Tonight’s Harvard-Yale tilt will feature the only two teams that have shown themselves to have any realistic hopes of challenging Penn in the league this season. But after Yale’s disastrous loss at Brown last weekend, the Bulldogs can’t afford to drop another early Ivy contest, particularly at home against a fellow contender. Meanwhile, outside of the series with Penn, this is likely the only league game in which Harvard won’t be favored.
Harvard-Yale a good showcase for Ivy basketball
Those who tune in to watch tonight’s game on the YES Network will see a very different style basketball from the old stereotype of slow-paced, Princeton-esque Ivy League hoops. The ancient rivals are the top two teams in the league when it comes to the tempo at which they play the game, with Harvard ranking 21st nationally in possessions per game, and Yale not far behind at 48th. Both teams have had turnover problems this year, which could lead to a lot of fast break and transition points in this one. Harvard will look to continue taking advantage of frequent trips to the free throw line, as the Crimson ranks 22nd in the nation in free throw rate and 34th in free throw shooting at 74.1 percent. Yale will need another strong performance on the defensive glass, as while the Bulldogs are ninth in Division I in defensive rebounding at 73.3 percent, Harvard is grabbing a very healthy 34.4 percent of its own misses. Yale is a two-point favorite, and the home team has won the last four meetings in this series.
Brown turnaround?
After starting out 2-8, Brown has won three of its last five, including its first home win of the season last weekend. Dartmouth enters the contest with a 2-13 mark and the only win in its last 13 games came at woeful Army. The Bear offense has been awful this season, but Dartmouth’s defense has been nearly as poor. The Big Green is among the worst in the nation at putting the opponent on the free throw line, and getting to the line happens to be the only thing Brown does well offensively. Dartmouth swept the home-and-home last season, ending Brown’s eight-game winning streak in the series. The Bears are favored by six tonight at home.
