Following two days off for the New Year’s holiday, Ivy teams take the court tonight for the first time this calendar year. The Ivy League has rallied to take a 9-8 lead in head-to-head games against the Patriot League, and can take the season series with a sweep of tonight’s early interleague games. For the night owls, Brown will look to keep playing well when it takes on a very beatable foe out on the West Coast.
Columbia (7-5) at Lehigh (5-10) – 7:00 pm ET – Columbia audio | WKCR audio (free) | Lehigh audio
On a neutral court, Columbia would be a decent favorite against Lehigh. But the Lions have struggled as the visiting team this year (1-4), while the Mountain Hawks have been a different team at Stabler Arena, winning all five home contests on the season — including a 19-point victory over Cornell. Lehigh is struggling defensively, allowing 1.07 points per possession due in large part to a lot of fouling and a poor job of defending the three-point arc. Columbia will look to exploit those deficiencies while trying to keep the hosts off the boards, as the Mountain Hawks have proven to be a strong offensive rebounding team. Neither team forces many turnovers, but both have been bothered by turnover problems offensively, so it will be interesting to see who does a better job avoiding unforced errors. With beefy Lehigh big man Jason Mgebroff out with a hairline fracture in his leg, Columbia’s standout frontcourt tandem should have more room to operate in the post. However, they might struggle against the athleticism of Mountain Hawk freshman Zahir Carrington and Phil Anderson’s face-up game.
Pomeroy says: Columbia 63, Lehigh 65
Army (10-4) at Dartmouth (4-7) – 7:00 pm ET – Live Stats | Internet video | Dartmouth audio
Army has been one of the biggest surprises in college basketball this year, running out to a 10-4 mark after going 19-87 the previous four seasons. Dartmouth has undergone its own turnaround, though the Big Green’s resurgence came seven games into the season when Leon Pattman came back from injury. Since the star guard’s return, Dartmouth is 4-1 and playing very decent basketball. Tonight, the Blank Knights will look to slow things down, while the Big Green has been playing at more of a moderate tempo. Army has done it with defense, allowing just 0.94 points per possession, and its only noticeably defensive shortcoming is a penchant for fouling. Turnovers have been a big problem for the Black Knights offensively, however, so Terry Dunn’s crew will look to create some turnovers while holding Jarell Brown (17.5 points per game, 42.7 percent from three-point range) and Matt Bell (15.6 points per game, 55.8 percent from three) in check. Army lost at home to Cornell by nine before winning by eight at Brown back in November.
Pomeroy says: Army 58, Dartmouth 49
Brown (5-8) at UC Davis (1-10) – 10:00 pm ET – Gametracker | Internet video | Brown audio | UC Davis audio (free)
Unless the Bears are fatigued from the cross-country travel and the two-game tournament they just played in Corpus Christi, this is a game Brown should take. UC Davis is just 1-10 on the season, and since some close losses early, most of those defeats have been of the lopsided variety. With the Bears’ prowess at drawing fouls and getting to the line, the Aggies are going to need to do a much better job of avoiding fouls at the defensive end than they have to this point in the season. UC Davis also is going to need to defend the three-point arc much better than the 38.6 percent it has allowed opponents to shoot from the outside on the season. Brown can be susceptible to big teams who rebound well, but the Aggies don’t appear to be one of those teams. UC Davis faced Columbia in Durham back in mid-November and dropped a 95-90 decision to the Lions.
Pomeroy says: Brown 72, UC Davis 67
