Harvard vs Columbia Prediction 1/31/25 College Basketball Picks

The Harvard Crimson and the Columbia Lions meet Friday in college basketball action from the Levien Gymnasium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Harvard vs. Columbia prediction.

Harvard Recap

The Harvard Crimson come into this game looking to bounce back from an 84-55 loss to Yale last time out to fall to 6-11 on the year. After this game, Harvard will head on the road to take on Cornell.

Crimson Drop Back-To-Back Games

Robert Hinton leads the Crimson in scoring with 13.4 PPG along with 4.4 RPG while Chandler Pigge has 13.2 PPG with a team-high 7.4 RPG to lead the Crimson in rebounding up to this point in the year. Thomas Batties II has 10.4 PPG with 5.3 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Harvard up to this point in the year. Evan Nelson also has 8.1 PPG with 3.1 RPG and a team-high 2.9 APG to lead Harvard in assists up to this point in the year. As a team, Harvard is averaging 66.9 PPG on 43.2% shooting from the field, 31.5% from three, and 74.3% from the foul line this season.

Why the Harvard Crimson will win

• Harvard has won each of its last 11 games against Columbia.
• Columbia has lost each of its last 10 games against the Ivy League.

Columbia Recap

The Columbia Lions come into this game looking to bounce back from a 93-78 loss at the hands of Penn last time out to fall to 11-6 on the year. After this game, Columbia will welcome Dartmouth to town.

Lions Lose 5th In A Row

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa leads the Lions in scoring with 18 PPG along with 3.1 RPG and 2.5 APG while Kenny Noland has 13.2 PPG with 3.7 RPG and a team-high 3.5 APG as Columbia’s leading assist man. Avery Brown has 11.3 PPG with 3 APG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Columbia so far this season. Blair Thompson has 8.9 PPG with a team-high 5.9 RPG to lead the Lions in rebounding while Zine Eddine Bedri has 7.1 PPG with 5.6 RPG and 2.4 APG. As a team, Columbia is averaging 81.2 PPG on 49% shooting from the field, 37.6% from three, and 75.1% from the foul line this season.

Why the Columbia Lions will win

• Columbia has won seven of its last eight night games.
• Harvard has lost six of its last seven night games.

Total Points Facts

• Eighteen of Harvard’s last 19 road night games against Conference opponents have produced a total of 148 or fewer points.
• Each of Columbia’s last 10 Friday night home games against the Ivy League have produced a total of 148 or fewer points.

Harvard vs. Columbia Prediction

I’m on Harvard and the points in this one. I get hitting the bottom of the market with Columbia, but the Lions’ defensive percentages in conference play have been abysmal. Harvard hasn’t been much better, and there could be a reason that they’re catching points against a Columbia team that’s winless in conference play to this point. The thing is though, Harvard can keep this one close as they’re the better offense and for my money, the more complete defense side-by-side in this matchup and I just don’t see a way that Columbia runs away in this game. I’ll take the points with Harvard in this one.