The Cornell Basketball Blog

A Date in Cornell Basketball History: Collectibles from 1904-1905

2012-02-01T15:50:00.006-05:00

Continuing our series, A Date in Cornell Basketball History, below some collectibles from the 1904-1905 season. Above, the December 9, 1904 issue of the Cornell Daily Sun features the basketball team on the front page and previews the team's game in the old Armory against Dartmouth.

Above and below, pages from Cornell Basketball's 1904-1905 season program. The team's funding was an issue for most of the campaign.

Below, the Cornell Daily Sun on April 19, 1905 advertises a benefit to help raise money for the young Cornell Basketball program.

Below, a ticket stub to the Cornell Basketball and Fencing benefit scheduled for April 20, 1905 at Sibley Hall.

Harvard Athletics Game Notes for Cornell

2012-02-01T10:30:00.003-05:00

No. 23 Harvard Men's Basketball Set to Host Cornell, Columbia
Harvard Athletics

The Particulars
No. 23 Harvard (18-2, 4-0 Ivy) sits in a first-place tie in the Ivy League (Penn, 3-0) and will host Cornell (7-11, 2-2) Friday evening at Lavietes Pavilion.

The Crimson is off to the best start of an Ivy League school since Princeton in 1997-98 (19-1). Harvard's 18-2 start is also the best for the program since going 19-1 to begin the 1945-46 campaign. With a win tonight, Harvard would tie the 1980-81 Crimson team with the best conference start in program history (5-0).

Game Coverage
Live video will be available both both games this weekend for a subscription at GoCrimson.com. WHRB's James Yoon and Scott Reed will have the audio call on GoCrimson.com. Live statistics will also be available for the game at GoCrimson.com.

Series History (Cornell)
The Crimson holds a 90-70 advantage in the all-time series against the Big Red since the teams first met in 1901-02. Harvard has taken the last two meetings between the schools after Cornell won five of the previous six encounters. Last year, the Crimson picked up a 78-57 win at Lavietes Pavilion on Jan. 29, 2011. In that victory, Keith Wright recorded a double-double, scoring 21 points and coming down with 11 rebounds, while Brandyn Curry and Laurent Rivard each drained three 3-pointers.

Series History (Columbia)
Saturday's game marks the 167th meeting between Harvard and Columbia, with the Lions owning a 93-73 advantage in the series that started back in 1900-01. The Crimson has taken the last five games against the Lions, including a season sweep in each of the last two years.

Harvard's Last Time Out
After defeating Yale, 65-35, for the widest margin of victory in the all-time series against the Bulldogs Jan. 27, Harvard earned a 68-59 win at Brown Jan. 28. Kyle Casey tallied 20 points, making nine field goals, while Brandyn Curry added 15 points in a winning effort. Keith Wright (nine points) grabbed 11 rebounds, while Steve Moundou-Missi collected a career-high 10 boards.

Cornell's Last Time Out
The Big Red improved to 2-2 in the Ancient Eight by topping Columbia by a score of 65-60 Jan. 28. Chris Wroblewski paced Cornell with 19 points, draining four treys, while Jonathan Gray (14 points) and Shonn Miller (10 points) also reached double figures in scoring. Cornell held Columbia to 18.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc (4-of-22), while making nine triples of its own (9-of-26, .346).

Harvard Against The Ivy League
Over the last two seasons, the Crimson boasts a 16-3 (.842) against Ivy League opponents. During that stretch, the Crimson is 8-2 (.800) against Ancient Eight opponents on the road and 8-0 at home (1.000). This season, Harvard is 4-0 in conference games, having swept Dartmouth and defeated Yale and Brown in road contests.

Stepping Up On D
The Crimson is allowing only 53.4 points per game this season, good for third in the nation in scoring defense. Wisconsin paces the nation, surrendering only 49.6 points per contest, while Virginia sits second (50.6 points allowed per game). Harvard has only allowed 70 points once and surrendered 50 or less points in 10 games and less than 40 points twice.

Free-Throw Defense
Entering the weekend, Harvard was fifth in the nation in free throw shooting defense, as opponents are only making 60.9 percent of attempts (185-of-304). South Carolina State (.602) sits in first in the county, followed by Coppin State (.606) and Northern Arizona (.608).

Rejection List
With 33 blocks this season, Keith Wright now ranks second in program history with 139 rejections. Brian Cusworth '07 holds the Harvard record with 147 career blocks. Wright's 54 blocks last year also stand second in Harvard history for a single season. Brian Banks '78 had 59 rejections during the 1977-78 campaign.

Kyle Casey has rejected 78 blocks in his career, including 23 this season, ranking him seventh in program history in rejections.

Handing Out Dishes
Brandyn Curry has handed out 372 assists in his career, ranking the junior seventh in program history. Curry needs 19 more helpers to tie Mike Gielen '89 (391) for sixth in the Harvard record books.

Coming Down With It
With his 11-rebound performance at Brown Jan. 28, Keith Wright now has 21 double digit rebound games in his career. Wright also has three double-doubles this season and has led Harvard in rebounding in 15 of 20 contests. Wright stands ninth in program history with 648 career rebounds. Harvard has outrebounded 10 of its last 11 opponents.

Casting Ballots
The Crimson is ranked No. 23 in this week's ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Earlier this season, the Crimson became the first Ivy team ranked in the AP poll since Princeton was rated No. 8 in the final poll of the 1997-98 season. On Jan. 2, Harvard was No. 21 in the coaches poll and No. 22 in the AP poll, the highest rankings in program history.

Harvard is the only Ivy League team to have received at least one vote in a major national poll this season. The Crimson has appeared in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll in each of the last six weeks.

Harvard As a Ranked Team
The Crimson is 10-2 as a ranked team in program history with wins this season over Boston University, Florida Atlantic, Boston College, Saint Joseph's, Dartmouth (twice), Monmouth, George Washington, Yale and Brown. Harvard is 4-0 at home as a ranked squad, while boasting a 6-2 record on the road when ranked nationally.

Double-Double Show
Keith Wright leads the Crimson with three double-doubles (at Holy Cross Nov. 15, Florida Atlantic Dec. 22 and at Monmouth Jan. 10), while Kyle Casey (Saint Joseph's Dec. 31) and Jonah Travis (Seattle Dec. 4) have recorded one apiece this year. Wright has amassed 16 double-doubles over the course of his career in Cambridge.

Lavietes Is The Place To Be
Harvard is riding a 23-game win streak at home, a program record. The current win streak at home is the longest for Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion and is the fourth longest current streak in the NCAA. Kentucky is enjoying the longest current streak with 47 straight home wins.

Nation's Current Longest Home Win Streaks
Through (Jan. 30)
Kentucky 47
Ohio State 37
North Carolina 29
Harvard 23
Oral Roberts 20
Long Island 19
Florida 18
Syracuse 18

RPI Watch
Harvard currently sits at No. 40 in the RPI, according to collegerpi.com. The Crimson earned the highest ranking in program history, No. 14, Dec. 2, 2011.

Harvard/Amaker Against Cornell and Columbia
The Crimson is 3-5 against Cornell under head coach Tommy Amaker. Harvard swept the Big Red last year and has won the last two games in the series.

