Seven of the eight Ivies are in action on Saturday, and something different is at stake in each game. From an important battle between one-loss teams to the second leg of a travel partner rivalry between first-division contenders, there are games that will impact the Ivy standings. Add in an early Senior Night for one of the league’s top players and an important non-league game against a city rival, and you have a very interesting day of hoops.

Columbia (10-7 1-2 Ivy) at Cornell (9-8, 2-1 Ivy) – 3:00 pm ET
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After Cornell claimed last week’s game in Manhattan, the return game in Ithaca is a must-win for Lions, who can’t afford to fall to 1-3 in the league. Coming off two of its worst offensive performances of the season, Columbia needs to find a way to get its offense untracked, and that starts inside. Joe Jones needs Ben Nwachukwu to assert himself after the junior center was invisible in last Saturday’s loss. The Big Red has won three of the last four meetings between the two teams at Newman Arena, and a win today would keep it one game behind Penn in the loss column.

The Big Red had an uncharacteristically poor three-point shooting game last week, hitting just 2 of 16 from the outside. While Columbia has done a great job of defending the arc this season, that’s going to be tough to replicate against a good perimeter shooting team like the Cornell. The Lions were the top rebounding team in the league and the Big Red was near the bottom of the league in that department, but Steve Donahue’s squad dominated on the glass. Fans in attendance will be hoping for a much cleaner game this week, after the Levien faithful had to sit through a combined 34 turnovers on 114 possessions — nearly a 30-percent turnover rate.
Pomeroy says: Columbia 59, Cornell 64

Yale (6-10, 2-1 Ivy) at Dartmouth (7-9, 2-1 Ivy) – 7:00 pm ET
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Neither team played particularly well on Friday night, but each had enough to pull out wins and set up a meeting between 2-1 teams. Depending on what happens in the afternoon game, the winner might be one of only two teams with fewer than two losses. Dartmouth has to be hoping it’s back on track after a pair of disappointing efforts in its last two games, while Yale needs to sweep the Harvard-Dartmouth road trip for the first time in four years.

Both teams have turned it around after rough starts and are playing solid defense. Aggressive play at the defensive end has led to a lot of fouls and a parade to the free throw line by opponents, so this game could take a while to complete. However, the Bulldogs have done most of their fouling when the ball has gone inside, and the Big Green doesn’t have much in the way of an inside presence. Yale has been dominant on the defensive glass this season, and Dartmouth is weak on the offensive boards, so don’t expect a 10-point advantage in second-chance points like what the Big Green enjoyed last night. Turnovers have been a problem for the Bulldogs, while Dartmouth has taken good care of the ball, so Yale will need to limit the mistakes.
Pomeroy says: Yale 66, Dartmouth 61

Brown (6-12, 1-2 Ivy) at Harvard (8-9, 1-2 Ivy) – 7:00 pm ET
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Brian Cusworth’s Harvard career comes to an end tonight, and the school will honor him with a rare Senior Night in January. The big man looked focused and played like a man possessed last night, so Brown draws the unlucky assignment of catching him in his farewell. These look to be the two weakest teams this year in a strong Ivy League, and both have struggled of late, dropping five of six, so whoever loses this game isn’t going to be feeling very good about itself.

Brown is very weak and thin inside, which is bad news when you’re going up against a player like Cusworth and a team like Harvard that looks to draw fouls and get to the line. The Bears look to do the same offensively, but Harvard fouls at a very low frequency, so it’s going to be tough for Brown to follow Yale’s success at getting to the stripe last night. The one thing working in the three-reliant Bears is the Crimson’s shortcomings at defending the three-point arc. Watch for a scoring duel between Mark McAndrew and Cusworth, and whoever gets more help from his supporting cast figures to leave Lavietes Pavilion happy.
Pomeroy says: Brown 67, Harvard 72

Penn (11-6, 2-0 Ivy) vs. Saint Joseph’s (11-7) – 7:00 pm ET
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Penn will be looking to earn a tie for the best record in games amongst Philadelphia teams when it takes on Saint Joseph’s tonight as the visiting team at The Palestra. However, even with a win the Quakers would have to wait to see if someone can knock off Villanova to give Penn a share of the Big 5 title. After two high-energy City Series thrillers, it may be tough for Glen Miller to keep his team’s energy level up for its non-league finale.

The Hawk offense has been on fire of late, registering offensive efficiencies of over 1.22 points per possession in five of the last six games. That’s going to be a challenge for a Quaker defense that has had all sorts of problems slowing down opponents outside the mid-major category. Penn will need to find a way to contain the much taller Saint Joseph’s frontcourt of 6-9 Ahmad Nivins (17.1 points per game), 6-10 Pat Calathes (13.3 points per game), and 6-8 Rob Ferguson (12.2 points per game). Both teams are much better offensive rebounding teams than they are defensive rebounders, so there could be a lot of second-chance points.
Pomeroy says: Penn 71, Saint Joseph’s 70