Limited action in college hoops on Friday, which means the Ivy League comes into focus.
Bryce Aiken scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half as Harvard pulled away for an 87-74 win over Brown Friday night.
Brown led at the half, 35-33, but the Crimson pulled away in the latter stages of the game, scoring 55 second half points, fueled by Aiken's outburst and contributions from Siyani Chambers and Seth Towns, who tallied 15 and 17, respectively.
Aiken, a six-foot freshman out of Randolph, New Jersey, came in off the bench as he normally does, but was on court for 32 minutes. He leads the Crimson in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game. His 23 points equaled his career best when he put up the same number in Harvard's win over Howard on December 30.
Harvard improved to 5-2 in conference play and is two games back of 7-0 Princeton in the Ivy. The Crimson fell to Princeton, 57-56, on February 4. The rematch, at Princeton, is set for Friday, March 3rd. In between the Tigers and the Crimson stands 6-1 Yale, who hosts Harvard on Saturday, making for a robust trio of teams vying for the Ivy League title.
There's no conference tournament in the Ivy, so every game is important.
A slew of key games are on tap for the weekend, including #1 Gonzaga at #20 St. Mary's, #2 Villanova at #24 Xavier, and #5 Oregon at USC on Saturday. Sunday's action heats up with Oregon State at #10 UCLA, #11 Cincinnati at #25 SMU, and #12 Virginia at Virginia Tech.