The Crimson boasts a 5-3 mark against Columbia under coach Amaker. After losing the first three games against the Lions under Amaker, Harvard has reeled off five consecutive victories since the 2008-09 season.

Takeaways
Entering the week, Brandyn Curry ranked 50th in the country and second in the Ivy League with 2.0 steals per game.

Hitting Baskets
Keith Wright stands second in the Ivy League in field-goal percentage, hitting 58.8 percent of his attempts this season (90-of-157).

Iron Horse
Oliver McNally has played in 107 games during his Harvard career, tying him for fourth most in program history. McNally is just eight games shy of tying Jeremy Lin '10 for the most games played in Harvard history (115). Keith Wright has played in 98 games, placing him 15th in program history.

Sold Out Lavietes
Harvard has had four sellout crowds at Lavietes Pavilion already this season (MIT, Saint Joseph's, Dartmouth and George Washington). In addition, the upcoming games against Cornell, Columbia, Brown, Yale, Princeton and Penn are all sold out. The Crimson is going to sell out 10 of its 12 home games this season, a program record.

Defense Wins Games
The Crimson enters the week fourth in the country in scoring defense (53.4 points allowed per game).

Harvard had not allowed more than 49 points in four straight games (Nov. 24-Dec. 1) for the first time since the 1946-47 season, which was prior to the invention of the shot clock and the 3-point line.The Crimson also surrendered 38 or less points in two straight games (Jan. 21-27) for the first time since 1946-47. Harvard has only allowed more than 60 points in six of 20 games this year and has held opponents to less than 60 points in four straight contests.

On The Big Screen
The Crimson will play at least seven games on national or regional television this season.

Harvard is 5-1 on TV this year after earning wins over Utah (HDNet), No. 20/22 Florida State (Versus) and Central Florida (Versus) at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Crimson also defeated Boston University (NESN) and Boston College (ESPN3), but fell on the road at No. 9/9 Connecticut (ESPN2).

Road Warriors
The Crimson, which currently owns a 12-2 record in road/neutral sites, will play a total of 18 road/neutral games this winter. Harvard's 12 road/neutral sites wins this year is a new program record, surpassing 10 victories during the 2009-10 campaign. The Crimson is 9-2 on the road and 3-0 in neutral sites in 2011-12.

Head Coach Tommy Amaker
Tommy Amaker (Duke '87) is in his fifth season as head coach of the Harvard men's basketball team. He registered his 250th career coaching victory Dec. 4, 2011 against Seattle at Lavietes Pavilion. Amaker has guided Harvard to its national ranking, as the Crimson was rated No. 25 in the AP poll and No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches ranking Dec. 5, 2011. Amaker also led the Crimson to its first Ivy League title as well as the program's first appearance in the NIT. In addition, the Crimson established a program record with 23 victories in 2010-11.

He brings a 260-192 (.575) career head coaching record into today's game, including a 84-53 (.613) mark at Harvard, a 108-84 (.563) record at Michigan and a 68-55 (.553) record at Seton Hall.

Monthly Consistency
In the months of November, December and January, Harvard won six games. The Crimson went 6-0 in November, 6-1 in December and 6-1 in January.

Making The Most Of It
Oliver McNally made all eight free throws at Monmouth, went 7-of-7 at the foul line at Holy Cross Nov. 15 and shot 6-of-6 at Loyola Marymount Nov. 19 and is shooting 88.0 percent from the line this season (44-of-50). Christian Webster is Harvard's career leader in free-throw shooting, making 88.6 percent of his attempts (178-of-201) over his first three seasons, while McNally is fourth in team history at 85.6 percent (250-of-292).

Last season, the Crimson ranked second in the nation as a team with an 80.8 percent success rate from the charity stripe (just behind Wisconsin's 81.8 shooting percentage). Harvard owns the NCAA record for team free-throw percentage for a season (82.2 percent in 1983-84). Harvard is currently shooting 74.6 percent from the line this season, ranking 25th in the country.

Non-Conference Victories
The Crimson has won 14 non-conference games this season, a program record. Harvard won 11 non-league games in 2009-10 and 11 non-conference contests again in 2010-11.

Historic Defensive Display
Harvard surrendered only 38 points in a win at Dartmouth Jan. 21, and followed by allowing only 35 points in a victory at Yale Jan. 27. The 35 points was the least allowed by a Crimson team since a 41-35 win at Dartmouth Jan. 11, 1992.

Night and Day
Harvard owns a 11-2 record in night games and a 7-0 mark in day contests in 2011-12.

One-Sided Victory
Harvard defeated Yale, 65-35, in New Haven, Conn., Jan. 27. The 30-point win marked the widest margin of victory for the Crimson over the Bulldogs in the series history (183 meetings since 1900-01).

Deep Bench
Harvard has played at least 10 players in 19 of 20 games this season, including a season-high 17 players in the win over Utah Nov. 24. The Crimson also played 15 players in the victory at Yale Jan. 27, the most for Harvard in a conference game this season.

Defense, Offense
Entering the week, the Crimson ranked first in the Ivy League in defense (53.4 points allowed per game) and third in scoring offense (65.8 points per contest). Harvard was also first in scoring margin (+12.4). The Crimson paces the league in shooting percentage (.466), foul shooting (.746), 3-point shooting (.369), rebounding defense (28.6) and blocked shots per game (4.7).

Four-Point Play
Laurent Rivard earned two four-point plays in the Crimson's 69-48 win over George Washington Jan. 14. Rivard also was fouled a third time attempting a 3-pointer and hit all three ensuing foul shots.

Assists, No Turnovers
Harvard's starting backcourt duo of Oliver McNally and Brandyn Curry has combined to hand out 167 assists, while only committing 69 turnovers between them (2.4 assist/turnover ratio).Curry (2.5) and McNally (2.4) rank first and second in the Ivy League, respectively in assist/turnover ratio.

Up By 20
Harvard has won six games by 20 or more points this season, having downed MIT, Utah, Boston University, Boston College, George Washington and Yale. Under head coach Tommy Amaker, the Crimson has won 23 games by 20 or more points.

Comeback Kids
Harvard trailed by as much as 14 points in the first half and was in a 10-point hole at halftime against Saint Joseph's Dec. 31. The Crimson outscored the Hawks, 36-21, in the second half, holding Saint Joseph's to just 29.6 percent shooting to earn a 74-69 comeback victory. The Crimson also trailed by as much as seven in the second half before pulling out a win in the Ivy opener against Dartmouth Jan. 7

Staying On The Court
Oliver McNally paces the Crimson with 30.8 minutes played per game and is the only Harvard player to average more than 30 minutes per contest this season.

Ivy Openers
With the 63-47 win over Dartmouth Jan. 7, Harvard improved to 5-0 in Ivy League openers under head coach Tommy Amaker. The Crimson is also off to a 4-0 start in conference play for the second consecutive season under coach Amaker.

Harvard Down The Stretch
The Crimson is 79.1 percent (72-of-91) from the line in the final five minutes of games this season. Harvard is shooting 43.8 percent from long distance (14-of-32) during the last five minutes. Brandyn Curry has made all 13 of his foul shots in the final five minutes of games and is first with 36 points during this time frame ahead of Oliver McNally (33 points). Kyle Casey also has six rejections and has grabbed 14 rebounds during the final five minutes of contests.

