23rd
ranked Harvard put its share of the Ivy League lead on the line when they host
Cornell at Lavietes Pavilion. Game time is 7:00 PM ET.
The NCAA basketball odds makers opened with the
Crimson favored by -16.5 points and the total at 122.5.
Harvard is riding a 23-game win streak at home and
the fourth longest current streak in the NCAA. Kentucky is enjoying the longest
current run with 47 straight home wins.
The Crimson is off to the best start of an Ivy
League school since Princeton in 1997-98 (19-1) and their 18-2 record (9-6 ATS) is also the best for the program since going
19-1 to begin the 1945-46 campaign. With a win tonight, they would tie the
1980-81 squad for the best conference start in program history (5-0).
The Big Red (7-11 SU,
5-5 ATS) is still looking for its first road win this year
(0-9, 3-5 ATS). In their last outing on Saturday, Cornell improved to 2-2 in
conference play beating Columbia 65-60 Jan. 28. Chris Wroblewski paced the
winners with 19 points, draining four treys, while Jonathan Gray (14 points)
and Shonn Miller (10 points) also reached double figures in scoring. Cornell
held Columbia to 18.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc (4-of-22), while
making nine triples of its own (9-of-26, .346).
Harvard beat Brown 68-59 on Saturday behind Kyle
Casey’s 20-point effort.
Over the last two seasons, the Crimson boasts a 16-3
(.842) against Ivy League opponents. During that stretch, they’re 8-2 (.800)
against Ancient Eight opponents on the road and 8-0 at home (1.000). This
season, they’re 4-0 in conference games, having swept Dartmouth and defeated
Yale and Brown in road contests.
Doing
it with defense
There’s no great mystery as to how the Crimson has
reached the top of the Ivy League—they’ve done it with defense. They rank third
in the country in scoring defense (53.4 ppg) and are even tougher in conference
play (44.8 ppg). Harvard has only allowed more than 60 points in six
of 20 games this year and has held opponents to less than 60 points in four
straight contests. They surrendered only 38 points in a win at
Dartmouth Jan. 21, and followed by allowing only 35 points in a victory at Yale
Jan. 27. The 35 points was the least allowed by a Harvard team since a 41-35
win at Dartmouth Jan. 11, 1992.
Series
History
Harvard holds a 90-70 advantage in the all-time
series against Cornell since the team’s first met in 1901-02 and has taken the
last two series meetings.
Amaker
Factor
Head coach Tommy Amaker brings a 260-192 (.575)
career head coaching record into today's game, including an 84-53 (.613) mark
at Harvard, a 108-84 (.563) record at Michigan and a 68-55 (.553) ledger at
Seton Hall.
Trends
The Crimson is 4-0 SU (2-2 ATS) in the conference
and is 11-4 to the ‘under’ including 3-1 in league play. The ‘under’ is 7-2-1
for Cornell this year.
Harvard has won six games by 20 or more points this
season, having downed MIT, Utah, Boston University, Boston College, George
Washington and Yale. Under Amaker, Harvard has won 23 games by 20 or more
points.
What kind of a chance does The Big Red have of
pulling off the upset? In its last 66 games against Top 25 opponents, Cornell
has five victories.
Harvey’s Take: Granted Harvard play’s in a weak conference but there’s a
lot to like about this team. I’m not the least bit reluctant to lay the lumber
but the bigger of my NCAA basketball picks tonight is on the ‘under’.
Good luck!