Harvard Crimson vs Cornell Big Red Prediction, 2/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Harvard Crimson vs Cornell Big Red

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026

Location: Newman Arena in Ithaca, NY

TV: ESPN+

The Harvard Crimson (14-10) are on their way to Newman Arena on Saturday where they will attempt to beat the Cornell Big Red (12-11).

The Harvard Crimson faced Yale and ended up losing by a score of 76-75 in their last game. In regard to personal fouls, the Crimson ended up finishing with 13 while Yale totaled 11 personal fouls. They also made 11 of 25 attempts from beyond the arc. Yale finished shooting 85.0% from the charity stripe by converting 17 of their 20 shots. In addition, Yale grabbed 31 rebounds (9 offensive, 22 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Yale recorded 11 dimes and had 4 steals for the game. When talking about the defense, Harvard let their opponent shoot 41.4% from the field on 24 out of 58 shooting. They also recorded 12 assists for this contest in addition to forcing 10 turnovers and having 10 steals. In reference to rebounding, they compiled 30 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Crimson converted 7 of their 8 attempts for a rate of 87.5%. Harvard walked away from the contest with a 50.8% FG percentage (31 out of 61) and converted 6 out of their 22 three-point shots.

Thomas Batties II is a guy who came through in the game. He ended up going 60.0% from the field and recorded 1 assist. He played 42 minutes and also grabbed 7 boards. He accumulated 23 points on 9 out of 15 shooting.

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Harvard enters this game with a record of 14-10 for the campaign. They lose possession by turning the ball over 10.8 times per game and as a team are committing 14.1 fouls per contest. As a team, Harvard is pulling down 31.4 boards per game and has tallied 330 assists on the year, which ranks 280th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Crimson are hitting 36.3% on 3-point shots (182 of 501) and 80.2% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 70.8 points per game (299th in the country) while going 47.0% from the floor.

Defensively, the Crimson are forcing 11.3 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 14.7 personal fouls. They give up 32.2% from beyond the arc while they are 36th in the nation in points per game allowed (67.8). The Crimson are allowing a shooting percentage of 43.9% (583 of 1,328) and they surrender 31.8 boards per game as a team. They are ranked 56th in college hoops in allowing assists with 307 surrendered this year.

In their last game, the Cornell Big Red took a defeat with a final score of 82-76 against Penn. In the matter of cleaning the glass, Cornell permitted Penn to collect 35 in all (9 on the offensive glass). They finished shooting 15.0% from three-point range by going 3 out of 20 and walked away from this one shooting 27 out of 41 at the charity stripe (65.9%). The Big Red allowed Penn to knock down 26 out of their 61 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.6% for this contest. When the final whistle blew, the Big Red shot 30 out of 63 from the field which had them sitting at 47.6%. In reference to three-point shots, Cornell buried 6 out of their 23 tries (26.1%). They were able to knock down 10 of the free throws for a clip of 47.6%. Penn was called for 21 fouls in this game which got the Big Red to the charity stripe for 21 tries. They turned the ball over 15 times, while getting 6 steals for this contest. The Big Red pulled down 25 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds totaling 37 in the matchup.

Jake Fiegen pitched in for the Big Red in the game. He converted 7 of 16 for the contest giving him a rate of 43.8%, and totaled 8 rebounds. He earned 17 points in his 30 minutes on the court and had 1 assist in the game.

Cornell has a win-loss mark of 12-11 on the season. On the offensive side of the court, the Big Red are shooting 49.9% from the field, which has them ranked 19th in D-1. Cornell has accumulated 2,078 points for the campaign (90.3 per game) and they pull in 35.7 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 21.7 times per contest (1st in the country) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.1 times per contest. The Big Red are responsible for committing 19.8 fouls every game and they connect on 74.0% from the free throw line.

The Big Red on defense are ranked 357th in college in PPG allowed with 84.1. They are able to force 11.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 47.7% from the field (340th in college). The Cornell defense concedes 37.8% on 3-point attempts (205 of 543) and their opponents are connecting on 71.0% of their free throw attempts. They have relinquished 16.2 dimes and 33.6 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is ranked 339th and 129th in college.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Harvard

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