Game of the Week
Yale (9-10, 5-1 Ivy) vs. Cornell (11-9, 4-2 Ivy) – Saturday, February 10, 7:00 pm ET
If both teams can grab wins on Friday night, this sets up an excellent showdown on Saturday at Newman Arena. As the owner of a four-game winning streak, Yale is the hottest team in the league right now. Cornell would have honor, if not for a stunning last-second defeat at Harvard last weekend. That setback, coupled with the season-opening loss to Penn, leaves the Big Red in a situation where it must win this game. Cornell still controls its own destiny, but that won’t be the case if it falls another game back in the standings this weekend. For the Bulldogs, a loss figures to drop them out of first place, assuming Penn sweeps Dartmouth and Harvard at The Palestra. This means Yale would have to pick up a game on the Quakers somewhere along the line. No matter how Saturday’s clash turns out, it’s going to do some severe damage to one team’s dreams of contending.

Line of the Week

2.3.2007 vs. Cornell TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT TP A TO BLK S MIN Harris, Evan………… 7-11 0-0 4-5 3 7 10 18 3 4 2 3 30
Impressing – Yale’s big win. James Jones insisted the poor non-league mark was the result of a tough schedule, and so far he looks to be correct. This is the first time since 2001-02 that the Bulldogs have had fewer than two Ivy losses six games into the league schedule, though this weekend will determine just how serious a contender Yale will be this year. – Alex Tyler. The 6-7 forward became the third Cornell freshman to claim an Ivy League Rookie of the Week award this season after an ultra-efficient weekend in which he averaged 14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in just 17.5 minutes. Tyler is the latest example of why those around the program were so excited about this freshman class. – Columbia finds its offense. The Lions are a much better offensive team than what they had shown during their recent three-game losing streak. It looked like Columbia was trying to make up that scoring slump in one half at Harvard on Friday, putting up 53 points in 20 minutes after failing to reach the 52-point mark in any of its previous three losses. – Mark McAndrew carrying Brown. After helping keep things respectable against Penn, the junior guard singlehandedly put away Princeton with a personal 9-0 run on three three-pointers. McAndrew got off to a quiet start this season, but he has scored in double figures in 15 straight games, averaging 18.5 points per game over that span. – Harvard’s dramatic turnaround. The Crimson was blown off its home court by Columbia, leading to a postgame team meeting and late-night film session on Friday night. Whatever Frank Sullivan and his staff did seemed to work wonders, as Harvard came out the next night and looked like a completely different team in its shocking upset of Cornell.		Distressing – Line unkind to Penn. In a game where Yale essentially played them dead even, the Quakers shot themselves in the foot on Saturday with the horrendous showing at the line. When a team goes 10 of 21 from three with the other team playing defense and just 8 of 21 while unguarded at the free throw line during stoppages, something is really wrong. – Dartmouth back on the schneid. Everything seemed to be falling into place for a nice Ivy campaign for the Big Green, but after winning its Ivy opener for its sixth victory in seven games, Terry Dunn’s squad has regressed. Suddenly, Dartmouth has lost five of six, with the defense allowing more than 1.10 points per possession in four of those defeats. – Tigers lose their roar. There have been historic low points during each of Joe Scott’s three seasons at the helm of his alma mater, but losing the first four league games might be the nadir. The famed Princeton offense is completely broken right now, and the formerly impressive defense is getting absolutely shredded, with the exception of the Yale game. – Ibby Jaaber’s deference. The reigning Player of the Year had a better weekend than his team, averaging 13.0 points on 8-for-15 shooting, 7.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and just 1.5 turnovers. As unselfish as his play has been, a player of Jaaber’s ability should look to take over a game more when his teammates are struggling, as was the case on Saturday. – Young Big Red’s lost opportunity. While Harvard was a much-improved team on Saturday, Cornell didn’t help itself by coming out completely flat, trailing 41-27 at one point early in the second half. When a furious comeback eventually wasn’t enough, the Big Red cost itself a chance to pick up a game in the league and absorbed a very costly loss.