Crimson Runs Deep
With 19 players on its roster, Harvard is tied for the sixth largest team in the country entering the season, trailing only Air Force (22), Cornell (21), Army (20), Syracuse (20) and Navy (20). Columbia also has 19 players.

Dunk Tally - 2011-12
Kyle Casey 17
Steve Moundou-Missi 10
Keith Wright 9
Wesley Saunders 3
Dee Giger 1
Jonah Travis 1

Harvard had a season-high five dunks at Holy Cross Nov. 15, and at Boston University Dec. 10.

News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

2012-02-01T09:41:00.010-05:00

(Photo Cornell Athletics)

Below, some news and notes for Wednesday...

The Cornell Daily Sun writes, "On Jan. 24, the Washington Wizards fired head coach Flip Saunders after the team recorded the worst start in the league, 2-15. Assistant coach Randy Wittman — the previous Minnesota Timberwolves’ head coach and father of former Cornell basketball forward Ryan Wittman ’10 — has been named Saunders’ replacement through the end of the season... John Wall, the 2010 No. 1 NBA draft pick, is in his sophomore season with the Wizards. The former Kentucky guard, who played against the Red in the 2010 Sweet 16, has seen his shooting percentage regress since last season — dropping from .409 to .379 from the field. The poor team record and Wall’s underperformance were speculated to be factors contributing to Saunders’ dismissal. "

The Cornell Rebounders Club has photos from some of the Player Dinners during the holiday break. The Club's next luncheon is February 21.

Vote for Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) to appear in the NBA D-League All Star game by visiting the D-League Website. Foote and his Springfield Armor are back in action on Thursday when they host the Sioux Falls Skyforce. As always, all D-League games are broadcast free online via the D-League website.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's updated profiles of Cornell's four committed recruits from the classes of 2012 and 2013, Braxston Bunce (Kelowna Secondary School) Kelowna, BC, Canada, 6-11, Holt Harmon (Plano West HS), Plano, TX, 6-9, F; Nolan Cressler (Plum HS) Plum, PA, 6-4, G (class of 2012); and Tim Higgins (Paul VI HS) Fairfax, VA, 6-10, C (class of 2013). In addition, a listing of the Ivy League's committed recruits in the class of 2012 is available by clicking here.

Nolan Cressler, a committed Cornell recruit, scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a big win last night for his Plum High School team in Pennsylvania. See the recaps in the Pittsburgh Post Tribune and Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

The Washington Post has the game logs for committed Cornell recruit, Tim Higgins, a junior on national top 25 team, Paul VI High School out of Fairfax, Virginia. Higgins did not play in last night's contest against conference rival Gonzaga. Paul VI, which boasts more than a half dozen future Division I players, attracted coaches such as Jay Wright (Villanova) and Jamie Dixon (Pitt) to last night's game.

Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recap sections from each of Cornell's games this season.

November 11, 2011 at St. Bonaventure L 58-79
November 14, 2011 vs. Binghamton W 76-61
November 16, 2011 at Buffalo L 59-68
November 20, 2011 vs. Boston University W 71-66
November 22, 2011 at Delaware L 68-76
November 27, 2011 vs. American L 63-65
December 3, 2011 vs. Lehigh W 81-79 (OT)

December 17, 2011 vs. Albany W 85-82 (OT)
December 19, 2011 at Illinois L 60-64
December 21, 2011 at Penn State L 67-74
December 28, 2011 at Stony Brook L 58-69 (OT)
December 31, 2011 at Bucknell L 60-63
January 3, 2012 at Maryland L 62-70
January 7, 2012 vs. Albright W 78-60
January 13, 2012 vs. Princeton W 67-59
January 14, 2012 vs. Penn L 52-64
January 21, 2012 at Columbia L 56-61
January 28, 2012 vs. Columbia W 65-60

Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of February 1 is No. 212 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 194 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 202 Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

Here is a look at Ivy League results and upcoming games. A full Ivy composite schedule may viewed by clicking here.

IVY LEAGUE COMPOSITE SCHEDULE

Friday, November 11
Johnson & Wales 66 Brown 86 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 57 Connecticut 70[ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 58 St. Bonaventure 79 (Box Score - Recap)
MIT 49 Harvard 76 (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 56 Rutgers 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 59 Maryland-Baltimore County 45 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 73 Central Connecticut State 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 12
Wagner 73 Princeton 57 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 14
Albany 77 Brown 68 (NIT Tip-Off-1st Round@Syracuse, N.Y.)[ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Temple 73 Penn 67 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Furman 58 Columbia 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Binghamton 61 Cornell 76 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 15
Harvard 73 Holy Cross 64 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Quinnipiac 68 [SNY] (Box Score - Recap)
Brown 52 Manhattan 54 NIT Tip Consolation@Syracuse, N.Y. [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 16
Cornell 59 Buffalo 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Vermont 65 Dartmouth 53 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 58 North Carolina State 60 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 17
Penn 78 Rider 72 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Lyndon State 37 Yale 101 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 19
Buffalo 53 Princeton 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Hartford 52 Brown 59 (Box Score - Recap)
American 66 Columbia 58 (Box Score - Recap)
Bryant 62 Dartmouth 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Robert Morris 60 Penn 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 77 Loyola Marymount 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 21
Brown 48 George Mason 74 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 22
Brown 79 Monmouth 71 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 53 Stony Brook 67 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 64 Delaware 72 (Box Score - Recap)
Wagner 71 Penn 65 (Box Score - Recap)
Elon 56 Princeton 55 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Seton Hall 73 (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 24
Dartmouth 69 San Francisco 71 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 75 Utah 47 [HDNet] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, November 25
Dartmouth 64 vs. Alaska-Anchorage 52(Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 46 Florida State 41 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Bucknell 62 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
Pittsburgh 78 Penn 58 [TCN] (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 26
Yale 84 Army 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 59 Manhattan 41 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Morehead State 68 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
James Madison 60 Penn 58 [TCN] (Philly Hoop Group Classic) (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 48 Western Michigan 65 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 59 Central Florida 49 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 27
Brown 64 Sacred Heart 77 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 66 West Alabama 66 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
American 65 Cornell 63 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 28
Swarthmore 42 Columbia 104 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 29
Manhattan 72 Penn 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 74 Hartford 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 30
Dartmouth 50 New Hampshire 53 (Box Score - Recap)
Lafayette 69 Princeton 54 (Box Score - Recap)
Rhode Island 56 Brown 65 [myRITV] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 1
Harvard 55 Vermont 48 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 2
Columbia 69 Loyola Marymount 61 (LA Westside Centennial Classic) (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 3
Vermont 52 Yale 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Brown 54 Iowa 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Lehigh 79 Cornell 81 (OT) (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 65 Villanova 73 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 72 North Texas 57 (Box Score - Recap) (LA Westside Centennial Classic)

