Harvard punched its first ticket to the NCAA Tournament since 1946 on Tuesday night, and managed to do so without scoring a point.
Harvard Wins First Ivy League Title, Heads To NCAA Tournament For First Time Since 1946
Pennsylvania’s loss to Princeton Tuesday night handed Harvard its first Ivy League title and first trip to the NCAA Tournament in more than 65 years.
A Pennsylvania victory over Princeton would have forced a tie atop the Ivy League - which does not have a conference tournament - standings with Harvard. Since the two split their regular season meetings, the Crimson and Quakers would have met this weekend at a to-be-decided location for a one-game playoff.
Instead, Penn lost 62-52, allowing Harvard to win the league outright and earn its automatic bid to the big dance. Quakers star Zack Rosen had a disastrous evening, shooting just 8-of-24 from the field and turning the ball over seven times.
The playoff was certainly something Harvard wanted to avoid, especially since it lost at the buzzer to Princeton in an identical situation a season ago.
Though Harvard went to the NCAA Tournament in 1946 (its lone appearance), this was the school’s first Ivy League championship in men’s basketball. In fact, of the 34 sports programs that Harvard lists on its website, men’s basketball had been the only one never to earn an Ivy title.
“I’m not sure you can walk anywhere on this campus and find something that hasn’t been done before,” Harvard Coach Tommy Amaker said when his team appeared on the verge of the accomplishment a year ago.
Next up for Amaker is trying to do something else the Crimson have never done: win a game in the big dance.
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