Princeton Tigers vs. Harvard Crimson Prediction & Game Preview - 2/27/2022

Time: Noon ET

Venue: Lavietes Pavilion, Cambridge, MA

Where to watch: ESPN+

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Princeton: 20-5 (10-2 Ivy Legaue)

Harvard: 13-11 (5-7 Ivy League)

Well much like we expected, the Princeton tigers did take the first half with a home and home against the Harvard Crimson on Friday. Princeton won by a final score of 74-67 for its 20th victory of the season.

Jaelin Llewellyn Led all scorers with 29 points on 10 of 18 shooting while grabbing 6 rebounds and pulling in four made three pointers. Both teams only played eight players, but Princeton had the majority of the buckets go in their favor. It was actually a pretty close game after the first half. Harvard took a 38-36 lead into the break but Princeton pulled away with a nine point edge in the second half.

The win ultimately was a big one for Princeton knowing that they are now at least, heading into Saturday, tide with the Yale Bulldogs at stop the Ivy League with a few games to go in the regular season. Princeton won its 10th conference game, and depending on the result between Yale and Cornell on Saturday, Princeton could be in the driver seat for for a run toward a conference championship.

Considering how fairly even of a game it was, Princeton was able to win by making more 3 pointers than Harvard. Harvard did make about the same amount of shots as Princeton, both shooting 48% from the floor, and Harvard actually shot 7 free throws fewer than Princeton. The difference was the three point shooting. Princeton made 14 of 30 from long range while Harvard was held to six of 23. Despite the fact that the turnovers combined were just 15 and Harvard outrebounding Princeton 32- 28, the only separation was that Princeton made its shots in a timely fashion more than Harvard.

Which if you're looking at it from the perspective of how to look at Sunday's matchup at Harvard, part of me wants to think that the home team will actually get revenge and offset everything that happened on Friday. The problem is is that Princeton is just too talented and with the likes of Llewellyn making shots along with Ethan Wright, who had 15 points and five rebounds for Princeton, I have a much better time thinking Princeton will be able to make its shots when it counts rather than Harvard.

That isn't to say Harvard did not play a strong game period again both teams only played eight players each with some players playing close to the 40 minute mark. Harvard was led by Kale Catchings who had 19 points and four rebounds on 8 of 11 shooting, a really efficient night. Noah Kirkwood, their best player, finished with 15 points and had eight rebounds but took 16 shots to get to those 15 points in 30 minutes. In a game like this where they played Princeton very tough, the big time players needed to make their shots and Harvard ultimately toward the end did not.

Harvard ultimately does not have anything left to play for this season. The best thing that the Crimson can play for is the role of spoiler with their five conference victories. If it really wants to send a large gift basket to their friends at Yale, a win over Princeton on Sunday would do just that. However the numbers continue to project that Princeton still has the major advantage going into this game.

Both offenses are very good at scoring and both offenses are very good at shooting efficiently, but Princeton has been able to get by this year by averaging 80 points per game and shooting almost 49% from the floor. They might not be the best interior team when it comes to blocking shots or sometimes rebounding, but they are very aggressive on the wing and averaged 6.3 steals per game. That's a pretty good number.

All that being said, I do think Princeton gets the victory here. I just think that they are playing as well as any team in that conference right now, and having one five straight games the way that they have, it's hard to not look at Princeton and think that they are going to be the ones standing in the Ivy League when all is said and done. Harvard will make things tough at home, especially coming off two impressive home wins against Cornell in overtime and against Columbia, but I just like the overall scoring ability of Princeton more and I feel like when it comes down to making shots at the end of the game I trust Princeton More than I do Harvard. Princeton by 10

Harvard is 2-11 ATS following a win by six points or less the past three seasons.

Harvard is 0-8 ATS after playing consecutive games as a home favorite.

Harvard is 5-15 ATS after two or more consecutive wins.

Princeton is 15-6 ATS after having won four or five of the last six games.

PG: Jaelin Llewellyn

SG: Ethan Wright

SF: Ryan Langborg

PF: Tosan Evbuomwan

C: Drew Friberg

PG: Denham Wojcik

SG: Luka Sakota

SF: Kale Catchings

PF: Mason Forbes

C: Noah Kirkwood

Points: Tosan Evbuomwan -- 15.4

Rebounds: Ethan Wright -- 7.3

Assists: Tosan Evbuomwan -- 4.9

Points: Noah Kirkwood -- 18.0

Rebounds: Noah Kirkwood -- 5.7

Assists: Noah Kirkwood -- 3.0