Ivy Basketball Capsules: Week Five

Game of the Week: Yale (9-10, 5-1 Ivy)at Cornell (11-9, 4-2 Ivy)

Saturday night's contest between Penn and Cornell could end the Big Red's hope of a Ivy title, or potentially put three teams in a tie for the league lead with only four games to play.

Cornell has been in a number of close league contests and, if a couple of bounces had fallen to its opponents, the Big Red could have been nowhere near the top of the standings. Penn has been a consistent contender year in and year out and would have to be considered the favorite to grab the lone Ivy NCAA Tournament bid after the league season comes to a close.

The Big Red will have to mark Ibrahim Jaaber and Mark Zoller if it expects to have any chance at defeating the Quakers at the hostile Palestra. For Penn, finding a way to stop Cornell's trio of talented freshmen will be critical, along with Jaaber returning to his normal form.

Dartmouth Big Green (8-13, 3-5 Ivy)

The Big Green has lost four of its last six contests, but a road split last week kept Dartmouth away from the Ivy cellar.

Leading scorer and first-team all-Ivy candidate Leon Pattman sat out last weekend and, despite his absence, Dartmouth was able to hang tough with the Quakers for a good portion of the contest, in addition to pulling out a tough 45-44 victory over the Tigers. Johnathan Ball has played nicely in the paint for the Big Green, but his play alone will not get Dartmouth the victories it needs to be considered a player in the Ancient Eight.

This weekend, the Big Green continues its four-game road trip with tilts against Brown and Yale. If Dartmouth expects another split or even an upset-laden sweep, it will be necessary to shoot close to its 46 percent against Princeton.

Brown Bears (7-16, 2-6 Ivy)

The Bears continued their slide last weekend with two road losses to Cornell and Columbia, putting their league record at 2-6 midway through the Ivy season.

After almost pulling off the upset of the season against the Big Red in Ithaca on Friday, the Bears were soundly defeated in Manhattan by the Lions. Juniors Mark McAndrew and Damon Huffman combined for 46 points, but the rest of the Brown team contributed only 22 points, as no other player scored over six points for the contest. The Princeton-style offense has worked well in getting Craig Robinson's playmakers the ball, but has also limited the touches of other players on the court.

This weekend, the Bears have a chance to pick up wins against Harvard and Dartmouth, potentially salvaging respect in the Ancient Eight.

Cornell Big Red (13-9, 6-2 Ivy)

With two wins by a combined three points over Brown and then league-leader Yale, the Big Red has positioned itself to make a run at the Ivy title.

The play of Cornell's freshmen has been integral to the team's success as last week was the first time in the Ivy season that a Big Red freshman did not win Rookie of the Week. In addition to the freshmen, senior center Andrew Naeve has become a force in the paint against other teams, contributing heavily to Cornell's best season in 19 years.

One of the biggest issues concerning this Big Red squad is the tight margin of its Ivy victories, as four of the team's six conference wins have been by four points or less. This weekend's contest at the Palestra will show if Cornell is really a contender.

Princeton Tigers (10-11, 1-6 Ivy)

Despite a double-overtime victory against Harvard, the Tigers remain in last place in the Ancient Eight, with tough games against Cornell and Columbia coming up this weekend.

Noah Savage got his first start of the year against the Crimson and it paid off with a 16-point performance. He started again the next night and led the Tigers with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Dartmouth in a one-point defeat. Princeton has continually had problems scoring in their possession-control offense, averaging 45.5 points a game, the worst mark in the Ivy League.

The Tigers are off to their worst start in 20 seasons, and unless they can find a way to create better efficiency on the offensive side of the ball, a finish in the Ivy cellar looks inevitable.

Yale Bulldogs (10-11, 6-2 Ivy)

After falling behind by as much as 14 against the Big Red, the Elis found a way to take the lead with under a minute left in a pivotal contest between league leaders at Newman Arena last Saturday. Two late free throws from freshman Ryan Wittman sealed the game for Cornell, ending the Bulldogs' short trip to the top spot in the Ancient Eight.

Junior Eric Flato had a career-high of 26 points against Columbia and added a game-high of 18 against the Big Red. Along with senior Casey Hughes and sophomore Caleb Holmes, Yale has found a set trio of scorers that can break through any Ivy defense.

This weekend provides Yale with the best chance for the rest of the season to sweep two Ivy foes, as contests against Dartmouth and Harvard are at home in the John J. Lee Amphitheater.

Penn Quakers (15-8, 6-1 Ivy)

After a tough loss at Yale two weekends ago, the Quakers are back in a familiar position after victories over Harvard, Dartmouth, and Princeton-at the top of the Ivy standings.

Despite the mediocre play of Ibrahim Jaaber as of late, fellow senior Mark Zoller and junior Brian Grandieri have spearheaded the effort to keep Penn in the championship race. Jaaber continues to lead the league in assist-to-turnover ratio, but Zoller has overtaken the team lead in scoring at 18.3 points per contest. The Quakers have struggled in recent weeks with their free-throw shooting and shot only 69.6 percent from the charity stripe.

Given the favorable schedule remaining for Penn, they are the favorites to win the title, but contests against Cornell and Columbia should provide significant tests for the Quakers.

Harvard Crimson (10-12, 3-5 Ivy)

Last weekend's road trip to the Killer Ps immediately went awry as the Crimson provided Princeton with its first league win in a double overtime thriller, followed up by a blowout loss to the Quakers.

Harvard was never expected to contend without Brian Cusworth, but the upset over Cornell at home brought hope for a mid-level finish in the league. Those dreams came to a crashing halt at Jadwin last Friday against Princeton, as not even Drew Housman's 33 points were enough to salvage a victory. Besides Housman, Evan Harris and Jim Goffredo have been key players for Harvard, but even their play has been lackluster as of late.

The Crimson renew its long-standing rivalry with Yale this weekend and will also take on Brown in an attempt to even its league record at 5-5.