Two of the top teams in the league begin their quests for the Ivy title today, as Yale and Cornell give their home fans their first looks at this year’s squads. Out west, Harvard and Dartmouth will look to bounce back from lopsided defeats in their first games of their respective multi-team events.
Sacred Heart at Yale – 1pm ET
Gametracker | Yale video | Sacred Heart audio | Yale audio
The Bulldogs will be looking for a measure of revenge this afternoon after losing to Sacred Heart for the first time ever last season. The Pioneers went on to finish 18-14 (202nd in the Pomeroy Ratings) and were the regular season runners-up at 12-6 in the NEC. Despite the loss of Joey Henley to a football injury, Dave Bike’s team was picked to win the NEC in the preseason poll and should be a good early test for Yale. Interestingly, the game notes indicate James Jones will start senior twins Caleb and Nick Holmes together on the wing.
Lehigh at Cornell – 7pm ET
Live stats | Cornell video | Lehigh audio | Cornell audio
Preseason favorite Cornell also will be seeking retribution when new-look Lehigh arrives at Newman Arena tonight. The Mountain Hawks embarrassed the Big Red 90-71 in Bethlehem, but have a new coach in Brett Reed on the sidelines and graduated three key players. Last season Lehigh put up a 12-19 mark, finishing tied for third in the Patriot League at 7-7 and 252nd in the Pomeroy Ratings. Between Marquis Hall and Cornell’s excellent guards, there should be some stellar backcourt play in this one.
Harvard (0-1) vs. UC Santa Barbara (1-0) – 7:30 pm ET
Gametracker
The Tommy Amaker Era got off to a very rough start when 23rd-ranked Stanford embarrassed Harvard in both teams’ opener last night. How bad was it? The Crimson trailed 63-28 at halftime and the deficit reached as many as 57 points at one point in the second half. UC Santa Barbara enters the game under much difference circumstances, having blown out Northwestern State 92-71 in its debut. You can bet Jeremy Lin will want to impress the hometown fans after fouling out without scoring a point against the Cardinal last night.
Dartmouth (0-1) vs. VMI (0-1) – 7:30 pm ET
The Big Green struggled to put up mere 37 points against Air Force last night, but Terry Dunn’s crew should exceed that in the first half against VMI in the consolation game of the Air Force Classic. The Keydets play at a frantic pace, as evidenced by the combined 201 points scored in their opening round loss to Northern Colorado. Dartmouth needs much better performances out of Alex Barnett (eight points on just seven field goal attempts against Air Force) and DeVon Mosley (just 4 of 13 from the field in the opener). If it can handle the extreme pace, the Big Green can head back to Hanover with something to show for its Colorado trip.