Sunday, December 4
Columbia 78 La Sierra 56 (Box Score - Recap) (LA Westside Centennial Classic)
Seattle 70 Harvard 80 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, December 5
Brown 49 Providence 80 [ESPN3/SNY] (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 73 Sacred Heart 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, December 6
Holy Cross 45 Columbia 46 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 7
Delaware 60 Penn 69 (Box Score - Recap)
New Hampshire 69 Brown 56 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 59 Rutgers 57 (Box Score - Recap)
Bryant 59 Yale 76 (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 8
Harvard 53 Connecticut 67 [ESPN2] (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 10
Central Connecticut State 80 Brown 90 (Box Score - Recap)
Long Island 53 Columbia 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 76 Boston University 52 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 60 Drexel 64 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 73 UCLA 77 [DirecTV] (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 47 Notre Dame 65 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, December 13
Dartmouth 51 IPFW 56 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 14
Princeton 72 Rider 71 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 17
Elon 54 Dartmouth 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Albany 82 Cornell 85 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, December 18
Princeton 71 Northeastern 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 68 Rhode Island 65 [COX RI] (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, December 19
Cornell 60 Illinois 64 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 55 Colgate 61 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 21
Dartmouth 64 Army 67 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 67 Penn State 74 [Big Ten Network] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 22
Florida Atlantic 51 Harvard 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 59 Siena 63 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 23
Maine 71 Brown 58 (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 74 Albany 82 (Box Score - Recap)
Marist 71 Penn 84 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 28
Columbia 59 Marist 79 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 59 Stony Brook 68 OT [Cablevision] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 29
Brown 49 St. Francis (N.Y.) 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 67 Boston College 46 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 70 Davidson 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 71 Wake Forest 72 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 30
Princeton 75 Florida State 73 (3OT) [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Lafayette 67 Columbia 77 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 31
Cornell 60 Bucknell 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Holy Cross 65 Dartmouth 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 70 Florida 90 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
Saint Joseph’s 69 Harvard 74 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, January 1
Princeton 76 Florida A&M 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 55 Duke 85 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, January 2
American 70 Brown 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Fairleigh Dickinson 52 Columbia 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, January 3
Bucknell 67 Dartmouth 59 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 54 Fordham 60 (Box Score - Recap)
Holy Cross 67 Yale 82 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 62 Maryland 70 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, January 4
Columbia 66 Colgate 59 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 78 Lafayette 73 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, January 7
*Dartmouth 47 Harvard 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Albright 60 Cornell 78 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, January 8
Columbia 65 Elon 60 (Box Score - Recap)
The College of New Jersey 68 Princeton 79 (Box Score - Recap)
St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) 86 Yale 101 (Box Score)

Tuesday, January 10
Harvard 70 Monmouth 61 (Box Score - Recap)
La Salle 68 Penn 57 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, January 11
Longwood 79 Brown 77 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, January 13
*Penn 66 Columbia 64 (Box Score - Recap)
*Princeton 59 Cornell 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, January 14
*Brown 64 Yale 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Longwood 67 Dartmouth 83 (Box Score - Recap)
George Washington 48 Harvard 69 (Box Score - Recap)
*Princeton 62 Columbia 58 (Box Score - Recap)
*Penn 52 Cornell 64 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, January 21
*Yale 73 Brown 60 (Box Score - Recap)
*Cornell 56 Columbia 61 (Box Score - Recap)
*Harvard 54 Dartmouth 38 (Box Score - Recap)
Saint Joseph’s 80 Penn 84 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, January 23
Brown 67 Bryant 60 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, January 27
*Dartmouth 59 Brown 66 (Box Score - Recap)
*Harvard 65 Yale 35 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, January 28
*Harvard 68 Brown 59 (Box Score - Recap)
*Columbia 60 Cornell 65 (Box Score - Recap)
*Dartmouth 52 Yale 62 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, January 30
*Princeton 67 Penn 82 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, February 3
*Princeton at Brown, 7 pm
*Columbia at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Cornell at Harvard, 7 pm
*Penn at Yale, 7 pm

Saturday, February 4
*Penn at Brown, 6 pm
*Columbia at Harvard, 7 pm
*Cornell at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Princeton at Yale, 7 pm

Cornell Athletics Game Notes for Visit to Harvard

2012-01-31T14:35:00.003-05:00

Nationally Ranked Harvard First Up For Men's Hoops This Weekend
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GAME INFORMATION
Game #19: Cornell at No. --/23 Harvard
Tip off: Friday, Feb. 3, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Lavietes Pavilion (2,050), Cambridge, Mass.
2011-12 Records: Cornell (7-11, 2-2 Ivy League); Harvard (18-2, 4-0 Ivy League)
Series Record: Cornell leads 90-70
Last Meeting: Harvard won 73-60, Feb. 18, 2011 in Ithaca, N.Y.

Game #20: Cornell at Dartmouth
Tip off: Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Leede Arena (2,100), Hanover, N.H.
2011-12 Records: Cornell (7-11, 2-2 Ivy League); Dartmouth (4-16, 0-4 Ivy League)
Series Record: Dartmouth leads 102-100
Last Meeting: Cornell won 96-76, Feb. 19, 2011 in Ithaca, N.Y.

Radio: HITS 103.3 FM (Barry Leonard)
TV: None
Live Stats: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Tickets: check availability by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH BILL COURTNEY
Cornell head coach Bill Courtney is in his second season at Cornell (17-29, .370) ... Courtney became the fifth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on April 23, 2010.

ITHACA, N.Y. — After evening its Ivy League record last weekend, the Cornell men's basketball team will face a pair of road challenges when it visits No. 23 Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. The Big Red meets the Crimson on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion, then vists the Big Green on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Leede Arena. Barry Leonard will provide the call on HITS 103.3 FM and you can listen live audio of the game on RedCast. Additionally, both Harvard and Dartmouth will provide live video on their web sites for a fee.

Cornell and Harvard have combined to win the last four Ivy League titles, with the Big Red the last Ancient Eight team to be nationally ranked before the Crimson this year (rising as high as No. 17 in 2009-10). Harvard is off to an 18-2 start and has signature wins over Florida State and Boston College. Dartmouth is rebuilding with one of the youngest teams in the Ivy League, including leading freshman rebounder Gabas Maldunas. Ten of the team's 16 losses have come by single digits.

Chris Wroblewski, a senior co-captain, became the school's 24th 1,000-point scorer earlier this season. He enters the weekend averaging 9.9 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game and runs an offense that has seven players averaging 5.6 points per game or better. Senior Drew Ferry is posting a team-high 12.2 points and ranks eighth nationally in 3-pointers made per game (3.2), while Miller is scoring 9.2 ppg. and leads the team in rebounding (6.3 rpg.) and blocked shots (1.8 bpg.). Freshman Galal Cancer is averaging 7.1 ppg., 3.1 apg., 2.9 rpg. and 1.4 spg. and ranks third on the team in scoring in Ivy games (9.8 ppg.).

