Under the Radar Game of the Day – Friday, February 5: Columbia at Yale

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Columbia at Yale, 5:00 PM Eastern, FS1

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The Ivy League moves front and center tonight as the UTR Game of the Day heads up to New Haven, Connecticut for a key battle between the Columbia Lions and the Yale Bulldogs.  Entering play tonight, only 8 teams in the entire nation remain undefeated in conference play.  Two of those eight are facing each other tonight.  Columbia currently sits at 4-0 in Ivy League play and 15-6 overall.  We liked the Lions’ chances this season heading into the year, but a few head-scratchers during non-conference play left us second-guessing the pick, including a loss at Fairfield and a home loss to Longwood.  However, since December 6, the Lions have gone 11-1, only losing a game at America East leader Stony Brook.  Their wins include an absolute thriller last weekend when Alex Rosenberg hit a jumper at the buzzer for a 55-54 win at Harvard.  Rosenberg and his teammates, including Maodo Lo who had 11 points and 5 rebounds against Harvard, will need to play even better tonight if they want to defeat the current Ivy League favorites on the road and move into the position of being the team to beat this season.

Yale enters play today with a record of 4-0 in the Ivy League and 13-5 overall.  Their RPI (79) is second best in the conference to Princeton (64), but their BPI (76) and KenPom (70) are tops in the league.  The Bulldogs are on an 8 game wining streak that includes a 79-75 home win over Princeton last weekend.  Justin Sears is the star player for Yale and proved that against the Tigers, scoring 16 points while pulling down 10 rebounds, dishing out 6 assists, grabbing 3 steals and even blocking 3 shots.  If Columbia cannot find a way to contain him, it could be a long night for the Lions and a huge win for the Bulldogs.  The winner of this game will have the inside track on the Ivy League regular season title, which comes with an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, while the loser will join Princeton (the Tigers host Harvard tonight in a game that Yours Truly will be attending) in trying to chase down the leader.

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