Brown Enters Key Weekend in Close Ivy Madness Race

The Brown men’s basketball team will play its final back-to-back Ivy League weekend of the regular season this week with games at Princeton on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. and at Penn on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m.

The Bears are coming down the home stretch of the regular season with four games remaining. The first three of those will come on the road before returning home for the regular season finale against Yale on March 4. Brown is currently tied for third in the Ivy League standings with Penn at 6-4.

The top four teams qualify for the conference’s postseason tournament, Ivy Madness. The Bears and Quakers are one game behind league leaders Princeton and Yale and one game ahead of fifth-place teams Cornell and Dartmouth.

Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Need to Know
Mike Martin ’04 became the winningest head coach in program history last weekend with the team’s victory over Cornell. It was the 134th win of Martin’s career, passing the 54-year-old record held by Stanley Ward. Martin accomplished the feat in five less seasons than the 15 it took Ward.
Kino Lilly Jr. has averaged 22.3 points over the last three games, all wins for the Bears. He has scored 19.8 points per game since league play began, making the Ivy’s second leading scorer during that time.
Scouting the Bears (13-10, 6-4 Ivy)
The Bears have won three games in a row by an average margin of 9.7 points. The only single-digit victory was 68-65 over Harvard. They took down Dartmouth by 12 and Cornell by 14.
Brown’s backcourt duo of Lilly and Paxson Wojcik are combining for 30.8 points and 5.3 made threes per game on the season. Lilly is third in the league in scoring and first in made threes, while Wojcik is sixth and fourth respectively.
Scouting the Tigers (16-7, 7-3 Ivy)
Back in January, Brown handed the Tigers their first Ivy League loss of the season. Since that game, Princeton has gone 4-2 with wins over Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Columbia, and losses to Yale and, in their most recent outing, Dartmouth.
Tosan Evbuomwan leads the Tigers with 14.4 points and 4.7 assists per game, and is second with 6.0 rebounds. The marks are fifth, first, and seventh in the Ivy League respectively.
Scouting the Quakers (14-11, 6-4 Ivy)
Penn has won four straight Ivy games and five straight overall with a win over Hartford kicking off the stretch. In the Ivy wins, coming over Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Harvard, the Quakers averaged 82.3 points, while allowing opponents to score 72.8.
Jordan Dingle’s 24.0 points per game leads the Ivy League and is second in the nation. He also contributes 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest.
Last Time
Brown split its two meetings between Princeton and Penn earlier this season.
Lilly had a game-high 26 points and hit the game-winning shot with three seconds left on the clock to lift the Bears 72-70 over the Tigers at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
The Bears started Ivy League play this season at home against Penn. Brown led with eight minutes remaining in that one, but the Quakers outscored the Bears 30-21 over the final eight minutes to claim the victory. The backcourt duo of Dingle and Clark Slajchert combined for 51 points.