Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 16

Harvard's Kenyatta Smith and Brown's Cedric Kuakumensah

Complete Men's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Brown Athletic Communications and Harvard Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Ivy League men's basketball goes into the stretch run with a little separation at the top of the standings, but with a lot of hoops to be played with this year's NCAA Tournament and the 75th celebration of March Madness looming less than a month away.

With sole possession of first place in hand, Harvard (15-7, 7-1 Ivy League) has tough road tests ahead at Brown (9-13, 3-5 Ivy) on Friday night and Yale (10-15, 4-4 Ivy) on Saturday night in a game that will be carried live on the CBS Sports Network. The Crimson opened the month with hard-fought decisions over the Bulldogs by just three points and over the Bears by six points in double overtime.

Princeton (12-9, 5-2 Ivy) remains squarely in the title hunt and remains away from home this weekend with games at Columbia (10-12, 2-6 Ivy) and Cornell (13-12, 5-3 Ivy) to close a four-game road swing. The Tigers look to stay close to the League leader and create some separation from Cornell, which comes in just one game behind them in the loss column.

The Big Red enters its Friday game with Penn (6-18, 3-4 Ivy) as one of the League's hottest teams with a three-game winning streak and victories in four of its last five games.

Dartmouth (6-16, 2-6 Ivy) hopes to get back into the win column, currently on a three-game slide after winning two-straight in Ivy play earlier in the month.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Harvard sophomore center Kenyatta Smith (Sun Valley, Calif.) had a historic weekend in pacing the Crimson to statement wins over Penn and Princeton. Smith posted a near triple-double with 20 points, nine rebounds and a school-record 10 blocks in Harvard's victory over Penn. His 10 rejections are the second-most, single-game total in Ivy League history behind 12 by Dartmouth’s Walter Palmer on Jan. 9, 1988. The next night against Princeton, Smith poured in 14 points, going 5-of-5 from the field, and added seven boards and six blocks to help Harvard take sole possession of first place.

Smith's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Brown freshman forward Cedric Kuakumensah (Worcester, Mass.) turned in consecutive dominating performances in games against Columbia and Cornell. Kuakumensah scored a career-high 19 points, connecting on 8-of-12 field goals, in the Bears' win over Columbia, while pulling down seven rebounds and blocking two shots. He then grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds against Cornell, the most by an Ivy League player this year. He added 13 points to complete his fourth career double-double. Kuakumensah blocked four shots vs. the Big Red and now has 50 blocks for the season, most ever by a Brown freshman and second overall in school history.

Kuakumensah's Statistics for the Week

HONOR ROLL
Steve Frankoski, Columbia (So., G - Florham Park, N.J.)    
20 points, 2 rebounds at Brown
16 points, 1 rebound at Yale

Johnathan Gray, Cornell (Sr., G - Tampa, Fla.)    
18 points, 4 rebounds at Yale
18 points, 5 rebounds at Brown

Ian Hummer, Princeton (Sr., F - Vienna, Va.)    
14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals at Dartmouth
18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists at Harvard

Gabas Maldunas, Dartmouth (So., F - Panevezys, Lithuania)
16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks vs. Princeton
19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks vs. Penn

Darien Nelson-Henry, Penn (Fr., C - Kirkland, Wash.)
14 points, 4 rebounds at Harvard
8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals at Dartmouth

Justin Sears, Yale (Fr., F - Plainfield, N.J.)    
13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists vs. Cornell
10 points, 2 rebounds vs. Columbia

Matthew Sullivan, Brown (Sr., G - Wilmette, Ill.)    
Career-high 27 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists vs. Columbia
10 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists vs. Cornell

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, February 22
*Harvard at Brown, 7 pm [myRITV]
*Princeton at Columbia, 7 pm
*Penn at Cornell, 7 pm
*Dartmouth at Yale, 7 pm

Saturday, February 23
*Dartmouth at Brown, 6 pm
*Penn at Columbia, 7 pm
*Princeton at Cornell, 7 pm
*Harvard at Yale, 8 pm [CBSSN]

*Ivy League Contests