Ivy League basketball tournament preview: Penn goes for the crown

Harvard and Penn split this season and are favored to meet in the final.

Ryan Betley of Penn after a 3-point shot against Temple during the 1st half at the Palestra on Jan 20, 2018.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

by Marc Narducci | Columnist

Published Mar. 9, 2018, 5:28 p.m. ET

Ivy League Tournament

Saturday and Sunday, the Palestra.

Schedule (seeding in parenthesis)

Saturday semifinals

(4) Cornell (12-15, 6-8 Ivy League) vs. Harvard (17-12, 12-2), 12:30 p.m., ESPNU

(3) Yale (16-14, 9-5) vs. (2) Penn (22-8, 12-2), 3 p.m. ESPN2

Sunday championship, noon ESPN2.

Players to watch

Seth Towns, Harvard, F, So., 15.8 ppg., 5.4 rpg.

Chris Lewis, Harvard, F, So., 12.7 ppg., 5.5 rpg., 1.6 bpg.

Ryan Betley, Penn, G, So., 14.7 ppg., 5.0 rpg. 39.5 three-point percentage.

AJ Brodeur, Penn, F., So., 12.6 ppg., 6.9 rpg., 1.3 bpg.

Darnell Foreman, Penn, G, Sr., 10.4 ppg., 3.6 apg.

Miye Oni, Yale, G, So., 15.5 ppg., 6.1 rpg., 3.7 apg.

Alex Copeland, Yale, G, Jr., 11.4 ppg., 2.7 apg.

Blake Reynolds, Yale, F, Jr., 10.7 ppg., 5.5 rpg.

Matt Morgan, Cornell, G, Jr., 22.6 ppg., 4.7 rpg., 3.2 apg.

Stone Gettings, Cornell, F, Jr., 17.0 ppg., 6.7 rpg.

Insights

This is the second season of the Ivy League playoff. Princeton defeated Yale, 71-59, in last year's championship. … Harvard earned a share of its sixth Ivy League title in the regular season, while Penn took home a share of its 26^th regular-season championship. … In wins over Cornell and Columbia last weekend, Harvard scored at least 90 points in back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 11-16, 2007. … Harvard had two close wins this season in its games with Cornell, winning 76-73 on the road and 98-88 in double overtime last week. … Sophomore guard Bryce Aiken, Harvard's second-leading scorer (14.1 ppg.), has not played in the last nine games due to a knee injury. … Yale and Penn split their two games with Penn winning, 59-50, at the Palestra and losing last weekend, 80-79, on the road. … Penn is 15-0 when taking more free throws than its opponent. … Yale has won seven of its last eight games and was 9-5 in the Ivy League for the second straight year. … Cornell is coached by Brian Earl, the former standout at Shawnee High and Princeton. … The Big Red shot .633 from the floor in their season-ending 86-75 win at Dartmouth that clinched the No. 4 seed. … Cornell's Matt Morgan, the Ivy League's leading scorer, has totaled scored 611 points this season, the highest single-season total in school history. … The Big Red was tied with Penn for second in scoring in the Ivy League (76.6 ppg.), with Brown (77.0 ppg.) the leader.