Ivy League Basketball News

Dartmouth hosts Columbia and Cornell visits Harvard, Brown is at Penn, and Yale is at Princeton.

The Columbia Spectator profiles Harvard’s Kyle Casey.

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The Boston Herald profiles Harvard coach Tommy Amaker.  The article discusses his vision for change at the school’s basketball program.

Amaker said he would be comfortable staying at Harvard “forever.”

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The Ithaca Journal previews the Cornell @ Harvard game.  Cornell is expecting a tight contest.

“We’re going to have to set the tone early, come out with a lot of energy,” Cornell sophomore guard Chris Wroblewski said. “We have to be the team that is yelling, talking, communicating on the floor. We have to create our energy and momentum. That’s what we have to do.”

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The Ithaca Journal scouts Harvard and concludes:

Harvard’s rotation is significantly different than what Amaker threw at Cornell on Jan. 30. Casey is averaging 35.7 minutes, and 20 points during Harvard’s three-game win streak, and Curry and Kenyi are now starting instead of Webster and McNally.

Cornell must get a lead early to quiet what will assuredly be a loud crowd, then hold off Harvard’s inevitable runs. In Ithaca, Cornell was terrific at forcing Lin to give up the ball in half court sets, while being alert to where Lin was on the court during transition opportunities — and doing whatever was necessary to slow him down. The good news for Cornell is that it has proven it can win in hostile environments, last Saturday’s three-point victory at Princeton being the most recent evidence.

The most obvious issue is, how does Harvard handle Jeff Foote? If Wright, Van Nest and Magnarelli are unavailable, that’s potentially a huge problem for the Crimson.

Cornell owns a one-game lead over Harvard with six to play. Both teams still play Princeton one more time. A loss won’t kill Cornell’s chances at a league title, but a win would go a long way to making this a two-horse race.

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The Daily Princetonian previews Princeton’s weekend games against Yale and Brown.

“If we’re thinking about past successes, we’re thinking the wrong way,” head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 said. “Although we were able to win at Yale and Brown, they both had good moments against us the first time we played. They know that, and so do we. The important thing for us is to realize that playing well and having a chance to win comes with creating the same focus and energy each time we take the floor.”

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The Columbia Spectator previews Columbia’s weekend games against Dartmouth and Harvard.

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The Columbia Spectator’s Bart Lopez thinks that all the Columbia men’s basketball needs is a little swagger.

All the articles pointed to important aspects of the team’s game that needed to improve. After reading these stories, it may appear as if we are, in short, inferior to Cornell. But this is not the case. Statistically, the Lions aren’t that far off….

So, what’s the deal? My answer is one word: swagger. I’m sure a few of you were expecting me to answer Coach Jones, but he is not the problem (although he can help solve it). It is all about swagger. The winners have it and we don’t.

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The Boston Globe reminds us that all is not lost for Harvard.

Call it Redemption Friday and Recognition and Reversal Saturday. Unofficially, of course.

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The Cornell Daily Sun previews Cornell’s weekend games against Harvard and Dartmouth.

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The Dartmouth previews Dartmouth’s weekend games against Columbia and Cornell.

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The Harvard Crimson previews this weekend’s games and makes its picks, including the Cornell @ Harvard game.

CORNELL (21-4, 7-1 Ivy) at HARVARD (17-5, 6-2 Ivy)

…I Believe That We Will Play Very Well.

Harvard is certainly capable of taking down Cornell. It has the best player on the court in Lin, the hottest player in the league in Casey, and a raucous home crowd that is finally earning the “Crimson Crazies” moniker.

But Cornell has far more weapons with as many as seven players capable of leading the team in scoring. It can go inside and outside, play on the break or in the half court.

Whether or not Magnarelli can offer meaningful minutes will be critical. In Ithaca, Foote abused every defender the Crimson threw at him, and Harvard is even more shorthanded now. I don’t know that Magnarelli can hold up, and for that reason, the smart money is on Cornell.

Pick: Cornell 74, Harvard 70.

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The Bleacher Report previews this weekend’s Ivy face-offs, including Cornell @ Harvard.

Cornell, yet again is getting ready for Harvard. This game, the most anticipated home game in Harvard history, has been sold out for over a month, and with the Cornell loss to Penn last weekend, now a Harvard win means a tie for first place. This also creates another interesting situation.

With the top two teams tied, and no more head to head matchups, a win-out scenario for both teams would mean a tie for first place. And In the Ivy Leagues, there are no head to head statistics that break up a tie. They will play a game. And According to an Ivy League Playoff representative, the game would be played at a game centrally located, most likely Columbia.

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The Daily Pennsylvanian previews Penn’s weekend games against Brown and Yale.  Penn expects that Brown will seek revenge for the controversial finish at their last meeting.

