In a meeting between the two teams with the best records in the Ivy League, the Penn Quakers (11-15) travel to play the Harvard Crimson (13-16) at Lavietes Pavilion. The game starts at 7:00 pm ET on Saturday, Mar. 5.
The Crimson edged Princeton 73-71 on Friday. Patrick Steeves was the game’s high scorer with 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting. The Quakers, meanwhile, are coming off a 72-64 loss at the hands of Dartmouth on Friday. Max Rothschild had a team-high 18 points.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Quakers won the first game 67-57. Agunwa Okolie had a double-double in the defeat with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Crimson enter the game with records of 13-16 Straight Up (SU) and 8-13-1 Against The Spread (ATS). Teams routinely struggle to score points against the Crimson, who allow only 66.5 points per game. Opposing offenses have been stifled by the Crimson, who allow a field goal percentage of only .410.
On the other side, the Quakers head into the game with records of 9-9-1 ATS and 11-15 SU. Penn’s three-point defense is one of the top in the country, with opponents making only 6.0 shots from the three-point line per game.
Penn beat Harvard in their most recent meeting this season, but Harvard still leads the head-to-head record, 7-3 SU, over their most recent matchups. Additionally, Harvard leads the matchup ATS with a record of 7-3. Harvard held the edge in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers once in the last five games, while Penn wasn’t able to do so in that span.
Predictions: SU Winner – Harv, ATS Winner – Harv
Notes
Penn averages 68.6 points per game, placing the team just 213th in the nation. Harvard ranks 46th in points allowed, giving up 66.5 points per game.
The Penn Quakers have a defensive rating of 105.2 (ranked 72nd), while the Harvard Crimson have an offensive rating of 99.9 (ranked 283rd).
Penn beats Harvard in both possessions per game and points per possession. The Quakers average 68.3 possessions and 1.004 points per possession, while the Crimson average 66.5 possessions with .999 points per possession.
Harvard has an average effective field goal percentage of 50.8%. Penn is a subpar 2-8 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, Harvard attempts 19.0 three pointers and Penn attempts 23.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Harvard Crimson have a winning 8-5 record while the Penn Quakers are even at 9-9.
Harvard, the 38th-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 4.9 per game. Penn does worse, ranked 261st with 2.7.
Harvard has forced an average turnover percentage of 17.6% this season. Penn has a losing 7-11 record when its TO% is 17.6% or higher.
