With first place increasingly out of reach for the Columbia men’s basketball team, a weekend home stand against Brown and Yale gives it a chance for revenge and second place. Yale (10-12, 4-4), has had a roller-coaster start to their Ivy season, dropping three straight, then winning three in a row before losing to Penn last Saturday. Columbia is in the midst of a four-game Ivy winning streak—their longest in a decade—while Brown has won five straight.

“They’re playing as well as anybody in the league right now,” head coach Joe Jones said. “They’re one of the toughest teams in the league. They play a very different style. They press and play a matchup zone.”

Brown (14-8, 6-2) comes into the game having narrowly won the first meeting between the two teams, and a win against the Light Blue on Friday would put them in a tie for second place. In the first meeting, the Lions played without starting point guard Brett Loscalzo, squandering their lead in the opening minutes of the second half.
“They controlled the game, and it was more about them,” Jones said. “In the second half, I think we didn’t do a very good job of spacing the floor the right way and defensively we let up. That’s where we went wrong.”

Brown is led by senior guard Mark McAndrew, who torched Columbia with 21 points in the first game and poses a significant matchup problem for the Lions. Quick enough to get open on screens and taller than Loscalzo and Kashif Sweet, McAndrew is the league’s most efficient scorer. The Bears run an aggressive version of the Princeton offense that’s been quite effective this season, converting on 39 percent of their three point attempts.

“They really play a complete game, they don’t make a lot of mistakes, they played at a very consistent level throughout the season,” Jones said. “We’re very capable and we’re very excited about the game.”

In New Haven, against Yale, Columbia took control early and never trailed en route to a 71-58 win. Loscalzo, playing one of his best games ever, sparked a 58 percent shooting percentage in the first half. More impressive was a defense that held point guard Eric Flato to 0-for-7 shooting. Yale has held a significant rebounding edge over its opponents this season, which should lead to added minutes for Asenso Ampim and Ben Nwachukwu.

“I think we’ll definitely see a little more of our bigger lineup in that game because we’ve played well with Ben and John in together against them,” Jones said.
The game will also present Joe Jones with his first chance to sweep his brother­—Yale head coach James Jones—in a season series.

Tip-off for both games is at seven.