Cornell Big Red vs Columbia Lions Preview
This weekend, the Columbia Lions host Cornell Big Red at the Levien Gymnasium in Broadway, New York. The NCAAM basketball game takes place on Saturday, March 9th, with tip-off at 2 PM ET. Big Red is three spots higher than the Lions in the Ivy League Conference and heads into this contest in much better form.
Both sides lost their latest game, but Cornell had the tougher opponent. They lost to the Princeton Tigers by a two-point margin, but the Tigers are currently top of the Ivy League Conference. Columbia lost their latest contest 84-72, with the struggling Pennsylvania Quakers picking up a much-needed win. Which team will get back to winning ways on Saturday?
Cornell Big Red vs Columbia Lions Head-to-Head and Key Stats
Cornell Big Red and the Columbia Lions have a long history of games against each other, first meeting in 1903. However, there’s no reason to analyze outcomes from over a hundred years ago. The last ten games between the two teams have been one-sided. Big Red is on a six-game winning streak against the Lions, including eight of the last ten contests.
The latest Cornell Big Red vs Columbia Lions game was tight in the first half. The contest started evenly, and just four points split the two sides. At the beginning of the half, Guy Ragland Jr. sunk a three-pointer to give Big Red a two-point margin. But a mistake from Chris Manon led to a turnover. Jaden Cooper capitalized on the error to swing the two-point margin in Columbia’s favor. With ten minutes left in the half, Cooper was again instrumental in the Lions’ success. After Columbia converted a free throw to gain a 24-20 lead, Cornell found their feet and got back into the match. Cooper Noard’s three-pointer handed Big Red a commanding 37-32 lead heading into the second half.
At the end of the first half, Cornell was up 48-44. Jaden Cooper was a standout performer for the Lions in the opening stages. But in the second half, nobody could stop Big Red from taking control of the game. After ten minutes of play, Cornell led the contest 63-59. However, this was just the beginning of Columbia’s struggles. With seven minutes remaining, Nazir Williams’ layup gave Big Red a 71-64 lead. Avery Brown’s solid defensive work got the Columbia Lions back into the contest, with Brown snatching the ball and decreasing the gap to three points. With 90 seconds left, Williams posted another two-pointer, and Big Red led 85-74. After Williams collected a couple more points, Cornell saw out the win. Beating the Lions 91-79 on home turf.
When Cornell Big Red and the Columbia Lions met in 2023, Big Red was once again victorious. The outcome was one-sided, with Cornell winning by a 14-point margin. Greg Dolan and Chris Manon were crucial to Big Red’s success. Dolan posted an impressive 17 points in the game, and Manon wasn’t too far behind with 13.
The first half wasn’t competitive, and Big Red created a points margin. Cornell finished the opening 20 minutes with a 45-39 lead. Manon was one of the standout players of the half, sinking multiple field goals and proving useful in defense. The second half didn’t have many shocks and followed a similar pattern to the first. Greg Dolan stayed busy throughout, getting multiple points to his name despite missing a free throw in the opening minutes. The game finished in favor of Cornell Big Red. The Ivy League side won 87-73, and the victory never looked in danger during the contest.
Columbia is lacking confidence in the Ivy League Conference. The Lions failed to win a single contest in their last five games. Their most recent losses to the Pennsylvania Quakers and Princeton Tigers were both by a wide margin. Columbia lost by 14 points to Princeton and by 12 to Pennsylvania. But the outcomes could have been even worse if it wasn’t for Rubio De La Rosa. The guard was the Lions’ highest points scorer three times in the last five contests. De La Rosa posted 23 points against the Yale Bulldogs, 19 against Princeton, and 15 when facing Pennsylvania.
Cornell has performed much better than the Lions in their recent matches. Big Red has won three out of the last five games, recording victories against the Pennsylvania Quakers, Yale Bulldogs, and Dartmouth Big Green. Cornell suffered two defeats, but both of them were against tough opposition. The Princeton Tigers and Brown Bears got the better of Big Red, but the outcomes were close. Brown narrowly defeated Cornell 78-74, and in their latest game, the Tigers won by two points. Nazir Williams was outstanding against Princeton. Williams posted the highest points, rebounds, and assists (23pts, 6reb, 5a) for Big Red against the Tigers.