ABOUT HARVARD
* 2011-12 Record: 18-2 (4-0 Ivy League).
* Head Coach: Tommy Amaker (Duke '87), 84-53, fifth season at Harvard; 261-191, 15th season overall.
* Harvard brings a six-game win streak and an 18-2 overall record into Friday's conference matchup with the Big Red. Opponents haven't scored more than 61 points in a game in seven contests.
* Harvard has been one of the top defensive teams in the country and has limited opponents to 40 percent shooting from the floor and 53.4 points per game.
* Offensively, the Crimson haven't been slouches either. Harvard is shooting 47 percent from the floor as a team and 37 percent from 3-point range.
* The Crimson feature three double figure scorers (Kyle Casey - 11.0 ppg.; Laurent Rivard - 10.6 ppg.; Keith Wright - 10.6 ppg.) and three other players scoring six points per game or more. Wright, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, is also averaging 7.8 rebounds per game. As a team, the Crimson outrebound opponents by +4.4 rpg.
* Fifth-year head coach Tommy Amaker has helped the Crimson to unprecedented success, including the program's first-ever Ivy League championship in 2010-11. Harvard has made consecutive postseason tournament for the first time ever.

THE SERIES: Cornell leads the series 90-70 dating back to the first meeting between the teams in the 1901-02 season. The Big Red is 11-7 in the last 18 contests and has won five of the last eight meetings, though Harvard swept last season's contests. Cornell's last four wins in the series have come by an average of 24.8 points, though the Crimson took a pair of easy victories over the Big Red a season ago by an average of 17.0 points.

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD: Cornell turned the ball over just eight times, outrebounded Harvard and outscored the talented Harvard frontcourt 30-16 in the paint, but a 35-6 free-throw disparity in the favor of the visitors proved too much for the Big Red to overcome in a 73-60 loss at Newman Arena. Drew Ferry hit four 3-pointers for his team-high 12 points, while Max Groebe added 10 as the lone Big Red players in double figures. Chris Wroblewski chipped in with eight points and three assists, while Adam Wire had eight points, five rebounds and three assists. Mark Coury had six points and seven rebounds, including five of the team's 15 offensive boards. Cornell held a 32-29 advantage on the glass and was credited with 14 assists to just eight turnovers. Harvard got balanced scoring with five players in double figures, led by Christian Webster with 20 points and five rebounds. The player that made it all go was point guard Brandyn Curry, who stemmed off at least three Cornell runs with shots at big times en route to 18 points and five assists. Kyle Casey chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds, while Keith Wright had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Laurent Rivard scored 10 points off the bench to round out the double figure scorers. The Crimson connected on 29-of-35 shots from the free-throw line (83 percent), while Cornell was perfect in six attempts.

ABOUT DARTMOUTH
* 2011-12 Record: 4-16 (0-4 Ivy League).
* Head Coach: Paul Cormier (New Hampshire '74), 96-134, ninth season at Dartmouth; 182-245, 16th season overall.
* Dartmouth has lost three straight and nine of the last 10 to enter Friday's contest against Columbia with a 4-16 record. That mark is a bit deceiving, as 10 of those losses have come by single digits.
* Freshman Gabas Maldunas leads the team in scoring (8.8 ppg.), rebounding (7.1 rpg.) and blocked shots (20). In all, six different players are averaging between 6.7 and 8.8 points.
* The Big Green is shooting 39 percent from the floor overall and 35 percent from 3-point range while allowing opponents to connect on 41 percent of their shots and an equal 35 percent from beyond the arc.
* In his second go-round on the Dartmouth bench, Paul Cormier directed the Big Green to some of its greatest successes in the 1990s. Now, he is facing a rebuilding job with some of the top young talent in the Ancient Eight.

THE SERIES: Dartmouth leads 102-100 overall in a series that dates back to the 1900-01 campaign. Cornell has had the best of the series recently despite having its 10-game win streak in the series snapped last year. The Big Red has still captured wins in 14 of the last 16 meetings, including eight straight at Newman Arena.

LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH: For the second time this Ivy League season, the Cornell men's basketball hit 16 3-pointers and put six scorers in double figures, shooting 57 percent from the floor overall en route to a 96-76 win over Dartmouth at Newman Arena. Sophomore Errick Peck had a career-high 22 points, classmate Johnathan Gray posted his first career double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) and junior Chris Wroblewski narrowly missed his second of the season (19 points, nine assists) as Cornell took control early and never let its foot off the pedal in a fast-paced effort. Four different players (Wroblewski, Peck, Max Groebe and Drew Ferry) each hit at least three 3-pointers as the team connected on 16-of-29 shots from beyond the arc (.552) as a group. Both Groebe and Ferry had 14 points each, while freshman Jake Matthews scored a career-high 10 points, including eight in the first half. Dartmouth shot 54 percent from the floor and made 7-of-14 from 3-point range, but couldn't overcome its 17 turnovers or the Big Red's hot shooting. R.J. Griffin led the team with 18 points and five rebounds, while Tyler Melville and Ronnie Dixon each had 11. Jabari Trotter rounded out the Big Green's four double figure scorers with 10 points.

NOTES TO KNOW:
* Though it hasn't been able to break through on the road (0-9), Cornell has had great success at home (7-2).
* Thirteen of the team's last 14 games against Division I teams have been decided by single digits.
* Three of Cornell's games have gone to overtime, with the Big Red going 2-1. It is the ninth time Cornell has played in at least three overtime games in a single season. The school record for OT contests in a year is four, done in 1962-63, 1979-80 and 1999-2000.

CORNELL VS. RANKED OPPONENTS: Cornell enters its contest against No. 23 Harvard with a 5-66 record all-time against teams ranked in the top 25. Cornell snapped an 18-game skid against ranked teams by dispatching of No. 12/13 Temple in the NCAA first round and No. 16/19 Wisconsin in the second round of the 2009-10 tournament. The Big Red's previous win was a 74-54 triumph over then-No. 19 California, at the 1992 Seton Hall/Meadowlands Tournament. That team featured Jason Kidd (who sat out the game) and former NBA player Lamond Murray. The Big Red's other wins came against then-No. 17 Syracuse in 1957 (60-54), then-No. 3 Princeton in 1967 (62-56) and a win by forfeit against No. 15 Minnesota in a game vacated by the Gophers after using an ineligible player in 1976.

TALL IVY: Over the last six seasons, Cornell's 55-19 record is the best among Ivy League teams in conference action. Penn, who claimed the 2006-07 title, is second at 43-30, followed by Yale (42-32), and 2010-11 Ivy champions Harvard (40-34) and Princeton (37-36). Rounding out the field is Columbia (33-41), Brown (30-44) and Dartmouth (16-58).

CORNELL IN OVERTIME:
* Cornell is 2-1 this season in overtime in 2011-12.
* In two seasons under head coach Bill Courtney, the Big Red is 3-1.
* All-time, dating back to the first overtime game against Penn way back in 1922, Cornell is 37-45 in games that go an extra period.
* Cornell is 5-9 in multiple overtime games.
* The longest game for the Big Red was a five overtime contest against Princeton, won by the Tigers 66-61 on Feb. 24, 1979 at Barton Hall.
* Cornell is 28-15 in home overtime games, 2-2 in neutral contests and 8-27 in road games.

THE STREAKS
* Cornell is 88-50 in the last five seasons.
* The Big Red is 46-14 in its last 60 Ivy League contests over the last five years.
* Cornell is 53-11 over its last 64 home games, including 36-9 in the last four seasons and 48-10 in the last five years.
* In non-conference games, the Big Red is 42-36 over the last five seasons.

