The Harvard Crimson will be at Newman Arena at The Fieldhouse to take on the Cornell Big Red in an Ivy League matchup. The game gets underway at 6:00 pm ET on Saturday, Feb. 20 and will air on ES3.
The Big Red lost to Dartmouth 78-66 on Friday. Darryl Smith finished with 22 points to lead the team. The Crimson, meanwhile, are coming off a 90-76 loss to Columbia on Friday. Agunwa Okolie had a team-high 20 points.
This game should be a battle of contrasting styles. The Big Red (ranked 20th in the nation in possessions per game) prefer a fast-breaking style of play, while the Crimson (297th) are more half-court oriented.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Big Red won the first game 77-65. Matt Morgan was a standout player in the game, producing 33 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals, and five three-pointers.
The Big Red look to improve upon their records of 9-14 Straight Up (SU) and 6-10 Against The Spread (ATS). They have struggled ATS recently, going 0-8. Cornell has averaged 64.0 points per game over the last 10 games, lower than its season average of 71.8. The Cornell defense is doing better against opposing offenses during the last 10 games. It is allowing an average of 69.3 points per game, well under their season average of 78.5. The Big Red are the 38th-best team in the country at taking the ball away from their opponents, averaging 7.8 steals per game.
Across the court, Harvard has a SU record of 10-15 and an ATS record of 5-13. Harvard is one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation, hitting .392 of their shots from three-point range. The last 10 games have really brought the worst out of the Crimson on the defensive end. They allowed 79.6 points per game during that span, which is higher than their season average of 66.9. Teams don’t seem to hit many three-pointers against the Crimson, who are 36th in the country in terms of three-point field goals allowed at 152 this season. They average 4.9 blocks per game, good for 40th in the nation.
Following the Big Red’s latest win over Harvard, Cornell is still behind in the head-to-head record over their most recent meetings, 2-8 SU. The Big Red hold the advantage ATS with a record of 6-4. Harvard held the edge in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers three times in the last five game, while Cornell wasn’t able to do so in that span.
Predictions: SU Winner – Harv, ATS Winner – Harv
Notes
“Cornell is 0-4-1 SU in its last 5 games “.
“Cornell is 0-4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home”.
“Cornell is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Harvard”.
“Cornell is 2-9 SU in its last 11 games when playing Harvard”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Cornell’s last 7 games when playing Harvard”.
“Cornell is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing at home against Harvard”.
“Cornell is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Harvard”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Cornell’s last 6 games when playing at home against Harvard”.
Cornell scores an average of just 71.8 points per game (ranked 167th). Harvard ranks 56th in points allowed, giving up 66.9 points per game.
The Harvard Crimson have a defensive rating of 99.7 (ranked 97th), while the Cornell Big Red have an offensive rating of 97.1 (ranked 312th).
Cornell has an average field goal percentage of 41.6%. Harvard is a poor 3-8 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Cornell Big Red and the Harvard Crimson both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. Cornell is 291st and 247th in the nation for FG% and eFG% respectively, while Harvard is 163rd and 127th in these categories.
Harvard ranks 67th in assists, recording 15.2 per game. Cornell performs worse at 328th with 10.8 assists per game.
On average, Cornell makes 7.8 steals per game. Harvard is a poor 4-10 when it gives up at least 7 steals.
