Men's Basketball Weekend Preview for Feb. 25-26

Harvard's Keith Wright

Complete Ivy League Men's Basketball Weekly Release

Photo courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Ivy League men's basketball heats up once again with a sizzling weekend slate that will close out the frenzied month of February.

Harvard looks to maintain its slim lead on the League's top spot, traveling to Brown and Yale for its final Ivy road weekend of the season. The last Harvard-Brown matchup in Providence, R.I., was one for the ages as the Crimson came back from a 22-point halftime deficit and a 24-point, second-half deficit for a 85-78 win earlier this month. The epic comeback was the largest in Harvard history and the second-largest in Ivy League history, behind only Princeton's 27-point comeback against Penn on Feb. 9, 1999. In the NCAA annals, the 22-point halftime deficit ranks as the fourth-largest comeback and the 24-point deficit ties for the 10th-largest comeback in the second half and ties for the 14th-largest comeback all-time in Division I men's basketball history.

The road does not get any easier for the Crimson with Yale, a team it edged in a tough three-point win earlier in the month, on Saturday night. The Bulldogs have been a tough out in their last 10 games, all of which have been decided by 10 points or less. The matchup between the archrivals will feature the League's top big men in Yale's Greg Mangano, who leads the conference in scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounding (9.9 rpg) and blocked shots (71), and Harvard's Keith Wright, who leads the League in field goal percentage (.592), is second in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and third in scoring (15.4 ppg) and blocked shots (38).

Princeton still has strong Ivy title aspirations and aims to keep pace with Harvard in its home games against Cornell and Columbia. The Tigers enter the weekend with a perfect 10-0 record at home this season and have won their last 14 games in Jadwin Gym. It has been more than a full calendar year without a home loss for Princeton, which last lost in Jadwin on Feb. 20, 2010 to Brown. The 14-game home winning streak is Princeton's longest since the Tigers won 22 in a row from Jan. 6, 1997 to Dec. 9, 1998. It is the fifth-longest winning streak in Jadwin Gym history, behind a 16-gamer from 1973-75, an 18-gamer from 1976-78, the 22-gamer from 1997-98 and a 28-gamer from 1989-91.

Princeton looks to keep up its recent success at home against Cornell and Columbia, holding a 35-7 all-time record against the Big Red and a 17-game winning streak against the Lions in the cozy confines of Jadwin Gym. Princeton has swept Cornell and Columbia at home as recently as the 2008-09 season when the Tigers upset defending Ivy champion Cornell and ended its 19-game Ivy winning streak. Columbia's last win over Princeton in Jadwin was a 71-69 victory on Feb. 13, 1993.

A weekend sweep of Brown and Yale propelled Penn to third place in the Ivy standings and the Quakers hope to put some pressure on Harvard and Princeton and get some redemption this weekend, hosting Columbia and Cornell, at The Palestra. Penn has swept the Columbia-Cornell home weekend 39 of 51 times. The Quakers split this weekend in 2007-08 and 2009-10 and were swept in 2008-09.

The Ivy League Men's Basketball Games of the Week on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 130 for this weekend are Harvard at Brown Friday night and Cornell at Penn Saturday night. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.    

Harvard (20-4, 9-1 Ivy) @ Brown (10-14, 3-7 Ivy)
Date: Friday, February 25 – 7 p.m.
Location: Pizzitola Sports Center • Providence, R.I.
Radio: SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 130)
Harvard-Brown Series: Harvard leads, 88-72
Last Meeting: Harvard 85, Brown 78 • 2/12/11 • Cambridge, Mass.
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Harvard Game Notes | Brown Game Notes

Columbia (14-10, 5-5 Ivy) @ Penn (11-12, 5-4 Ivy)
Date: Friday, February 25 – 7 p.m.
Location: The Palestra • Philadelphia
Television: The Comcast Network
Columbia-Penn Series: Penn leads, 135-85
Last Meeting: Columbia 75, Penn 62 • 2/12/11 • New York
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Columbia Game Notes | Penn Game Notes

Cornell (7-17, 3-7 Ivy) @ Princeton (20-5, 8-1 Ivy)
Date: Friday, February 25 – 7 p.m.
Location: Jadwin Gym • Princeton, N.J.
Television: Verizon FiOS 1
Cornell-Princeton Series: Princeton leads, 135-78
Last Meeting: Princeton 57, Cornell 55 • 2/12/11 • Ithaca, N.Y.
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Cornell Game Notes | Princeton Game Notes

Dartmouth (5-19, 1-9 Ivy) @ Yale (12-12, 5-5 Ivy)
Date: Friday, February 25 – 7 p.m.
Location: John J. Lee Amphitheater • New Haven, Conn.
Dartmouth-Yale Series: Yale leads, 103-94
Last Meeting: Yale 67, Dartmouth 60 • 2/12/11 • Hanover, N.H.
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Dartmouth Game Notes | Yale Game Notes

Dartmouth @ Brown
Date: Saturday, February 26 – 6 p.m.
Location: Pizzitola Sports Center • Providence, R.I.
Dartmouth-Brown Series: Dartmouth leads, 75-66
Last Meeting: Brown 75, Dartmouth 66 • 2/11/11 • Hanover, N.H.
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Dartmouth Game Notes | Brown Game Notes

Columbia @ Princeton
Date: Saturday, February 26 – 6 p.m.
Location: Jadwin Gym • Princeton, N.J.
Columbia-Princeton Series: Princeton leads, 140-84
Last Meeting: Princeton 76, Columbia 46 • 2/11/11 • New York
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Columbia Game Notes | Princeton Game Notes

Harvard @ Yale
Date: Saturday, February 26 – 6 p.m.
Location: John J. Lee Amphitheater • New Haven, Conn.
Harvard-Yale Series: Yale leads, 111-69
Last Meeting: Harvard 78, Yale 75 • 2/11/11 • Cambridge, Mass.
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Harvard Game Notes | Yale Game Notes

Cornell @ Penn
Date: Saturday, February 26 – 7 p.m.
Location: The Palestra • Philadelphia
Radio: SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 130)
Cornell-Penn Series: Penn leads, 143-72
Last Meeting: Cornell 82, Penn 71 (ot) • 2/11/11 • Ithaca, N.Y.
Live Stats | Video | Audio
Cornell Game Notes | Penn Game Notes