Around the Ivies: Men's Basketball

As the Ivy League men’s basketball season nears its conclusion, the conference champion has yet to be decided, and the battle for second place is even more fierce. With two full weekends remaining before the classic Princeton-Penn finale, here’s how the standings shape up:

Harvard (23-3, 9-1) It’s go time for the Crimson. A weekend sweep will clinch at least a share of the Ivy League championship, but it won’t be easy. Harvard faces Princeton on Friday and Penn the following day, though it plays both games at Lavietes Pavilion, where it has won 27 straight games. If the Crimson splits this weekend, it will have work left to do but should still be in good shape.

Penn (15-11, 7-2) A pair of home games against the New York teams were too close for comfort, but the Quakers survived to keep control of their own destiny. Star senior Zack Rosen scored 13 of the team’s final 18 points to overcome a late deficit against Cornell, and forward Fran Dougherty hit a game-winning layup off of an inbounds play with 1.5 seconds left for an overtime win over Columbia.

Yale (17-7, 7-3) Entering the season, the Bulldogs looked like Harvard’s potential top challenger, but they got smacked by the Crimson for a second time on Saturday and lost the two meetings by a combined 45 points. With a road trip to Penn and Princeton looming, the Bulldogs need a sweep of the C’s this week to stay in contention for second place.

Princeton (15-10, 6-3) The Tigers’ offense, a weakness for much of the season, is certainly peaking at the right time. After winning four straight games and scoring 200 points in its last 100 minutes, Princeton has a lot of momentum right now, and the Tigers will need every boost they can get — Friday brings a road game against a Harvard squad hungry for revenge.

Cornell (10-14, 5-5) Cornell finally fell out of the top half of the league last week, and it doesn’t look like the Big Red will get back there soon. The Big Red was swept by the treacherous Penn-Princeton road trip, snapping a three-game win streak. With games against Brown and Dartmouth remaining, Cornell should finish at .500, but doing better than that will require an upset at Yale or against Harvard.

Columbia (14-12, 3-7) Somehow, hard-luck Columbia is just 3-7 in the conference despite losing only one league game by more than five points (77-66 at Princeton on Friday). The Lions’ current three-game losing streak started with a one-point loss to Yale after they led by 21 points midway through the second half. The latest dagger was a last-second overtime loss at The Palestra on Saturday.

Brown (7-20, 1-9) The Bears missed their best chance for a second conference victory, falling 58-53 in a rematch at Dartmouth on Saturday. The league’s worst defense allows 1.11 points per possession, as opponents are shooting 45 percent against Brown.

Dartmouth (5-21, 1-9) It was a long time coming, but the Big Green finally snapped its streak of close losses with a 58-53 victory over Brown, ending its nightmares of a winless conference season. This week, Dartmouth will get two shots at a home upset against Penn and Princeton, which may be focusing instead on this weekend’s showdowns with Harvard.