ESPN Men's Basketball

BOSTON -- Laurent Rivard scored 21 points, leading five Harvard players in double figures, as the Crimson defeated Pennsylvania 79-64 Friday night, setting up a first-place showdown with Princeton.

Christian Webster added 14 points, Brandyn Curry had 13, Oliver McNally 12 and Keith Wright 10 as the Crimson won its seventh in the last eight games. More importantly, Harvard (22-5, 11-2 Ivy League) preserved its chance to tie Princeton atop the league standings in Saturday's home game against the Tigers. A loss in that game would send Princeton to the NCAA tournament with the Ivy's automatic bid. The Ivy League does not conduct a tournament to determine that.

Miles Cartwright had 16 points to lead the Quakers (12-14, 6-6) and Jack Eggleston added 13. But Harvard, which shot 60.5 percent for the game (26 of 43), bolted to a 22-point halftime lead and wasn't threatened thereafter.