TEAM NOTES:
* The Big Red has limited opponents to 27 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point arc (96-of-352), with opponents making just 5.3 per game. Only twice has a team shot better than 33 percent against Cornell.
* Seven of Cornell's last nine opponents have shot under 40 percent from the floor (.389 over last nine games).
* The Big Red has been outrebounded in 15 of the team's first 18 contests.
* Cornell has made at least seven 3-pointers in 14 of its first 18 contests this season, while only allowing as many as seven five times (seven vs. Boston University, at Illinois, at Stony Brook and 10 at Penn State, vs. Penn).
* Cornell shot 43 percent from 3-point range in its first two games (18-of-42), but has connected on just 32 percent (119-of-378) in its last 16.
* Over its last four contests, the Big Red has made just 18-of-73 from 3-point range (.247).
* Cornell has at least eight steals in six straight games for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.
* Cornell has already lost 94 player games due to injury (Asafo-Adjei - 10; D.Cherry - 4; Gatlin - 18; Groebe - 2; LaMore - 3; Matthews - 18; Peck - 18; Sahota - 18; Scelfo - 3).

MILLER CHALLENGING ROOKIE RECORDS: Freshman Shonn Miller has already set a freshman record for blocked shots in a season (33, good for 12th best in school history), breaking the previous record of 22 by Jeffrion Aubry during the 1995-96 campaign. Miller sits 16th on the school's freshman scoring chart with his 165 points scored. Next on the list is Ken Bantum with 184 points. To reach the top 10, Miller would need to average 8.0 ppg. over the remaining 10 regular season contests. His 114 rebounds is just 25 shy of Lenny Collins' school freshman record of 139 set during the 2002-03 campaign.

CORNELL HAS FOUR IVY LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK AWARDS:
Nov. 14 — Shonn Miller's first varsity appearance was enough to catch the eye of the league after a solid opening effort at St. Bonaventure. Miller connected on all three of his field goals, including a 3-pointer, and added a team-high four rebounds in Cornell's 79-58 loss to the Bonnies. He added a blocked shot and a steal.
Nov. 21 — Shonn Miller averaged 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 0.7 steals in just 23.3 minutes per game in helping Cornell go 2-1. He shot 46 percent from the floor and 71 percent from the free-throw line. He reached double figures in two of the three contests. Miller opened the week with career highs of 19 points and eight rebounds to go along with a block and a steal in a win over Binghamton. He eight points and two rebounds against Buffalo and notched 10 points, six rebounds and two blocked two shots against reigning America East champion and preseason favorite Boston University.
Nov. 28 — Shonn Miller averaged 8.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals in two games for the Big Red, including earning his first career starts. He had eight points, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals against an athletic Delaware frontcourt. He answered that performance with nine points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal against American.
Dec. 19 — Galal Cancer scored 11 points, dished seven assists, snatched five rebounds and picked up four steals in an 85-82 overtime victory over the Great Danes. He made 5-of-10 field goals while collecting career highs in assists and steals. He was also just two points off his career scoring high. Cancer had four points, two rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in the final minute of regulation for the Big Red, who overcame a 10-point deficit with nine minutes to play to force an extra session.

CORNELL BEYOND THE ARC — 600 AND COUNTING: The Big Red hit nine 3-pointers against Columbia on Jan. 28, its 645th consecutive game with a made trey. With five 3-pointers at Seton Hall on Nov. 14, 2010, Cornell extended its streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 600. The last time Cornell did not hit a 3-pointer was against Denison in the 1988-89 season opener (0-for-2). Since the 3-point shot came into effect in NCAA play during the 1986-87 season, Cornell has hit at least one shot behind the arc in 693 of 697 games, connecting on 4,339 treys, an average of 6.2 per game. Cornell has hit at least 10 3-pointers in a game 34 times in 79 games over the last three years, including an Ivy League single-game record 20 at Brown in 2009-10.

BOMBS AWAY: Cornell made 251 3-pointers in 28 contests during the 2010-11 campaign. The 9.0 3-pointers per game ranked second all-time in a season for the Big Red (behind only the 9.6 per game in 2009-10) and ranked sixth among all Division I teams a season ago. Last season, Cornell ranked first nationally in 3-point percentage (.430) and third in 3-pointers made per game in 2009-10, and ranked in the top 20 nationally in 3-point percentage in 2008-09 (fourth, .411), 2007-08 (fourth, .409) and 2006-07 (18th, .396).

STATING THE STATES: Members of the Cornell basketball team represent 16 states and one Canadian province.

BIG RED CAPTAINS: Cornell's senior backcourt of Drew Ferry and Chris Wroblewski will serve as co-captains for the 2011-12 season. Wroblewski is in his second year as team captain, becoming the 13th player to serve as captain for at least two years.

WROBLEWSKI NAMED FINALIST FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Senior guard Chris Wroblewski has been named one of 30 finalists for the Lowe's Senior Class Award it was announced today by the committee. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. He joins Penn's senior guard Zack Rosen as the only Ivy League players on the list. Wroblewski was a third-team Capital One Academic All-American as a junior and has twice been named to the academic all-district team. The two-year team captain has been involved in numerous charitable endeavors and has been a four-year starter on the court. His teams have won two Ivy titles and he is a two-year member of the Bob Cousy Award Watch List as the nation's top point guard. A second-team All-Ivy pick as a junior, he was the conference's leader in steals and was second in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio and sixth in scoring. He has twice led the conference in 3-point field-goal percentage.

NEXT UP: Cornell returns home for a weekend set against Yale on Friday, Feb. 10, then Brown on Saturday, Feb. 11 at Newman Arena. Both games will tip at 7 p.m.

Game Preview Center: Cornell at Harvard (2.3.12) and Dartmouth (2.4.12)

2012-01-31T10:17:00.003-05:00

Get all the information you need about the Cornell Big Red's games at Harvard (February 3, 7 pm) and Dartmouth (February 4, 7 pm) right here with The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center. As the games approaches, we will be adding relevant links to this space. Let us know your thoughts on the upcoming games by either leaving a comment to this post, sending us an email (CornellBigRedFan@gmail.com), or posting a message on The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum (click here, free membership).

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News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

2012-01-31T09:15:00.006-05:00

Below, some news and notes for Tuesday...

WHRB, the student radio at Harvard, quoted Tommy Amaker back on January 23 as saying, "What Cornell did a couple of years ago and what we are doing right now and being ranked, these are the kinds of things that are going to give more credibility to our league as a whole."

Previewing the Cornell at Harvard game on Friday, SBNation of Boston writes, "Cornell (7-11, 2-2 Ivy League) @ Harvard (18-2, 4-0 Ivy League) 7 p.m. The only ranked team in New England makes it's first appearance at home in over two weeks, when they take on a Cornell program that is still rebuilding after the departure of Steve Donahue. Harvard earned a big win Friday night in blowout fashion over Yale, before putting away Brown Saturday on the road, moving them to 4-0 in the Ivy League. Cornell shouldn't pose any great threat to the Crimson, but Tommy Amaker might have a few more kind words than usual for Cornell head coach Bill Courtney, after the Big Red knocked off Princeton in their Ivy League opener. Significance: 4 of 5, Quality: 2 of 5, Overall: 6 of 10."

