The Cornell Big Red went on the road two weeks ago and defeated the Harvard Crimson by a score of 89-76 and will look to duplicate that result on Friday, but this time the role reverses and Cornell is the home team.
Harvard Crimson vs. Cornell Big Red (-8.5, 156)
The Big Red entered Thursday ranked 44th in points scored on a per-possession basis but have been far more efficient at home, climbing to 30th in home games with the team scoring 10.1 points per 100 possessions more at home than when playing on the road.
The key to limiting Cornell on its home court in Ithaca is guarding the three-point arc as Cornell ranks 11th in the nation in percentage of field goal attempts in home games that come from 3-point range (48.5%).
Overall this season, Harvard ranks 87th in opponent three-point shooting percentage at 32.3%, but got exposed in the first meeting, allowing Cornell to shoot 11-of-28 from deep. Overall, Harvard entered Thursday ranked 191st in the nation in points allowed on a per-possession basis.
While Cornell ranks 65th in 3-point shooting percentage defense at 31.7%, it has had a more difficult time guarding the arc when playing at home, ranking 167th in this category and allowing opponents to make 32.6% of their three-pointers.
Cornell’s defense does not receive much of a boost at home, only allowing 1.9 points fewer per 100 possessions at home as opposed to playing on the road and already entered Thursday ranked 225th in points allowed on a per-point basis.
For as high-scoring as their games have been this season, the Big Red could easily be surrendering even more points, as their opponents are shooting just 64% from the free throw line, good for the nation’s lowest free throw percentage.
For the season, Harvard ranks 150th in road free throw shooting percentage at 72.5% and should improve on the 11-of-20 free throw shooting performance it had in the first meeting against Cornell.
The Big Red have seemingly gotten their uptempo battle at will this season, ranking 54th in total possessions per game and even if the Crimson can limit their three-point shooting, they are still just as efficient when inside the 3-point arc.
Cornell makes 63.9% of its two-point shots this season, which is the best percentage in the nation but that percentage balloons all the way to 70.3% at home. For reference, no other team is making more than 65.6% of their two-point shots when playing at home this season.
With Cornell having scored 89 points just two weeks ago against this Harvard defense on the road on top of being the far more efficient offense without much of a boost on defense from being in Ithaca, Friday’s game sets up to be a carbon copy of the first meet, a high-scoring offensive slugfest.
The Play: Harvard vs. Cornell Over 156
