Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short to Harvard on Friday Night

Friday, January 31

New York, N.Y.

7:00 P.M.

Columbia University

11-7,0-5Ivy League

Harvard

7-11,2-3Ivy League

Harvard

Columbia

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Lem Photography

Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short to Harvard on Friday Night

1/31/2025 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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First-year Gianni Cobb impresses with career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting

NEW YORK — Columbia men's basketball fell to Harvard, 90-82, on Friday night inside Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.

First-year guard Gianni Cobb led the Lions (11-7, 0-5) with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with four steals. Kenny Noland posted 12 points, six assists, and four steals. Jake Tavroff recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Avery Brown and Blair Thompson were the two other players to score double digits, marking the first time that Columbia had five players do so since Nov. 9 against Delaware State.

Harvard (7-11, 2-3) pulled away in the second half after holding a 44-38 halftime lead. The Crimson's Robert Hinton and Chandler Piggé combined for 54 points.

Harvard shot 19-of-31 (61.3 percent) to Columbia's 17-of-31 (54.8 percent) from the field over the first 20 minutes. Hinton and Piggé combined for 29 during the period for the Crimson. The Lions got 22 of their 44 first-half points from the bench.

Harvard started 11-2 and held the lead for most of the half. Columbia took their only lead of the game with 5:44 left after Cobb stole the ball and went coast-to-coast with one man to beat, drawing Harvard shooting and technical fouls that ended with four Lions free throws and a 34-33 lead. Brown finished a layup with 10 seconds left in the half to bring the deficit to 46-44.

Harvard broke off a 14-2 run over three minutes in the second half to pull away. Columbia struggled on the shooting front and could only get as close as seven points. Down nine with 3:38 to go, the score remained unchanged until Harvard knocked down two free throws at 1:05.

Columbia is back in action Saturday night at home against Dartmouth. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

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