Two opponents characterized by vastly different strengths and playing styles will take on the Lions this weekend as the Ivy League men’s basketball season reaches its halfway point.
Columbia (13-9, 2-4 Ivy) will face perimeter-oriented Brown (7-16, 1-5 Ivy) on Friday night before going up against frontcourt-focused Yale (15-5, 5-1 Ivy) on Saturday in a two-game homestand.
Coming off a weekend of mixed results in which the Light Blue bench played a large role in both the 64-62 win over Dartmouth and the close 57-52 loss to Harvard, the Lions will again look to their substitutes for important contributions.
The bench will be especially important in guarding the Bears’ outside shooters and quick ball-handlers on Friday, while against Yale, the bench will need to assist the Lions’ starting frontcourt in challenging the Bulldog’s talented big men.
“You’ve got contrasting styles so we’ll definitely need a lot of perimeter depth on the first game and more inside depth on the second game,” head coach Kyle Smith said.
Up against Brown’s shooters, the Lions will have to take special notice of sophomore guard Sean McGonagill, the Bears’ leading scorer who tallied 17 points in his team’s loss to Princeton last Friday.
Junior guard Brian Barbour will be initially tasked with defending McGonagill, but because Barbour carries the burden of also being a creator on offense, Smith expects junior guard Dean Kowalski to come off the bench to help slow down McGonagill.
Despite their strength in the backcourt, the Bears lack formidable big men.
“They struggle to keep people off the boards,” Smith said. “Their trade-off is they’re very skilled and quick. We can’t give them second opportunities, but at the same time we’ve got to be willing to put the ball inside and when it goes up on the rim we need to be attacking that thing.”
Brown has one notable threat down low in the form of junior forward Andrew McCarthy, who earned a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds against Penn on Saturday.
Even though McCarthy has excelled at getting tip-ins after misses, Smith thinks the Lions will be able to use their size to crash the boards and make it difficult for the 6-foot-8-inch forward to get a clean look at the basket.
While Brown’s focus is its outside shooters, Yale’s strength comes from its physically dominating frontcourt.
The biggest name on the Bulldogs’ roster is senior center Greg Mangano, the Ivy League’s leading scorer with 19 points per game and the league’s leading rebounder on both ends of the court.
With Mangano, sophomore center/forward Jeremiah Kreisberg, and senior guard/forward Reggie Willhite spearheading the Bulldogs’ attack, the Lions have little uncertainty as to where Yale will send the ball.
“I think Yale is pretty fundamental on where they’re going to get that ball,” Smith said. “You know where it’s going and it’s hard to stop.”
Last weekend in Yale’s two victories over Princeton and Penn, the Bulldogs displayed why they have the best rebounding margin in the league, outrebounding their opponents by a combined 20 boards.
Columbia’s recent performance on the boards has also been exceptional, as the Lions outrebounded both Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend, giving the Light Blue the third best rebounding margin in the league.
Junior center Mark Cisco and the rest of the Columbia frontcourt will try to match up against Yale’s big men on Saturday, but the Lions’ best chance at success will be to take advantage of their scoring opportunities.
“They play inside-out defensively,” Smith said. “You’re going to have to stick some shots. It’ll be hard to get offensive boards because they got some wide bodies, big bodies, long arms around the rim.”
Last weekend, the Lions shot 43 percent from the floor and went 9-for-22 from beyond the arc, marking the team’s best shooting performance since conference play began.
Smith hopes this improved accuracy will carry over into this weekend’s games, along with increased confidence on the court—something Smith hasn’t yet seen from the Lions.
“I’d love for us to just relax and play a little more free-wheeling at home,” he said.
Friday’s game against Brown and Saturday’s sold-out game against Yale both begin at 7 p.m. in Levien Gymnasium.
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