Harvard’s chances of winning that elusive first Ivy title took a dent last night when the Crimson went down to Yale in New Haven. A little bit east on I-95, Brown and Dartmouth played for 50 minutes before the Bears escaped with the win. Now Saturday sees seven Ivy teams in action, including an elimination game in Providence and Penn’s final non-league game of the regular season.

Yale back on track?
In a game that felt very similar to Yale’s emphatic win over Penn last season at Lee Amphitheater, the Bulldogs easily downed a Harvard team that came in as the consensus number two team in the league. It was Harvard’s first Ivy loss of the season and first defeat in eight games with Brian Cusworth healthy, and the Crimson certainly earned it. Yale pressured Harvard full court from the opening tip and the Crimson never seemed to get comfortable on offense or defense. Like Penn last season, Harvard lost its composure during a key stretch in the second half. The Lee Amphitheater crowd played a role in this, causing Frank Sullivan to try to take his team into a nearby hallway for a timeout at one point. Harvard attempted a late comeback, but didn’t have enough in the tank, and Yale improved to 23-7 at The Church in the Ivy League the last five seasons — the second best home mark in the league during that span. Now the Bulldogs need to avoid a letdown like they suffered last year after their big win.

Brown on a mini-roll
The Bears needed double overtime, but won consecutive games for the first time since last January. It was also Brown’s fourth win in its last six games. Kennan Jeppesen built on a strong all-around game against Yale last weekend with a 25-point explosion against the Big Green. In this blog yesterday we pointed to free throw attempts as the key stat in this one, and that turned out to be the case, with Brown owning a 35-16 edge in free throws attempted.

Saturday’s theme: finishing
Cornell and Columbia finish off their home-and-home in New York in the afternoon, with the Lions looking to complete the sweep. Penn plays its final Big 5 and non-league game against Saint Joseph’s at The Palestra. Yale looks to finish off a big weekend at home against a Dartmouth team it should handle relatively easily. And the loser of Harvard-Brown will be finished in terms of the Ivy League race.