is all about: losing early and often. Expect the Big Green to out-awful the Lions in this one.
Pick: Columbia
CORNELL at HARVARD
The Crimson’s Ivy season comes to a close when the Big Red comes to town Saturday night (*tear*). Assuming both Harvard and Princeton take care of business this weekend, the conference championship will be determined for the second year in a row by a Tuesday-night matchup between the Tigers and Penn. Last season, it was Princeton that derailed the Quakers’ hopes of forcing a one-game playoff with Harvard with an emphatic 10-point home victory. Next week, the Tigers will travel to the Palestra with a good chance of wrapping the Ivy title up outright. If the Crimson’s March dreams are to stay alive, it may well require the script to be flipped.
Pick: Harvard
PRINCETON at PENN
Bonus game! I’ll let Gary Wright take this one. What a beautiful hymn:
I have just closed my eyes again/Climbed aboard the Dream Weaver train/Driver, take away my worries of today/And leave tomorrow behind.
Dream Weaver/I believe [Penn] can get [Harvard to the NCAA Tournament]
Dream Weaver/I believe [Princeton] can [fall apart on the road at the Palestra].
—Staff writer Andrew R. Mooney can be reached at mooney@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @mooneyar.