The Commercial Appeal of Memphis notes that a future Cornell football lineman nailed a three pointer in his coach's win No. 1000.

Vote for Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) to appear in the NBA D-League All Star game by visiting the D-League Website. Foote and his Springfield Armor are back in action on Thursday when they host the Sioux Falls Skyforce. As always, all D-League games are broadcast free online via the D-League website.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's updated profiles of Cornell's four committed recruits from the classes of 2012 and 2013, Braxston Bunce (Kelowna Secondary School) Kelowna, BC, Canada, 6-11, Holt Harmon (Plano West HS), Plano, TX, 6-9, F; Nolan Cressler (Plum HS) Plum, PA, 6-4, G (class of 2012); and Tim Higgins (Paul VI HS) Fairfax, VA, 6-10, C (class of 2013). In addition, a listing of the Ivy League's committed recruits in the class of 2012 is available by clicking here.

The Kelowna Capital News writes, "It's been 30 years since the home team celebrated its first and only championship at the Interior Savings Western Canada Basketball Tournament. There may be no collection of talent better equipped to end the three-decade dry spell than the 2012 edition of the Kelowna Owls. Anchored by blue chip seniors Braxston Bunce and Mitch Goodwin—and aided by a solid supporting cast—KSS heads into this week's 39th annual tourney as the No. 1-ranked AAA team in the province. The Owls are 18-3 overall and haven't lost to a B.C. opponent in nearly two months."

Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recap sections from each of Cornell's games this season.

November 11, 2011 at St. Bonaventure L 58-79
November 14, 2011 vs. Binghamton W 76-61
November 16, 2011 at Buffalo L 59-68
November 20, 2011 vs. Boston University W 71-66
November 22, 2011 at Delaware L 68-76
November 27, 2011 vs. American L 63-65
December 3, 2011 vs. Lehigh W 81-79 (OT)

December 17, 2011 vs. Albany W 85-82 (OT)
December 19, 2011 at Illinois L 60-64
December 21, 2011 at Penn State L 67-74
December 28, 2011 at Stony Brook L 58-69 (OT)
December 31, 2011 at Bucknell L 60-63
January 3, 2012 at Maryland L 62-70
January 7, 2012 vs. Albright W 78-60
January 13, 2012 vs. Princeton W 67-59
January 14, 2012 vs. Penn L 52-64
January 21, 2012 at Columbia L 56-61
January 28, 2012 vs. Columbia W 65-60

Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of January 31 is No. 212 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 194 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 202 Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

Here is a look at Ivy League results and upcoming games. A full Ivy composite schedule may viewed by clicking here.

Ivy Awards

2012-01-30T13:18:00.005-05:00

The Ivy League Office named Chris Wroblewski to the weekly honor roll for the second consecutive week and notes of his play last week:

Chris Wroblewski, Cornell, Senior, Guard (Highland Park, Ill.)
19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists vs. Columbia

IVY LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS 2011-2012

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Week 1 November 14-Zack Rosen, Penn/Greg Mangano, Yale
Week 2 November 21-Zack Rose, Penn
Week 3 November 28-Keith Wright, Harvard
Week 4 December 5-Meiko Lyles, Columbia
Week 5 December 12-Kyle Casey, Harvard (Cornell not eligible)
Week 6 December 19-Ian Hummer, Princeton
Week 7 December 26-Tyler Bernardini, Penn
Week 8 January 2-Greg Mangano, Yale
Week 9 January 9-Greg Mangano, Yale
Week 10 January 16-Keith Wright, Harvard
Week 11 January 23-Mark Cisco, Columbia
Week 12 January 30-Andrew McCarthy, Brown

ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Week 1 November 14-Shonn Miller, Cornell/Jvonte Brooks, Dartmouth
Week 2 November 21-Shonn Miller, Cornell/Gabas Maldunas, Dartmouth
Week 3 November 28-Shonn Miller, Cornell/Alex Rosenberg, Columbia
Week 4 December 5-Jonah Travis, Harvard
Week 5 December 12-Gabas Maldunas, Dartmouth (Cornell not eligible)
Week 6 December 19-Galal Cancer, Cornell/John Golden, Dartmouth
Week 7 December 26-Jvonte Brooks, Dartmouth
Week 8 January 2-Denton Koon, Princeton
Week 9 January 9-Gabas Maldunas, Dartmouth
Week 10 January 16-Shonn Miller, Cornell

Week 11 January 23-Corbin Miller, Harvard
Week 12 January 30-Steve Moundou-Missi, Harvard

News and Notes: Monday Edition

2012-01-30T09:30:00.009-05:00

Below, some news and notes for Monday...

The Sports Network predicted Cornell would defeat Columbia on Saturday by a score of 60-57. Cornell ultimately won the game 65-60.

Vote for Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) to appear in the NBA D-League All Star game by visiting the D-League Website. Check out our updates on Cornell alumni playing professionally, including Foote, further down in this post.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's updated profiles of Cornell's four committed recruits from the classes of 2012 and 2013, Braxston Bunce (Kelowna Secondary School) Kelowna, BC, Canada, 6-11, Holt Harmon (Plano West HS), Plano, TX, 6-9, F; Nolan Cressler (Plum HS) Plum, PA, 6-4, G (class of 2012); and Tim Higgins (Paul VI HS) Fairfax, VA, 6-10, C (class of 2013). In addition, a listing of the Ivy League's committed recruits in the class of 2012 is available by clicking here.

Committed Cornell recruit, Nolan Cressler finished with 28 points on Saturday in a defeat to McKeesport. See the Pittsburgh Post Tribune for the brief recap.

Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recap sections from each of Cornell's games this season.

November 11, 2011 at St. Bonaventure L 58-79
November 14, 2011 vs. Binghamton W 76-61
November 16, 2011 at Buffalo L 59-68
November 20, 2011 vs. Boston University W 71-66
November 22, 2011 at Delaware L 68-76
November 27, 2011 vs. American L 63-65
December 3, 2011 vs. Lehigh W 81-79 (OT)

December 17, 2011 vs. Albany W 85-82 (OT)
December 19, 2011 at Illinois L 60-64
December 21, 2011 at Penn State L 67-74
December 28, 2011 at Stony Brook L 58-69 (OT)
December 31, 2011 at Bucknell L 60-63
January 3, 2012 at Maryland L 62-70
January 7, 2012 vs. Albright W 78-60
January 13, 2012 vs. Princeton W 67-59
January 14, 2012 vs. Penn L 52-64
January 21, 2012 at Columbia L 56-61
January 28, 2012 vs. Columbia W 65-60

Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of January 30 is No. 212 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 195 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 203 Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

Here is a look at Ivy League results and upcoming games. A full Ivy composite schedule may viewed by clicking here.

Below is an updated directory listing of some Twitter feeds associated with the Cornell basketball program. You can also follow The Cornell Basketball Blog on Twitter.

