Ivy Basketball Experiences Ups and Downs

After an inauspicious start to a season for which expectations were high, the Columbia men’s basketball team is looking strong following victories over Penn and Princeton. The Light Blue went 0-2 to begin conference play but is now 3-3 in the league. Against Penn, three players scored in double figures and the Light Blue went 11-19 from three-point range. The next night, the Lions, who are shooting 41.3 percent on the season, shot 51.3 percent from the field versus Princeton. Sophomore guard Niko Scott led Columbia’s offense in both games, contributing 19 points on Friday and 12 on Saturday.

Following wins at home over Dartmouth and Harvard, the Tigers had an 0-2 weekend in New York, falling to Cornell and Columbia. Three players scored in double figures against the Big Red, but the Tigers could not pull out the victory. Sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn, averaging a team-high 10.5 points per game, had only a three-pointer to show for the night. He returned to form at Columbia with 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting, but Princeton lost a five-point heartbreaker.

Like Princeton, Penn opened the Ivy season with two wins, but the Quakers could not maintain this momentum. Last weekend, they endured defeats at Columbia and Cornell to fall to .500 in the league. Both losses were by double digits. Against the Lions, only senior guard Brian Grandieri scored in double figures, with a solid 13 points. Penn shot 45.8 percent from the field in the first half but only hit 34.5 percent of its shots in the second period. Freshman guard Tyler Bernardini, the Quakers’ leading scorer with 13 points per game, did not play this weekend due to a concussion sustained in practice.

Cornell is 6-0 in the Ancient Eight after beating Princeton and Penn at home. Sophomore guard Ryan Wittman received Ivy Player of the Week honors after a 20-point performance against the Tigers and a career-best 25 points versus Penn. Sophomore guard Louis Dale, who added 12 points against the Quakers, was the Player of the Week earlier this season. All of the Big Red’s conference victories, except for a six-point win over Columbia to open league play, have been by double figures.

Brown began the Ivy season with a heartbreaking three-point loss to Yale in overtime, but the Bears have rattled off three straight conference wins. This weekend, they beat both Dartmouth and Harvard by 20 points or more in each matchup. Against Dartmouth, senior guard Mark McAndrew led all scorers with 25 points. The next night, he had 14 in another victory. Adrian Williams, a rookie guard, scored 13 against the Crimson, the most points of his collegiate career.

Dartmouth is 1-5 in the Ivy League after suffering devastating blowout losses this weekend, 77-51 at Brown and 97-58 at Yale. Junior forward Alex Barnett, who is averaging a team-high 16.5 points per game, had 10 points against the Bears and 15 against the Bulldogs. In addition, he led both teams in rebounds at the Dartmouth-Brown game with five.

Harvard is also 1-5 in conference play. The Crimson began the season with a convincing 82-56 victory over Dartmouth but has not won a league game since. This weekend, Harvard endured losses to Yale and Brown on the road. Against Yale, junior forward Evan Harris contributed 23 points, while two other players scored in double figures. After his big game, however, Harris was held to only two points