ITHACA, N.Y. -- Tey Barbour scored 30 points and Harvard pulled away in the second half to defeat Cornell 73-54 on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena, clinching a spot in Ivy Madness. The Crimson (15-10, 8-3 Ivy) limited the Big Red (12-12, 5-6 Ivy) to a season-low 54 points, though the Big Red remains tied for fourth place in the conference standings with two weekends remaining.

The Crimson shot .556 after halftime and outscored Cornell 48-30 over the final 20 minutes to turn a one-point halftime edge into a comfortable victory. Barbour, who finished 10-of-15 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3-point range, keyed the decisive stretch. His 3-pointer at the 12:03 mark pushed the lead to 45-35, and another triple later extended the margin to 63-43 with 5:46 remaining. Harvard made 15 of 27 shots in the second half and went 14-of-17 from the free-throw line after intermission.

Cornell shot .364 for the game and struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 3-of-22 attempts (14 percent). Sophomore Anthony Nimani led the Big Red with 18 points off the bench, going 8-of-9 at the free-throw line. Seniors Jake Fiegen and Cooper Noard each scored 11 points, and junior Kaspar Sepp grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.



The Crimson led just 25-24 at the break after a tightly contested opening half that featured six lead changes and four ties. Cornell briefly grabbed its largest lead at 18-16 midway through the first half and was within a point at the buzzer after Noard's layup trimmed the margin to one. Cornell was able to stay in the game despite connecting on just 1-of-12 shots from 3-point range. The Big Red entered the game leading Division I in 3-pointers per game (13.1).

The Crimson seized control early in the second half. After Fiegen's 3-pointer gave Cornell a 27-25 lead, Harvard answered with an 8-0 run highlighted by a fast-break dunk from Robert Hinton and a jumper in the paint to go ahead 33-27. Hinton added 16 points for the Crimson, while Thomas Batties II contributed 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Chandler Pigge chipped in seven points and eight assists as Harvard assisted on 23 of its 25 field goals. Harvard finished with a 38-33 rebounding edge.

After closing within 67-54 on a Nimani layup with 2:53 left, Cornell managed just one field goal the rest of the way. Batties' 3-pointer with 2:20 remaining, one of several shots the Crimson connected on to beat the shot-clock in the contest, pushed the lead back to 16.

NEXT UP
• Cornell will continue its quest for a spot at Ivy Madness when the Big Red welcomes defending Ivy champ Yale to Newman Arena on Friday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.
• The contest will be televised on ESPNU.
• The Bulldogs have won five straight meetings between the teams, including a 102-68 victory in New Haven, Conn. earlier this season.