Men's Basketball

Battle of Unbeatens Highlights Saturday's Four Game Slate

PRINCETON, N.J. – Saturday's four-game Ivy League men's basketball slate is highlighted by a matchup between a pair of 3-0 teams in league play in Cornell and Princeton. The two are set to square off at 2 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y.

At 15-1, Princeton owns the top winning percentage (.938) in Division I men's basketball. Not far behind the Tigers is the Big Red, which ranks 19th with a winning percentage of .824. Both schools also rank in the top 20 of 3-pointers made per game and effective field goal percentage. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, the Big Red and Tigers have met five times. The largest margin of victory has been seven points and each of the contests have been one-possession games in the final minute of action. 

Cornell head coach Brian Earl (1995-99) and Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson (1994-98) were teammates at Princeton. Earl was an assistant coach for the Tigers from 2007-16. 
 
TIME GAME COVERAGE
2 p.m. Princeton at Cornell ESPN+ | Stats
2 p.m. Brown at Dartmouth ESPN+ | Stats
2 p.m. Penn at Columbia ESPN+ | Stats
2 p.m. Yale at Harvard ESPN+ | Stats
 
  • The Ivy League is one of 12 Division I men's basketball conferences with three or more teams in the top 100 of the NCAA NET rankings: Princeton (31), Cornell (89) and Yale (95).
  • The Ivy League ranks 12th overall in both conference NET according to WarrenNolan.com and in the KenPom conference rankings. The league has enjoyed wins over the following conferences: American, A-10, Big East, Big Ten and WCC. 
  • Four Ivies from three different schools were named to Lou Henson Award Midseason Watch List: Princeton sophomore guard Xaivian Lee, Harvard freshman guard Malik Mack, Princeton sophomore forward Caden Pierce and Yale sophomore forward Danny Wolf. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in division I college men’s basketball. The league’s four honorees was the second most of any conference. Princeton and James Madison were the only schools with two players named to the list.
  • Princeton (12-1), Cornell (11-3), Columbia (9-4), Harvard (9-4), Yale (9-6) and Penn (8-7) are 58-25 (.699) in non-conference play, with each team owning a winning percentage of .533 or better. Additionally, each of the six teams has a win over a team from last season’s NCAA Tournament field.
  • Several Ivies rank in the top 20 of KenPom stats categories: 
TOP 20 IN KENPOM
Brown G Kino Lilly Jr. Percentage of Minutes Played (6th, 93.2)
Columbia F Blair Thompson Three-Point Percentage (14th, 48.7)
Columbia G Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa Fouls Committed per 40 Minutes (4th, 0.89)
Cornell G Isaiah Gray
True Shooting Percentage (7th, 70.1)
Effective Field Goal Percentage (7th, 69.2)
Cornell G Chris Manon Steal Percentage (3rd, 6.33)
Cornell F AK Okereke Two-Point Percentage (15th, 71.8)
Dartmouth G Dusan Neskovic Percentage of Shots Taken (7th, 35.7)
Percentage of Possessions Used (12th, 32.4)
Penn F Andrew Laczkowski Two-point percentage (12th, 72.3)
Princeton G Matt Allocco Percentage of Minutes Played (14th, 90.9)
True Shooting Percentage (16th, 68.0)
Three-Point Percentage (10th, 49.1)
Princeton G Xaivian Lee Offensive Rating (3rd, 122.6)
Princeton F Zach Martini Effective Field Goal Percentage (12th, 67.5)
True Shooting Percentage (15th, 68.8)
Princeton F Caden Pierce Defensive Rebounding Percentage (10th, 28.3)