Harvard (13-14) At Yale (13-14)
GAME NOTES: A couple of teams with identical overall records take to the hardwood tonight in an Ivy League battle as the Yale Bulldogs host the Harvard Crimson in the regular-season finale for both programs. Last night the Bulldogs hosted the Dartmouth Big Green and dropped a 74-62 win on the visitors, marking the fourth victory in the last five games for Yale. The win also moved the team to 8-5 in league play and within a game of .500 on the season overall at 13-14. As for the Crimson, their three-game win streak came to a crashing halt less than 24 hours ago when the Brown Bears logged a 61-59 victory in Providence at the buzzer. While Harvard is also 13-14 on the season, the squad is just 5-8 in league competition. In terms of the all-time series between these teams, the Bulldogs lead by a count of 113-65 after taking an 87-66 win in the first meeting of the season back on February 6 on the road.
Harvard was in good shape after 20 minutes of play last night, leading by seven points over Brown, but then the Crimson fell apart and made just eight total field goals in the second half of the two-point loss. Drew Housman accounted for 12 points, Andrew Pusar 11 and Keith Wright and Jeremy Lin 10 points apiece, the latter adding nine rebounds and five assists to pace the team in those two categories. On a team that is scoring 67.4 ppg this season, Lin appears as the lone double-digit scorer with his 17.7 ppg, shooting not only 50 percent from the field, but also 41.1 percent behind the three-point line. Add in 5.5 rpg, along with 118 assists and 66 steals are it is hard to find a better all-around performer in the Ivy League this season.
Limiting the Big Green to a minor seven field goals in the first half last night, Yale put itself in position to easily pick up the double-digit win at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Travis Pinick was responsible for a game-high 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field, while Ross Morin eclipsed the 1,000- point mark for his career by sinking all 10 of his free-throw attempts, en route to 19 points. Alex Zampier responded with 10 points and six rebounds for the victors as well. Morin leads the team this season in both scoring and rebounding with averages of 13.4 points and 5.9 boards per game, while Zampier and Pinick account for 13.4 and 10.5 ppg, respectively. Yale has had a hard time shooting the ball behind the three-point line at just 29.4 percent, leaving the group trailing the opposition in the scoring department by a scant 0.1 ppg.
Playing on the road on back-to-back nights is tough enough, but to do so after an emotional loss is even worse, which is why Harvard will more than likely bow in tonight's meeting with the Bulldogs.
Predicted OutcomeYale 64, Harvard 58Copyright 2009 Courtesy of The Sports Network.
