Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 18

Princeton's Ian Hummer and Penn's Tony Hicks

Complete Men's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Penn Athletic Communications and Princeton Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The race for 2012-13 Ivy League men's basketball trophy took some more twists and turns as Princeton pulled to the head of the pack with a weekend sweep and Harvard dropped behind the Tigers in the loss column with consecutive losses.

Princeton (16-9, 9-2 Ivy League) sits in the driver's seat going into the final full weekend of "The 14-Game Tournament" with a half-game lead over Harvard (17-9, 9-3 Ivy) with three games remaining. The Tigers have a tough task to close the season as all three contests are on the road, beginning with Yale (12-17, 6-6 Ivy) on Friday night and Brown (12-14, 6-6 Ivy) on Saturday night.

The Crimson must rebound from its two-games slide to keep pace as head coach Tommy Amaker's squad closes at home with Columbia (12-14, 4-8 Ivy) and Cornell (13-16, 5-7 Ivy). The Bears are the hottest team behind Princeton and roll into their final two games on a three-game winning streak for first-year head coach Mike Martin. The Bulldogs enter their final two games looking to finish in the top half of the standings for the 12th consecutive year under head coach James Jones.

Penn (8-20, 5-6 Ivy) moves into striking position for a top-half finish following its upset victory over Harvard. Head coach Jerome Allen now has his Quakers primed to stay neck and neck with Brown and Yale and set up another meaningful battle with archrival Princeton in the League's regular-season finale.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Princeton senior forward Ian Hummer (Vienna, Va.) solidified his spot in school and conference history with two big performances in wins over Harvard and Dartmouth to vault the Tigers in first place and in the driver’s seat for the Ivy League title. Hummer posted his first double-double of the season with 23 points and 14 rebounds in Princeton's victory over previously first-pace Harvard. In that game, he became the second-leading scorer in school history behind Bill Bradley. The next night, he contributed 13 points with six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. His six-board effort moved him into fifth place on Princeton’s career rebounds list.

Hummer's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Penn freshman guard Tony Hicks (South Holland, Ill.) continued to impress in his rookie season with the Quakers with his second and third 20-point efforts in a close loss to Dartmouth and an upset win over Harvard. Hicks paced Penn against Dartmouth with 23 points, scoring 14 of the Quakers’ 16 points over an eight-minute span in the first half. He connected all six of his free throws attempts and added three rebounds and two assists. Hicks topped that performance the next night vs. Harvard with 24 points, four rebounds and five assists as the Quakers held on for the upset victory.

Hicks' Statistics for the Week

HONOR ROLL
Brian Barbour, Columbia (Sr., G - Alamo, Calif.)
8 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists vs. Yale
18 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 5 steals vs. Brown

Rafael Maia, Brown (So., C - Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Career-high 22 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals at Cornell
9 points, 3 rebounds at Columbia

Tyler Melville, Dartmouth (Jr., G - Plano, Texas)
9 points, 2 assists at Penn
Career-high 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists at Princeton

Errick Peck, Cornell (Sr., F - Indianapolis)    
13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks vs. Brown
19 points, 1 rebound vs. Yale

Wesley Saunders, Harvard (So., F - Los Angeles)
11 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals at Princeton
20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists at Penn

Matthew Sullivan, Brown (Sr., G - Wilmette, Ill.)    
16 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists at Cornell
17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists at Columbia

Matt Townsend, Yale (So., F - Chappaqua, N.Y.)    
10 points, 6 rebounds at Columbia
19 points, 4 rebounds at Cornell

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, March 8
*Penn at Brown, 7 pm [myRITV]
*Columbia at Harvard, 7 pm
*Cornell at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Princeton at Yale, 7 pm

Saturday, March 9
*Cornell at Harvard, 5:30 pm [NBCSN]
*Princeton at Brown, 6 pm
*Columbia at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Penn at Yale, 7 pm

Tuesday, March 12
*Princeton at Penn, 7:30 pm

*Ivy League Contests