The Bears (8-17, 2-6) left the Pizzitola Center three Saturdays ago with a bad taste in their mouths, after referees ruled that Dan Monckton released his game-winning putback before the buzzer sounded.

“I’m sure they want another shot at us,” Eggleston said. “They definitely could have, or maybe they feel like they should have, won the game.”

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Cornell coach Donahue provides a few comments for Dick Jerardi’s article about Philadelphia University coach Herb Maggee.  Donahue’s work with Maggee was the current Cornell coach’s first college coaching job.

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Rivals.com thinks the Cornell @ Harvard game is one to watch:

Cornell at Harvard, 7 p.m. Friday: Harvard gained a lot of notice earlier this season, but the Crimson must beat two-time defending Ivy champ Cornell if it wants to legitimately stay in the league race. Cornell won the earlier meeting by 36 and is tied atop the league standings in the loss column with surprising Princeton.

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Rush the Court will be conducting a rare Friday edition of RTC Live for the Cornell @ Harvard game.

Normally we “take the night off” given the relatively light slate, but tonight is a special occasion. Tonight the unofficial playoff for the Ivy League title and first official NCAA tournament bid commences when Cornell travels to Cambridge, MA to take on Harvard.

When these two teams met on January 30th, it was one of the most highly anticipated Ivy League match-ups in years. Cornell came in 17-3 having won 15 of 16 with its only losses coming against Seton Hall (10 points) and on the road against a pair of top-5 foes in Syracuse(15 points) and Kansas (5 points). Harvard came in 14-3 having won 7 straight with its only losses coming on the road against Army (3 points), UConn(6 points), and Georgetown (16 points). Many were expecting one of best games of the season featuring a match-up of Ivy League Player of the Year favorites Ryan Wittman and Jeremy Lin. Wittman and the Big Red lived up to their billing, but Lin and the Crimson apparently forgot to bring their game with them to Ithaca as they were embarrassed 86-50 while Lin managed to outscore Wittman (19-11), but committed a season-high 8 turnovers (of the team’s 25) with only 1 assist. With Wittman having a relatively quiet game the Big Red were led by seven-foot senior center Jeff Foote, who had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. Following the blowout, it appeared as if the two teams were headed in opposite directions as the Crimson lost their next game to a surprisingly good Princeton team before bouncing back with 3 straight wins. The Big Red appeared poised to run the table in the Ivy League before stumbling in a shocking loss at Penn before bouncing back to win a hard-fought game at Princeton the following night. All this left the Ivy League with 3 teams sitting near the top of the conference: Cornell at 7-1, Princeton at 6-1, and Harvard at 6-2. The game is being billed as the biggest in the history of Harvard basketball (please, no snickering) and the athletic department is going to try to use a “Fade to Black” theme where the fans wear white shirts in the first half then taking them off to reveal black shirts in the second half [Ed. Note: Another benefit is layering for the New England winter night.] while the audio system will play Jay Z’s “Run This Town” and AC/DC’s “Back in Black” before the start of the 2nd half when the fans will reveal their black shirts in an attempt to throw off the Big Red (who happened to almost win at Kansas, which we think would be slightly more daunting than the visual “hallucination” of having the fans in the stands change their shirts from white to black at halftime).

The big questions coming into tonight’s game are whether Lin will play like his usual spectacular self instead of the sloppy version we saw in Ithaca and whether the Crimson can figure out a way to contain Foote who dominated against their under-sized frontline that now will be without 6?8? Keith Wright and 6?10? Andrew Van Nest. For Cornell, a win would put them in the driver seat to win the league’s automatic bid as they most likely would only need to beat Princeton at home to clinch that spot, which has grown more important now that an at-large seems unlikely after their loss at Penn. For Harvard, a win would put them back in contention for the Ivy League title while a loss would almost definitely send them to the NIT.

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From the Ivy League Office:

Harvard freshman forward Kyle Casey (Medway, Mass.) helped the Crimson to a pair of wins this weekend and several notables after defeating Yale and Brown. Harvard recorded its first Ivy weekend road sweep since the 1999-2000 season and its first road sweep of Yale and Brown since 1998-99. The Crimson also tied a program record with its ninth road victory and tied the second-best wins mark in history (17). In two games, Casey averaged 23.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 52 percent overall (13-25 FG), 67 percent from 3-point range (6-9) and 88 percent at the free throw line (15-17 FT). He had 20 points and seven rebounds at Yale and tied a career-high with 27 points to go with nine rebounds at Brown in a game in which he was 8-of-9 from the floor, 3-of-3 from deep and 8-of-9 at the free throw line.

The honor roll this week includes Brown’s Peter Sullivan, Columbia’s Niko Scott, Cornell’s Ryan Wittman, Harvard’s Christian Webster, Princeton’s Douglas Davis, and Yale’s Michael Sands.

Read the full release.

