Friday, March 7th, 7:30 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Jadwin Gym (6,854) -- Princeton, New Jersey. Television: None. Home Record: Columbia 8-6, Princeton 5-5. Away Record: Columbia 6-7, Princeton 0-13. Neutral Record: Columbia 0-0, Princeton 0-3. Conference Record: Columbia 7-5, Princeton 2-9. Series Record: Princeton leads, 135-83.

GAME NOTES: The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers will meet this evening in Ivy League action from the Jadwin Gym. Columbia is 14-13 overall and 7-5 in the league standings, but since Cornell already clinched the Ivy title and there is no conference tournament, there is little left to play for. Still, the Lions would love to finish above .500 both overall and in the league, as the program has struggled in recent years. Columbia entered Saturday's matchup against Dartmouth with a ton of confidence and momentum, so the 63-48 loss was certainly surprising. It is hard to believe that Princeton is 2-9 in Ivy play, as it wasn't long ago that the team seemed to be in contention for the title every year. The Tigers, who are 5-21 overall, have lost their last nine games, including a 67-59 setback to Yale on Saturday. Columbia beat Princeton by a 58-53 final in the first meeting this season, but the Tigers still hold a 135-83 lead in the all-time series between the teams.

There is only one double-digit scorer in the Columbia lineup, as John Baumann leads the team with 15.9 ppg on 51.2 percent shooting from the floor. He is pulling down 6.8 rpg as well to pace the club by a considerable margin. No other player is netting more than 7.8 rpg, so Baumann is often the target of double-teaming by opponents. The Lions are scoring and surrendering the exact same average through 27 games (63.5 ppg). Baumann scored 17 points in the loss to Dartmouth on Saturday, and Mack Montgomery added 11 points. Unfortunately, the Lions connected on only 35.4 percent of their field goal attempts, including a 4-of-19 effort from three-point range. A 34-25 rebounding disadvantage didn't help the cause either.

The fact that Princeton's leading scorer, Zach Finley, is only netting 10.1 ppg speaks to the struggles of the club. The Tigers are generating a lowly 57.2 ppg, while surrendering 64.1 ppg to the opposition. Noah Savage and Kyle Koncz are netting 9.8 ppg and 9.4 ppg, respectively, but neither of those two are going to scare opposing defenders. Princeton has attempted over 200 fewer free throws than their foes, a remarkable statistic. In the eight-point win over Yale, Savage tallied 15 points, while Nick Lake netted 14 points off the bench. The Tigers connected on only 34.1 percent of their field goal attempts, and they allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 50 percent from the floor.

Expect Princeton to finally snap the losing skid with a narrow win over Columbia tonight. Still, this one will go down to the final minutes.

Predicted Outcome

Princeton 65, Columbia 63