ITHACA, N.Y. – Sophomore guard
Tey Barbour scored a game-high 30 points, and the Crimson won its sixth straight road win to secure a spot in the four-team Ivy League Tournament behind a 73-54 win at Cornell University on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena.
Starting a three-game road swing, the Crimson (15-10, 8-3 Ivy) held a 25-24 lead on the Big Red (12-12, 5-6 Ivy) at halftime before gaining a lead as large as 20 points in the second half as the visitors outscored the hosts, 48-30, in the second stanza, to maintain second place in the Ivy League standings.
The Crimson improved to 8-2 in its last 10 games and has now won all five of its Ivy League road games on the year as it evened the season series with the Big Red at 1-1. Harvard moved to 6-0 in its last six road games dating back to Dec. 28. The Crimson has earned at least one win over every team in the conference.
With the win, Harvard secured its spot in the Ivy League Tournament which will take place at Cornell's Newman Arena from March 14-15. The men's semifinals will take place on March 14 at 11:00 a.m. (ESPNU) and 2:00 p.m. (ESPNU) ahead of the final on March 15 at noon (ESPN2). The Crimson qualified for Ivy Madness for the first time since 2020 and will compete at the event for the first time since 2019 as the 2020 edition of the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Crimson held the Big Red to a season-low scoring output of 54 points. Cornell's previous low this season came in a 65-point outing. The hosts came into the contest averaging 90.3 points per game.
Barbour scored his game-high 30 points on a career-best 10-of-15 field goals, 4-of-9 3-pointers, and 6-of-7 free throws. Sophomore guard
Robert Hinton (16 points) and junior forward
Thomas Batties II (10 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) joined him in double figures while senior guard
Chandler Piggé contributed nine rebounds, eight assists, and seven points.
Harvard Highlights
- Sophomore guard Tey Barbour poured in a career-high 30 points hitting a career-high 10-of-15 field goals, 4-of-9 3-pointers, and 6-of-7 free throws alongside six rebounds. In the second half alone, he scored 20 points on 6-of-8 field goals, 2-of-4 treys, and 6-of-7 free throws. Barbour reached the 30-point plateau for the first time in his career, eclipsed 20 points for the second time this season, and scored in double figures for the 19th time on the year.
- Sophomore guard Robert Hinton tallied 16 points, three rebounds, and three steals, while shooting 6-of-13 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 on free throws. Hinton finished in double figures for the 21st time this season, including in all 11 Ivy League games.
- Junior forward Thomas Batties II posted 10 points, a team-best nine rebounds, and a career-high seven assists. He scored in double figures for the 19th time on the year.
- Senior guard Chandler Piggé contributed seven points, a team-high nine rebounds, and a game-best eight assists while first-year guard Frankie Mannino added seven points.
- Harvard earned its sixth straight road win dating back to Dec. 28. The Crimson has won all five of its Ivy League road games on the year.
- The Crimson evened the season series with Cornell after dropping an 86-79 decision to the Big Red on Jan. 24. Harvard has now earned at least one win over every team in the conference.
- As a team, the Crimson held the Big Red to a season-low scoring output of 54 points. Cornell's previous low this season was 65, and the hosts came into the contest averaging 90.3 points per game. Harvard limited Cornell to 36.4 percent shooting from the field and 13.6 percent shooting from 3-point distance.
- For the game, Harvard led for 30:29, including 17:51 in the second half.
- In the second half, the Crimson made 15-of-27 field goals (55.6 percent), 4-of-9 3-pointers (44.4 percent), and 14-of-17 free throws (82.4 percent).
Gallery: (2-21-2026) Men's Basketball at Cornell
How It Happened
- Harvard opened the game with a 10-2 lead at the 17:08 mark of the first half as Barbour and Hinton each knocked down a 3-pointer.
- After Cornell pulled within 13-11 with 13:25 to go in the first half, neither team held a lead larger than one possession until a layup from Piggé staked the Crimson to a 23-18 lead with 3:43 to go until halftime.
- The Crimson remained ahead 25-24 at the break.
- Following a 3-pointer that gave the Big Red a 27-25 edge, the Crimson rattled off 10 consecutive points to pull ahead 35-27 with 15:57 remaining. Barbour and Hinton each netted four points during the run, including a dunk from Hinton.
- Remaining ahead at 39-35, the Crimson used a 17-2 run to move ahead 56-37 with 8:11 left. Barbour netted nine points during the run.
- Harvard took its largest lead at 20 points at 63-43 following a 3-pointer from Barbour with 5:46 to play.
- The Crimson maintained at least a 13-point margin the rest of the way before Batties II and sophomore guard Dutch Dowdell each hit a 3-pointer inside of the final 2:20 for the game's final two field goals.
Postgame Quotes
- "A tremendous effort. We've been battlers on the road. Our kids have been very confident. Coming in here this afternoon, I thought was a great effort by everybody defensively. They are such a great team offensively. They can shoot it and score it. They missed some which I thought got them out of rhythm, but they are very dangerous. I was very proud of our defensive effort. We've had many good teams in the past, but I don't know that we've ever come up here and play as well as we did this afternoon." – Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball
- "It feels great. It feels great to get to Ivy Madness. It's been a while since our program has been there. We had a heartbreaking loss last week, but I was proud of our guys and proud of our team to bounce back and have a great win." – Sophomore guard Tey Barbour
Next Up
Harvard plays in its final regular season road games at Princeton on Friday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+) and at Penn on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+/NBC Sports Philadelphia/NBC Sports Boston).
