Cornell vs. Princeton prediction and odds for Friday, February 3 (Value on over/under)

The top two teams in the Ivy League do battle in South Jersey on Friday night.

Princeton got the better of Cornell on the road last month, pulling away on a 28-17 run to win 75-68 on Jan. 7, but the Big Red have revenge on their mind Friday night with the best offense in the Ivy League.

Can Cornell take control of the conference, or will Princeton complete the season sweep at home?

Here are the odds:

Cornell vs. Princeton odds, spread and total

Cornell vs. Princeton prediction and pick

This should be a back and forth affair given Cornell’s high powered offense that is top five in the country in effective field goal percentage and takes 3s at the 11th highest rate in the country.

The Big Red also play at the fastest tempo in Ivy League play, but Princeton is great at slowing down transition opportunities and running teams off the three-point line.

The Tigers are a disciplined defense, they get back in transition and crash the glass well in addition to running teams off the 3-point line. They are 102nd in transition offense allowed, per Hoop-Math, so they get back on defense, and they are top five in the country in defensive rebounding rate. Most importantly, though, is that they run teams off the perimeter, 37th in the country in 3-point rate allowed.

Cornell was still able to get up 3s in the first meeting, shooting 10-for-27 from deep, but it couldn’t slow down the Tigers inside, which has been the team’s Achilles heel all season.

Princeton shot 59% on two’s in the first meeting as the team gashed the Big Red in the paint. On the year, Cornell is bottom 10 in two-point defense, so this wasn’t an aberration.

The total in the first meeting closed 151.5, and finished with 143 points. I don’t see the need to adjust this total nearly six points up given the history between the two teams and Princeton’s ability to slow down Cornell’s transition attack. I’ll add that I think this matchup suits the Tigers well and I believe they dictate the terms and cover in a lower than expected scoring matchup.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.