By Brian Delaney
Ithaca Journal
February 8, 2010
Jeff Foote has seen Alex Tyler, his good friend and teammate, endure some frustrating moments this season.
"He gets down on himself sometimes," Foote said Friday night, after Cornell's 19-point victory over Yale. "This year's been really frustrating for him because he's had to deal with so many injuries."
Tyler, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, missed six games this season due to a calf strain issue, then tweaked a groin that forced him to miss the Columbia series.
Tyler was available for both Dartmouth and Harvard two weekends ago, but played mostly mop-up minutes (10) against the Big Green and sparingly -- for precautionary and stamina reasons -- against the Crimson (4).
Cornell coach Steve Donahue said last week Tyler finally was looking like his old self again in practice. He then played a significant role off the bench in wins over Yale and Brown. Against Yale, he had eight points, five rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes. Against Brown, he chipped in four points and three rebounds, two offensive. He was part of a quartet of reserves who, along with Chris Wroblewski, turned the game in Cornell's favor during a four-minute stint early in the second half.
If that wasn't enough, he had his own badge of honor as proof of his return to form. After taking a hard elbow to the mouth against Yale, Tyler had a deep cut on his lip medically glued shut so he could play Saturday.
He practically smiled as he was asked about it following Saturday night's win.
"It feels great to be back in the rhythm of things," he said. "You know, while I was hurt I couldn't do much but sit there and take jumpers on the side. I guess that's helped me out a little bit, but it feels good right now and I feel a lot more comfortable than I have in a long time."
Hit the road, Red
Cornell had a four-game Ivy road trip last season. It went 2-2 en route to an 11-3 record and a league title.
There's an immeasurable intangible that plays into deciding Ivy road games. The Friday-Saturday grind, as every coach echoes as often as possible, is unlike any other league in Division I.
Donahue said it was with this upcoming four-game stretch in mind that he loaded up Cornell's non-league schedule with road trips. Eleven of Cornell's 20 wins have come away from home.
The stretch starts Friday at Penn, continues Saturday at Princeton and culminates with visits to Harvard on Feb. 19 and Dartmouth on Feb. 20.
"It's funny in this league," Donahue said. "Sometimes if you play that fourth game at home, everybody loses their edge a little bit. The fans aren't as enthusiastic, the kids aren't as excited-- it's a bad thing about our league, going back-to-back. That's why I like to get back on the road and (into a) hostile environment. We'll have an edge."
Inside the Ivy
* Quotable: Yale coach James Jones, on Cornell senior Jon Jaques following Friday's game: "I give that kid all the credit in the world, for someone who didn't play a lick the last three years. Didn't play a lick. And he goes for 15 minutes tonight and scores 17 points. You've got to give him a lot of credit for staying positive and working hard and doing everything you want your kids to do in the locker room. It takes a special player to not get anything positive over the course of three years to come out and be able to do what he did tonight."
* A healthy Matt Mullery means a great deal to Brown. The 6-8 senior forward, who has been slow to heal from a nasty ankle sprain suffered Jan. 6 at Army, had 21 points, six boards and five assists against Cornell. His ability to pull Jeff Foote away from the basket -- much like Davidson's Jake Cohen and Bucknell's Mike Muscala earlier this year -- opened up lanes for teammates.
His crafty ability to finish around the basket earned him praise from Cornell's players.
"He made a couple tough shots over Foote than I thought weren't going to go in," Mark Coury said. "I was like, 'No way.' He's a really good offensive player."
* Foote ranks third in Division I in field goal percentage (.599), behind Siena's Ryan Rossiter (.604) and St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson (.602).
* Saturday's Brown game was freshman Errick Peck's first "Did Not Play -- Coaches Decision" of the season.
* Harvard split a home weekend with Princeton and Penn, and now stands at 15-5 and 3-2. Tommy Amaker's club played without 6-8 sophomore Keith Wright, 6-10 sophomore Andrew Van Nest and 6-7 senior Pat Magnarelli. All were ailment-related absences.
* In four league games, opponents are averaging 45.5 points against Princeton.
Weekly honors
* Foote was named Ivy League player of the week Monday after his 15-point, 13-rebound effort against Yale and his 17-point, 9-rebound outing against Brown. Harvard's Kyle Casey, at this point the frontrunner for rookie of the year, was tabbed rookie of the week.
Cornell senior center Jeff Foote (Lockwood, N.Y.) was the reason the Big Red was able to remain unbeaten in Ivy League play, dominating both Yale and Brown in double-figure wins. He averaged 16.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals while shooting 65 percent from the floor in the two victories. Foote recorded a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double aginst Yale, adding four assists, two blocks and a steal to the effort. He made 7-of-11 shots from the floor and grabbed four offensive boards. He chipped in with a team-high 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal without a turnover in Saturday's victory over Brown. Foote made 8-of-12 field goals against All-Ivy center Matt Mullery and had three offensive boards, more than the entire Bears team (2).
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