PRINCETON, N.J. – Princeton claimed the outright Ivy League men’s basketball title Saturday evening. The Tigers have now earned three consecutive Ivy titles for the first time since 1996-98.
Princeton finished the regular season with an overall record of 24-3, giving it the sixth best winning percentage (88.9) in Division I men’s basketball.
The matchups are set for Ivy Madness with the top-seeded Tigers will clash with fourth-seeded Brown at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 16. Cornell and Yale will square off in the second semifinal with the seeds set to be determined by Sunday’s NCAA NET ranking release. Cornell and Yale split the head-to-head and shared common records against all Ivy teams.
Saturday’s slate opened with a thriller. Yale led Brown wire-to-wire until Aaron Cooley’s game-winning triple with .5 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Bears the 84-81 lead, its first of the afternoon. Nana Owusu-Anane drilled a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to even the score at 73-73 to force the extra frame. The shot represented the first tie in the game since the score was 2-2.
The Bears had 16 offensive rebounds to help them finish with 21 second chance points. Kino Lilly Jr. led Brown with 26 points, shooting 10-of-19 from the field in addition to dishing out a team-high four assists. Owusu-Anane finished with 20 points.
Five Yale players scored in double figures, led by August Mahoney’s 16 points.
Cornell exploded offensively to run past Columbia at Levien Gymnasium. The Big Red shot 55.1 percent from the field and connected on 14 3-pointers. Six different Cornell players scored double figures led Cooper Noard’s 17 points. The sophomore guard was 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Guy Ragland Jr. posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Columbia had a strong offensive showing as well, with four players reaching double digits in scoring. Zavian McLean led the Lions with 17 points.
The Tigers had a strong offensive showing in their win over Penn, connecting on 17 triples, with 12 coming in the first half. The Tigers shot 58.1 percent from the floor, 63.0 percent from 3-point range and 84.2 percent from the line.
Caden Pierce poured in a career high 32 points, shooting 11-of-17 from the field and 8-of-9 from the line. Zach Martini led the Tigers efforts from 3-points range, shooting 7-of-9 and also setting a new career high with 23 points.
Clark Slajchert closed out his Penn career with a 20-point, six-assist performance. He was 8-of-11 from the field with his only misses coming from beyond the arc.
FINAL SCORES
Brown 84, Yale 81 (OT)
Cornell 98, Columbia 76
Princeton 105, Penn 83