The gap between the top and bottom of the league proved to be a less pronounced than previously thought — to the point the lines might even have to be re-drawn after a surprising result in Philadelphia on Saturday. All eight games featured tougher-than-expected tests for the road favorites, but it was a shocker that failed to materialize on Friday night in Boston that was the biggest news.
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| 1. | Cornell (16-5, 8-0 Ivy) | 1 | It was looking like a case of déjà vu at Lavietes Pavilion on Friday, but this time Steve Donahue was in fine spirits in the gym afterward instead of dealing with defeat on the bus, thanks to a late meltdown by Harvard. With five of its seven league road games out of the way and its closest competition two games back, Cornell has a shot to all but wrap up the league on Saturday against Brown. |
| 2. | Brown (14-8, 6-2 Ivy) | 2 | It was a far cry from the laughers of the previous week, but Brown dug deep and gutted out a pair of tough wins to sweep the Penn-Princeton road trip, despite playing far from its best basketball. Another difficult weekend on the bus awaits, as the Bears’ season will come down to the re-match with Cornell on Saturday in Ithaca, provided they can take care of business in the city the night before. |
| 3. | Columbia (12-12, 5-3 Ivy) | 3 | Though their chances of catching Cornell without any head-to-head games left against the Big Red are pretty much nil, the Lions looked like they had plenty to play for this weekend. Columbia rallied to defeat Dartmouth on Friday, then played a nearly flawless second half at Harvard to win its fourth straight and give the team’s numerous seniors a great shot at their first winning season in the league. |
| 4. | Penn (9-15, 4-3 Ivy) | 6 | After slogging through a non-league campaign that saw the Quakers looking like the weak link in the Ivy League, Glen Miller’s youngsters have turned in solid performances in their past four games. The biggest difference has been the improvement three-point shooting, with formerly woefully shooting Penn knocking down its threes at a 37.9-percent clip ever since the poor performance at Columbia. |
| 5. | Yale (10-12, 4-4 Ivy) | 4 | The late game-changing run at Princeton the previous night put Yale in prime position to get back to .500 overall and keep its title hopes hanging by a thread with a win at Penn. However, James Jones left The Palestra disappointed yet again after his veteran club gave up a backbreaking 23-1 run to Penn’s kiddie corps, resulting in another early departure for the Bulldogs from the Ivy title chase. |
| 6. | Princeton (5-17, 2-5 Ivy) | 5 | The Tigers were outscored 22-6 by Yale over the final 7:14 on Friday night and 20-10 by Brown in the final 7:22 of regulation the next night, squandering leads and ultimately losing both contests. As in the non-league portion of the season, Princeton generally is playing other teams tough, but five straight losses raise the prospect of another prolonged losing streak, just like outside the league. |
| 7. | Harvard (6-18, 1-7 Ivy) | 7 | For unexplained reasons and no matter who is patrolling the sidelines, the Crimson’s endgame has been a fatal flaw for years — and the problem cropped up again on Friday, resulting in a heartbreaking loss to Cornell. At halftime the next night, it looked like Harvard was on its way to bouncing back, but a poor second half against Columbia sent Tommy Amaker & Co. to a seventh-straight loss. |
| 8. | Dartmouth (8-14, 1-7 Ivy) | 8 | Returning to the comfort of Leede Arena did have a noticeable effect on Dartmouth’s performance this week, as the Big Green held its own with both Columbia and Cornell. What made Saturday night’s performance against the Big Red even more impressive was the fact Terry Dunn was without the league’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder with Alex Barnett on the bench in street clothes. |
