Ivy League Basketball Roundup: 12/10/2014

Below is the Ivy League Basketball Roundup for Wednesday, December 10, 2014. Three Ivy League teams were in action – Columbia, Princeton, and Dartmouth. Columbia was the headliner with their road trip to face the Kentucky Wildcats.

 

 Columbia Plays Well In Loss At Number One Kentucky

Columbia put forth a valiant effort against the top ranked Kentucky Wildcats, but UK was too talented in the end after a slow start. Maodo Lo led all scorers with 16 points.

Columbia played very well in the first half against Kentucky. The Lions, yes the Columbia Lions, built an 11-0 lead in the opening five minutes of the game while also having 3 steals. The Lions defense was causing fits for the Wildcats, but UK’s finally got going in the middle of the first half. The cut the deficit to 17-14 on Alex Poythress‘ pointer, but Lo answered right back out of a timeout to make it a 6 point game at 20-14. The final 8 minutes was all about defense with with points at a premium for both sides. Kentucky pulled within one point at 22-21, but Lo hit another three pointer to give Columbia a 25-21 lead. The Lions held a 25-23 lead at halftime.

Maodo Lo led the Lions in the first half with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Columbia shot 37.5% from the field (9 of 24) and hit 5 of 13 three pointers (38.5%). The Lions were also able to limit their own turnovers to just 4. Aaron Harrison led UK with 8 points, as the Wildcats shot 33.3% from the field in the first half (9 of 27). They hit only 1 of 7 three pointers (14.3%), out-rebounded Columbia by a slim margin of 17 to 15, and committed 4 turnovers.

The second half turned into Kentucky’s favor, but it took 10 minutes of game time for that to happen. Maodo Lo and Kyle Castlin scored the 9 points in the first four minutes to help Columbia keep a 34-31 advantage. It took Kentucky until 13:18 was left in the game to grab their first lead at 35-34. By the midway point of the second half, Kentucky went up 44-37 on Willie Cauley-Stein’s dunk. From there it was a matter of how much, which ended up being 10 points after UK led by as much as 15.

Maodo Lo had 16 points and 7 rebounds while going 6 of 17 from the field and 4 of 10 on three pointers. Kyle Castlin chipped 8 points for the game. The Lions went 18 of 48 from the field for the game (37.5%) and went 8 of 25 from the three point line (32%). Columbia shot only 4 free throws, made two of them, and committed just 10 turnovers against UK.

Aaron Harrison led UK with 14 points on 6 of 15 shooting. Willie Cauley-Stein finished with 10 points and 10 boards. The Wildcats went 22 of 60 from the field (36.7%) and hit only 2 of 17 three pointers (11.8%). They went 10 of 17 from the free throw line (58.8%), out-rebounded Columbia 41 to 28, had 6 blocks, and committed only 4 turnovers for the entire game.

Columbia (5-3) has a 10-day break before facing Hofstra (7-2) at home on December 20. Kentucky (10-0) has a massive game at home on Sunday against North Carolina (6-2).

 

Princeton Falls On The Road To St. Peter’s

It was a tale of two halves for Princeton as they fell to St. Peter’s 60-46 on the road. Hans Brase scored 15 first half points before being held to only 2 points in the second half.

The Tigers got out to a 17-8 lead midway through the first half and still held a 22-14 lead with 6:01 after Brase drained a three pointer. From there, it was St. Peter’s who went on an 11-3 run to end the half. Marvin Dominique and Desi Washington accounted for the final 13 points for the Peacocks.

In the first half, Brase had 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting for the Tigers. Princeton shot 35.7% from the field and hit 5 of 12 three pointers (41.7%) while committing only 2 turnovers. St. Peter’s wed led by 12 first half points from Washington with Dominique contributing 7 points. They shot 40% from the field and hit 2 of 11 three pointers (18.2%). They committed only 4 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

St. Peter’s slowly built their lead after starting the second half on a 14-4 lead. Princeton was unable to keep pace in the second half making only 6 field goals for the entire 20 minutes. Dominique had 9 second half points while Tyler Gaskins had 8 points. The Peacocks outscored Princeton 35-21 in the second half.

For the game, Princeton was led by Hans Brase’s 17 points. Amir Bell scored 10 points with Pete Miller scoring only 2 points, but grabbing 8 rebounds. The Tigers went 16 of 52 from the field for the game (30.8%) and hit 8 of 26 three pointers (30.8%). They made 6 of 8 free throws (75%) and had 12 turnovers. The Tigers went 6 of 24 from the field in the second half (25%).

Desi Washington led St. Peter’s with 18 points and 6 rebounds. He hit 6 of 10 field goals and went 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. Marvin Dominique scored 16 points and Tyler Gaskins finished with 10 points. The Peacocks went 17 of 42 from the field (40.5%) and hit 7 of 17 three pointers (41.2%). They made 19 of 28 free throws (67.9%), out-rebounded Princeton by a small margin of 33 to 31, and committed 11 turnovers.

Princeton (3-7) will face California (7-1) on the road Saturday evening. St. Peter’s (4-6) takes on Seton Hall (7-1) Sunday.

 

Dartmouth Easily Gets Past UMass Lowell

Dartmouth used a late surge in the first half that carried over into the second half to propel them to a 69-48 win over UMass Lowell. Four Dartmouth players finished in double figures.

Lowell got off to the better start taking an 11-4 lead in the first 7 minutes. Over the next 5 minutes, Dartmouth went on a 14-7 lead to tie the game 18. The game continued to be back and forth until the final four minutes when Dartmouth went on a 13-5 run to go into halftime with a 36-27 lead. Alex Mitola hit 3 three pointers in the final 4:17 to spark the Big Green.

The Big Green continued their surge in the first two and half minutes of the second half. They opened up the half with a 9-2 run with 5 points coming from Mitola. The Big Green led 45-29 with 17:22 left in the game. It was a waltz for the Big Green from that point on as they never led by less than 13 points the rest of the half.

Dartmouth was led by 19 points from Alex Mitola on 7 of 12 shooting and 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. Gabas Maldunas finished with his first double-double of season by scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He also blocked 5 shots. Connor Boehm and Malik Gill both finished with 10 points. The Big Green went 27 of 62 from the field (43.5%) and hit 9 of 22 three pointers (40.9%). They made 6 of 9 free throws (66.7%), out-rebounded the River Hawks 39-30, recorded 12 steals, blocked 7 shots, and committed 15 turnovers.

UMass Lowell was led by Lance Crawford’s 14 points off the bench. Chad Holley scored 10 points while Marco Banegas-Flores scored 7 points and grabbed 7 boards. The River Hawks went 15 of 43 from the field (34.9%) and hit 5 of 16 three pointers (31.3%). They went a horrid 13 of 24 from the free throw line (54.2%) and committed 17 turnovers.

Dartmouth (3-4) faces Jacksonville State (5-4) Sunday afternoon on the road. UMass Lowell (6-4) has dropped back-to-back games to Ivy League foes after winning six games in a row. The River Hawks face Duquesne (3-2) on December 20.

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