Columbia plays Harvard following Thompson’s 26-point game

Harvard Crimson (7-8, 0-1 Ivy League) at Columbia Lions (12-3, 1-0 Ivy League)

New York; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Columbia takes on Harvard after Blair Thompson scored 26 points in Columbia’s 104-99 win over the Cornell Big Red.

The Lions have gone 7-0 in home games. Columbia ranks ninth in college basketball with 27.9 defensive rebounds per game led by Zine Eddine Bedri averaging 6.0.

The Crimson are 0-1 against Ivy League opponents. Harvard is 2-1 in one-possession games.

Columbia makes 49.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.6 percentage points higher than Harvard has allowed to its opponents (45.3%). Harvard has shot at a 46.8% rate from the field this season, 6.7 percentage points greater than the 40.1% shooting opponents of Columbia have averaged.

The Lions and Crimson meet Saturday for the first time in Ivy League play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kenny Noland is averaging 17 points and 3.7 assists for the Lions. Thompson is averaging 14.2 points over the last 10 games.

Tey Barbour is shooting 39.6% from beyond the arc with 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Crimson, while averaging 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds. Robert Hinton is averaging 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lions: 8-2, averaging 88.7 points, 39.6 rebounds, 19.9 assists, 6.6 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 51.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.9 points per game.

Crimson: 3-7, averaging 69.6 points, 26.3 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 6.9 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.5 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.