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Cornell’s Jeff Foote picks up his third Ivy League Player of the Week honor, while Harvard’s Kyle Casey takes home his third Rookie of the Week honor.

On Jeff Foote:

Cornell senior center Jeff Foote (Lockwood, N.Y.) was the reason the Big Red was able to remain unbeaten in Ivy League play, dominating both Yale and Brown in double-figure wins. He averaged 16.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals while shooting 65 percent from the floor in the two victories. Foote recorded a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double aginst Yale, adding four assists, two blocks and a steal to the effort. He made 7-of-11 shots from the floor and grabbed four offensive boards. He chipped in with a team-high 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal without a turnover in Saturday’s victory over Brown. Foote made 8-of-12 field goals against All-Ivy center Matt Mullery and had three offensive boards, more than the entire Bears team (2).

On Kyle Casey:

Harvard freshman forward Kyle Casey (Medway, Mass.) made his first two collegiate starts over the weekend and averaged 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the Crimson. Against Princeton, Casey logged 35 minutes and registered a game-high nine rebounds to go along with seven points, two assists and a block. The next night in a win over Penn, he had 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block in 34 more minutes of action. Casey leads all Ivy rookies in scoring (9.2 ppg) and rebounding (5.3 rpg).

This week’s honor roll consists of Brown’s Matt Mullery, Columbia’s Noruwa Agho, Cornell’s Louis Dale, Dartmouth’s David Rufful, Harvard’s Jeremy Lin, Penn’s Justin Reilly, and Yale’s Alexander Zampier.

Read the release from IvyLeagueSports.com.

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Yale’s Alex Zampier receives his second Ivy League Player of the Week honor:

After falling to Brown last Friday, Yale desperately needed a win, and senior guard Alex Zampier (East Greenbush, N.Y.) played a big role in helping to deliver it. He scored a game-high 22 points as the Bulldogs knocked off Brown 71-63 to even their Ivy record at 1-1. Nine of Zampier’s points came in the final 10 minutes of the game as Yale held off a Brown comeback. He was 7-of-15 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. In addition, he had three assists and four steals in 32 minutes. Zampier currently leads the Ivies in scoring at 18.6 points per game.

Harvard’s Kyle Casey picks up his second Rookie of the Week honor:

Harvard freshman forward Kyle Casey (Medway, Mass.) turned in a clutch performance in the Crimson’s tough road win at Dartmouth with 19 points and 10 rebounds to log Harvard’s first double-double of the season. Casey currently leads all Ivy freshman in scoring with an average of 9.7 points per game.

The Honor Roll consists of Brown’s Garrett Leffelman, Columbia’s Niko Scott, Cornell’s Louis Dale,  Dartmouth’s Robby Pride, Harvard’s Jeremy Lin, Penn’s Zack Rosen, Princeton’s Douglas Davis, and Yale’s Greg Magnano.

The full release can be seen here.

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The Boston Herald: Frosh Kyle Casey makes grade at Harvard

Three years ago, Kyle Casey didn’t picture himself at Harvard. As a junior at Brimmer & May School in Chestnut Hill, Casey went to a Crimson game with his coach, Greg Kristof, and came away unimpressed.

“I didn’t think I would end up at Harvard,” Casey said. “To be honest, I wasn’t even too happy the first time I saw them play. I talked to my high school coach, and it wasn’t a pleasant conversation to say the least. But I gave it a chance.”… (Full article)

NESN.com: Jeremy Lin Has Harvard Atop Massachusetts Basketball

How did a team that finished in sixth place in the Ivy League last season climb to the top of the Massachusetts ladder? Well, for one, BC had a big drop off this year with the departure of Tyrese Rice. Second, head coach Tommy Amaker is in his third year at the helm and has to be given some credit for the turnaround. But the biggest reason for Harvard’s success is the play of senior point guard Jeremy Lin. After all, even a great coach will not win many games without talent.

In his four years at Harvard, Lin has developed into a great player, and over the past two seasons, Lin has been a beast. This year he is averaging 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals per game, and his play has not gone unnoticed. This past week, Lin was named one of 31 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award — the most prominent college basketball player of the year award.

Coach Amaker also deserves credit for the play of the Crimson, since the team mostly consists of inexperienced underclassmen. Of the top five scorers, Lin is the only upperclassman. (Full story)

The China Post:  Jeremy Lin draws raves for U.S. College basketball play

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Most sports fans would think it a joke if they were told that a Taiwanese American basketball player has led his college team to its best start in school history and become one of the most talked-about players in United States college basketball circles.

But it’s no joke… (Full article)

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The Middletown Press, Middletown CT, on discussing UConn’s woes:

All four of their losses have come by single-digit margins, three of them by three points or less.  Most of their 11 victories haven’t been decided until the final few minutes, even against such lesser foes as Hofstra, Central Florida and Harvard.

