Harvard senior Kyle Casey helped lead the Crimson in their matchup with Howard this week, scoring 14 points while keeping Harvard undefeated
With the exception of Harvard, Ivy men’s hoops squads faced limited success, as many units faced vastly superior opponents. Here’s how the Ancient Eight fared in the first full week of play.
Harvard (4-0) took care of business with ease this past week, beating up on neighbor MIT, 79-37, and Howard, 76-44, to remain undefeated and atop the Ivy League. All-Ivy first team guard Wesley Saunders paced the Crimson with 14 against MIT, while Kyle Casey led the offensive attack versus Howard with 14 points.
On Wednesday, Harvard added another victory, defeating Bryant, 86-68, behind 25 points from Saunders and 23 points from Steve Moundou-Missi.
Brown (3-1) dropped a close battle with Providence, 73-69, on the road Wednesday after the Bears’ second half comeback came up short. The Bears then bounced back on Saturday, dismissing Sacred Heart, 85-73.
Brown’s backcourt caught fire this past week, as the Bears’ All-Ivy senior guard Sean McGonagill was named Ivy League Player of the Week, while freshman guard Norman Hobbie was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week. McGonagill averaged 22 points over the two games, while Hobbie hit four threes against Sacred Heart.
The Bears then added a win over UMass-Lowell in which they had 47 points from a bench trio of Dockery Walker, Leland King and Hobbie. McGonagill added 14 points in the 87-76 victory.
Dartmouth (2-1) split its pair of games this past week. The Big Green were outgunned, 87-77, by Bryant at home on Wednesday but rebounded with a 77-59 victory over UMass-Lowell on Saturday. Sophomore guard Alex Mitola was Dartmouth’s high scorer against the Bulldogs, putting in 15 points and netting three from beyond the arc.
Junior center Gabas Maldunas made the biggest impact in the Big Green’s win over UMass, posting a double-double on 16 points and 17 rebounds. Dartmouth leads the Ivy League in three-point shooting at a 41.3 percent clip.
Princeton (2-1) lost its matchup against newly-minted Big East member Butler, 70-67. The Tigers went on a late 11-2 run to narrow their deficit to two with under a minute left, but ultimately fell short. Junior forward Denton Koon led the Tigers with 21 points off the bench on 50 percent shooting.
On Wednesday, Princeton came up with a thrilling 81-80 victory over Lafayette in overtime. The Tigers were up five with under two minutes left in regulation but blew the lead before recovery with late free throws to win in OT. Will Barrett led the way with 22 points, making four of the Tigers’ 12 three-pointers. The Leopards shot 58 percent for the game but Princeton held on despite playing without T.J. Bray.
Columbia (1-2) dropped its last two games, which came against stiff competition. The Lions were edged, 71-70, at home by Manhattan on Tuesday, and dropped 62-53 at Michigan State on Friday. Sophomore guard Grant Mullin poured in 23 for the Lions against the Jaspers in a game that went down to the wire, as Columbia lost via a late three-point play. Sophomore guard Maodo Lo led Columbia with 12 points against the No. 2 Spartans. The Lions hung with the Spartans in East Lansing into the late second half.
Yale (1-2) dropped tough road games at Connecticut and Rutgers this past week before rebounding with a win over Sacred Heart. Sophomore forward Justin Sears was a bright spot for the Bulldogs, scoring 17 and grabbing 10 boards, as they were handily beat 80-62 by the Huskies last Monday.
Yale came up just short against Rutgers on Thursday, falling, 72-71, in a game where Bulldogs guard Javier Duren lead all scorers with 22 points. In a 80-65 win over Sacred Heart, all five of the Elis starters finished with double-figure scoring, led by 16 points apiece by Nick Victor and Duren.
Cornell (0-5) remained winless, losing games to Binghamton, Louisville and Colgate. After leading Binghamton 43-30 at half on Wednesday, the Big Red were outscored by 23 after the break, and ended up losing by a final of 89-79. Cornell struggled against third ranked Louisville on Friday, shooting just 29.2 percent from the field, and dropping the contest 99-54.
To top off the Big Red’s bad start to the season, they were destroyed, 81-58, on the road at Colgate, as the Raiders shot 54.2 percent on the night.
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