Yale looks to continue its recent Ivy League tournament dominance when the Bulldogs face Penn in Sunday’s Ivy League championship game at Cornell.
The top-seeded Bulldogs have won two consecutive tournaments and four of the past five.
Yale (24-5) advanced to the championship with Saturday’s 88-76 semifinal win over host Cornell. Isaac Celiscar, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, scored a career-high 27 points for the winning Bulldogs. Trevor Mullin, a 6-foot-1 junior, added 21 points, hitting 8-of-16 from the field. Yale 6-foot-7 senior Nick Townsend, the Ivy League Player of the Year, scored 15 points.
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Penn (17-11) advanced with a 62-60 overtime win over No. 2 seed Harvard. AJ Levine, a 6-foot sophomore, broke the 60-60 tie on a driving layup with 6.1 seconds left in the extra period. Harvard then missed a three-pointer to ensure the Quakers’ victory.
Penn is the Ivy League leader in turnover margin, and that was another key to the victory as the Quakers committed eight but forced 17.
The Quakers have now won four in a row.
Penn used a balanced attack against Harvard, with four players scoring between nine and 16 points. TJ Power, a 6-foot-9 junior and first-team All-Ivy selection, had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead Penn in both categories. What made the win more impressive is that Penn played without senior swingman Ethan Roberts, a second-team all-Ivy choice and the Quakers’ leading scorer at 16.9 points per game. Roberts missed the game with a concussion and won’t be available for the championship.
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Yale vs. Penn Odds
As of this writing, Yale is a 9.5-point college basketball betting favorite over Penn on BetMGM.
The Over/Under is 142.5.
Yale vs. Penn On TV
Tipoff is expected shortly after noon ET.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Yale vs. Penn Prediction
Even though it’s a big number, I like Yale to cover. Since the Ivy League tournament only consists of four teams, neither Penn nor Yale has an advantage rest-wise. This is like a regular Ivy League weekend, where teams often play on consecutive days.
While Penn was able to survive without Roberts, doing so two games in a row, especially against the top-seeded Bulldogs, could be too much to ask.
Power (15.8 PPG) and his teammates will have to pick up the scoring slack. In the semifinal, 6-foot-3 senior Cam Thrower, who averages 5.2 points, scored 11.
Yale won both regular-season meetings. The Bulldogs earned a 77-60 win at Penn on Jan. 24. The rematch was much closer, 74-70 at home on Feb. 21. In that latest win, Celiscar scored a team-high 16 points. Penn 6-foot-5 senior Michael Zanoni led the Quakers with 20 points.
Yale held a 36-22 edge in points in the paint.
The Bulldogs will look to take it inside on the Quakers, although they are capable of getting hot from the perimeter. Penn lost despite shooting 10-of-19 from three-point range (.526), while Yale was 6-of-26 (.231). That was uncharacteristic for Yale, which leads the Ivy League in three-point percentage (.401), while Penn is third (.381).
Penn is better defending the three (.315) compared to .342 for Yale. Yale has the Ivy League’s top scoring margin (11.3 points per game), while Penn is fifth at 2.8.
The question is whether Penn can win a second straight pressurized game without leading scorer Roberts.