With Columbia struggling this season, none of their players are up there with the conference leaders. However, two of Cornell Big Red’s players have been amazing at stealing the ball. Chris Manon has the most average steals in the Ivy League Conference, with 2.3 per game. Isaiah Gray is also in the top five, averaging 1.4 steals this season.
Cornell Big Red vs Columbia Lions Predictions
Correct Score Prediction: Cornell Big Red 81-70 win over Columbia Lions
We predict Cornell Big Red to beat the Columbia Lions. The game will be one-sided and we see an eleven-point margin separating the sides. Our correct score prediction is a Big Red 81-70 win over the Lions. Chris Manon is a player we expect to post over 10.5 points. Also look out for Rubio De La Rosa, as we feel he will be crucial for Columbia.
With the Columbia Lions struggling in their recent contest and Cornell Big Red historically doing well against the Lions, it’ll be tough for the sportsbook to go against Big Red on Saturday. Columbia is on the worst losing streak in the Ivy League Conference, so we can’t see them getting a result against a consistent side like Cornell.
Thankfully, the NCAAM Conferences have plenty of previous games and analytics to look through when making basketball predictions. We believe Cornell Big Red is too strong offensively and will record a convincing victory over Columbia. Cornell is also better at defense. The New York side averages 8.5 steals and 2.6 blocks per game. The Lions only average 7.8 steals per game, but have a similar amount of blocks with 2.3 each contest. Our correct score prediction is a Cornell Big Red 81-70 win over the Columbia Lions this weekend.
The biggest concern when betting on Columbia is the margin in which they’ve lost their previous games. The Lions heavily relied on Rubio De La Rosa and still walked away with a double-digit margin between them and the opposition. If De La Rosa has a quiet game against Big Red, Columbia could be in serious trouble. We predict eleven points will separate the two sides and see Nazir Williams affecting the game. Williams has been Cornell’s top points scorer in six games this season, averaging 11.6 points per game. Placing a player prop bet on Williams is a great way to capitalize on a potentially one-sided contest.
However, Chris Manon is Cornell’s most consistent points scorer, and it would not surprise us if he added more points to his tally. Manon is the 13th most consistent scorer in the Ivy League Conference, averaging 12.7 points per game for Big Red.
Cornell Big Red vs Columbia Lions Betting Picks
When betting on NCAA basketball, it’s not enough to know which team is going to win. Online sports betting sites have many markets that offer better value than the moneyline. We are confident that Cornell Big Red will beat the struggling Columbia Lions. The Lions have lost their last five games and haven’t beaten Big Red in their previous six meetings. Cornell is our moneyline choice, but consider more profitable wagers in this game. We are expecting Big Red to win comfortably this weekend. This means we can find some potential profit in the halftime / fulltime market. Betting on Cornell to win both halves is a great wager and should land if Big Red continues its hot streak against the Lions.
If you’re a neutral and a new Novibet customer, you could use your welcome bonus this week. Betting on the total points is a fantastic option, as the winner doesn’t matter. We predict a Cornell Big Red 81-70 win over the Columbia Lions, so wagering on under 200 points is our pick.
Another way to bet on basketball events is the points race. When wagering on the points race, we suggest picking Cornell to get to 50 points first. We don’t think it’ll take long for Big Red to hit 50 points. It could return a winning bet before the end of the game. You could also bet on whether the points will be odd or even, with both outcomes often returning slightly under the wagered amount. We predict 151 points in total, so we would bet on odd.
But if you’re a fan of live betting, the player props market is perfect for you. Using your basketball knowledge, you can pick out the players that you feel will score over 10.5 points during the game. We suggest looking out for Rubio De La Rosa and Chris Manon on Saturday.
When two Ivy League teams face off, there is always a lot on the line. However, this week sees two teams in very different league form. One side has found a winning grove, and the other needs to win again. Betting on this college basketball game opens up several winning markets, but that does not always help when choosing a wager. Try to keep it simple this week by looking into the prop bets we have recommended.