The Washington Post D. C. Sports blog takes a dig at George Washington:

The George Washington University: The school for students and basketball players not good enough for Harvard. (Max Wasserman)

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Katz wonders how good Harvard is if Seattle, whom Harvard defeated handily last week, can absolutely demolish Craig Robinson’s Oregon State team:

The score of the night wasn’t in Lawrence but in Corvallis, Ore. Seattle, under first-year coach Cameron Dollar, shocked Oregon State 99-48. But NBA flavor of the month Charles Garcia wasn’t even a major factor. He had four fouls and scored just 10 points in 15 minutes. How good is Harvard? The Crimson beat Seattle 92-71 last week. The WCC would be wise to look at expansion with Seattle. Gonzaga may not like the idea, but the Redhawks are looking like a good fit again within Division I.

The Boston Herald ran a short story today about Harvard’s Kyle Casey:

Jeremy Lin has been the story during Harvard’s 11-3 start — literally. Lin has been worthy of the attention, but the main reason for the Crimson’s turnaround has been a bolstered supporting cast.

Recently, Kyle Casey has begun to emerge as a legitimate No. 2 option. In fact, Casey was the No. 1 option in Harvard’s 74-66 win at Santa Clara on Monday night. The freshman forward had a career-high 27 points and matched a career-best with eight rebounds.

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The Harvard Crimson covers last night’s Harvard win over Santa Clara:

While some might call it ironic, it could just be a sign of things to come. On an evening when the main event was meant to be the homecoming of Harvard superstar Jeremy Lin, it was a freshman who stole the spotlight.

Rookie Kyle Casey had a career-high 27 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds, leading the Crimson (11-3) to a 74-66 victory over Santa Clara (8-9) at the Leavey Center Monday night.

The versatile forward went a perfect six-of-six from the floor, including a couple of three-pointers. He did even more damage from the foul line, where Casey knocked down 13 free throws.

Fellow freshmen Christian Webster and Dee Giger were the Crimson’s only other double-digit scorers, adding 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Lin was no slouch, despite collecting only six points on a relatively quite offensive night. Faced with a defense focused on keeping him from scoring, the co-captain directed his efforts towards creating chances for teammates. Lin had a game-high nine assists, many coming off dribble drive penetration.

Read the full article here.

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Harvard's Jeremy Lin

The San Jose Mercury News described the array of Asian-Americans who came to support Jeremy Lin at last night’s Santa Clara game (or who came simply to see what all the fuss was about):

Jeremy Lin didn’t want to think about all the fans who had crammed into the sold-out Leavey Center on Monday night.

But his Harvard teammates let him know anyway.

“They said it looks like Hong Kong,” Lin said after Harvard defeated Santa Clara 74-66 in front of 4,700.

Former Stanford star Anthony Goods sounded like a lot of Bay Area fans on hand:

“I’m here for the Jeremy Lin Show,” he said.

As much as he finds it embarrassing, Lin has become a show for the Asian-American community. Family and friends lingered after the game to hug and greet him.

“I’ve never had a game with more support than this,” said Lin, who started the day averaging 18.3 points per game.

Many, like parents Shirley and Gie-Ming Lin, wore black T-shirts with the words “We Believe” on the front and the “Jeremy Lin Show” on the back.

Franklin Yee of San Francisco doesn’t normally go to basketball games, particularly in the South Bay.

Yee’s friend Tiger Wong got the word from his dentist.

Read the rest of the story here. Also read a recap of the game and watch video interviews from Jeremy Lin, Kyle Casey, and Tommy Amaker at GoCrimson.com.

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Cornell’s Ryan Wittman is this week’s sole Ivy League player of the week:

Cornell senior forward Ryan Wittman (Eden Prairie, Minn.) became the school’s all-time scoring leader during a 3-0 week … He opened the week with a career-high 34 points, including 23 in the decisive second half, to lift a Cornell team missing two senior starters to a 71-66 victory at La Salle. He became the school’s all-time leading scorer by hitting an array of big shots and connecting on all six of his free throws in the final 30 seconds to claim the win.

Harvard freshman Kyle Casey is this week’s Ivy League rookie of the week, a second ROW for Harvard:

Harvard freshman forward Kyle Casey (Medway, Mass.) recorded career-highs in consecutive games against George Washington and Seattle with 15 and 19 points, respectively, off the bench. Against GW, Casey was 11-for-13 from the free throw line; against Seattle he was 7-for-10 from the floor.

This week’s lengthy honor roll includes Brown’s Matt Mullery, Columbia’s Brian Grimes, Dartmouth’s Matt LaBove,  Harvard’s Jeremy Lin, Penn’s Zack Rosen, Princeton’s Dan Mavraides, and Yale’s Alex Zampier.

Read the full release at ivyleaguesports.com.

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