-Josh Wexler ('88)
-Steve Cobb ('05)
-Ryan Rourke ('06)
-Andrew Naeve ('07)
-Jason Canady ('08)
-Khaliq Gant ('09)
-Conor Mullen ('09)
-Brian Kreefer ('09)
-Ryan Wittman ('10)
-Pete Reynolds ('10)
-Jon Jaques ('10)
-Louis Dale ('10)
-Alex Tyler ('10)
-Geoff Reeves ('10)
-Jeff Foote ('10)
-Andre Wilkins ('10) (inactive)
-Aaron Osgood ('11)
-Adam Wire ('11)
-The Cornell Rebounders Club
-Max Groebe ()
-Chris Wroblewski ()
-Andrew Ferry ()
-Jonathan Grey ()
-Miles Asafo Adjei ()
-Peter McMillan ()
-Errick Peck ()
-Josh Figini ()
-Galal Cancer ()
-Ned Tomic ()
-Dominick Scelfo ()
-Jake Mathews ()
-Dwight Tarwater ()
-Manny Sahota ()
-Dave LaMore ()
-Shonn Miller ()
-Devin Cherry ()
-Nolan Cressler (committed recruit)
-Braxston Bunce (committed recruit)
-Holt Harmon (committed recruit)
-Tim Higgins (committed recruit)
-Assistant Coach Mike Blaine ()
-Assistant Coach Marlon Sears ()
-Assistant Coach Arlen Galloway ()
-Brian Delaney, WPIE/ESPN Radio Ithaca ()
-Ed Boulat, Ithaca Journal
-Cornell Daily Sun Sports ()
-Slope Sports ()
-WVBR Sports ()
-Former assistant coach, Jay Larranaga ()
-Former head coach, Steve Donahue ()
-Former assistant coach, Nat Graham ()
-Former assistant coach, Woody Kampmann ()
-Former Assistant Coach Ricky Yahn ()
-Former Intern Assistant Ryan Woerner ()

Throughout the year we provide periodic updates on Cornell's alumni playing professionally. Below, some updates:

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico premier league/Arecibo Capitanes, BSN Puerto Rico premier league)-As of January 30, Aubry is averaging 6.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Halcones swept Barreteros 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the playoffs and finished the regular season 34-6 and in 1st place out of 14 teams in the Mexican LNBP. Aubry, a 6'11" center, splits his time in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican professional leagues. He is also a member of Puerto Rico's national team joining several NBA stars. A well traveled pro player, Aubry spent several seasons in the NBA D League in the early part of his career with the Fayetteville Patriots and Florida Flame and earned honorable mention all D-League in 2002. During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry has also played professionally in the ABA (Miami Tropics) and abroad in Puerto Rico (Arecibo, Leones de Ponce, and Santurce, BSN Puerto Rico), Spain (Tarragona, LEB Gold Spain 2nd Division), Mexico (Halcones Rojos and Chihuahua Dorados, LNBP Mexico premier league), Poland (Slask Wroclaw, PLK Poland premier league), Argentina (Libertad Sunchales, Liga A Argentina), Uruguay (Hebraica, LUB Uruguay )and Peru (Alas Peruanas, Peru).

-Cody Toppert ('05) (Ourense, LEB Silver Spain 3rd Division)-As of January 30, Toppert is averaging 6.5 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Ourense is 8-5 (4th place out of 13 teams in the Spanish LEB Silver). During his pro career, Toppert, a 6'4" wing forward, has also played in England (Plymouth Raiders, British Basketball League), Italy (Forli, LegaDue Italy 2nd division), the CBA (Great Falls Explorers), as well as in Portugal (Barriernese, LCB Portugal premier league), Germany (Goettingen, BBK Bundesliga Germany premier league) and New Zealand (Taranaki Mountain Airs, NBL New Zealand premier league).

-Jason Hartford ('08) (Unsigned free agent)-As of January 30, Hartford is unsigned for the 2011-2012 season. He was cut during the week of October 17 by Cader Rocha, LUB Uruguay premier league and is now a free agent. He was averaging 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, second on the team in both categories. The 6'9" Hartford previously played professionally in Portugal (Ginasio, LCB Portugal premier league), Finland (Huima, Korisliiga Finland premier league) and Mozambique (Maxaquene, D1 Mozambique premier league).

-Louis Dale ('10) (Goettingen, BBK Bundesliga Germany premier league)-As of January 30, Dale is out for the season with a torn ACL. He was averaging 11.9 points, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per game before the injury. Dale is in his second professional season, both seasons in Germany with Goettingen.

-Ryan Wittman ('10) (Unsigned free agent)-As of January 30, Wittman is unsigned for the 2011-2012 season after he terminated his contract on September 26 with Zastal of the PLK Poland premier league. He played the 2010-2011 season in Italy (Forli, LegaDue Italy 2nd division) and in the United States (Fort Wayne Mad Ants, NBA D-League).

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Springfield Armor, NBA D-League)-As of January 30, Foote is averaging 14.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 55% from the floor in the D-League. He participated in the Portland Trailblazers' 2011-2012 training camp. Springfield is 13-13 (2nd place out of 8 teams in the Eastern Conference). He played the 2011-2012 preseason with with Zastal of the PLK Poland premier league and the full 2010-2011 season in Spain (Melilla, LEB Gold Spain 2nd division) while on loan from Euro League powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.

-Adam Wire ('11) (Unsigned free agent)-As of January 30, Wire is an unsigned free agent. He was waived by Vaerlose, Denmark BBK premier league during December. He was averaging 11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1.9 assists per game. On November 4, 2011 he was named the Eurobasket Player of the Week for Denmark. The 2011-2012 season is his rookie year.

-Aaron Osgood ('11) (Unsigned free agent)-As of January 30, Osgood is an unsigned free agent. He was waived by Vaerlose, Denmark BBK premier league during December. He was averaging 11.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. The 2011-2012 season is his rookie year.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter.

Blueprint for Success, the yearbook commemorating Cornell's memorable 2009-2010 season is on sale. Visit the Cornell Athletics website to order your copy today! Or pick up a copy sold in the Cornell Store on campus.

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Game Recap: Cornell 65, Columbia 60

2012-01-29T20:28:00.009-05:00

Recaps from the game below...

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS (YNN/Time Warner Cable) (click here)

Cornell looking up in men's basketball
Big Red off to better start in Ivy League as Harvard looms
Ithaca Journal

CU Men's Basketball

SATURDAY: Cornell 65, Columbia 60

RECORD: 7-11 overall, 2-2 Ivy League

NEXT: Friday at Harvard (18-2, 4-0)

ITHACA -- Bill Courtney knows the results might not suggest it, but he is certain that his Cornell men's basketball team is a better squad this season than at this time last season.

Despite being four games below .500 overall and winless on the road, his team is 2-2 in the Ivy League after Saturday's 65-60 defeat of Columbia. Compared to last season's 0-5 conference start, that is real progress.

"That's a big change, and you've got to be pleased with that," Courtney said Saturday after seeing his club withstand a 20-6 Columbia run in the second half that tied the game with eight minutes left.

The Big Red (7-11 overall) went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final two minutes and, despite two key turnovers while nursing a three-point lead, held on before an appreciative crowd of 4,103.

"I thought the schedule set up well for us to get off to a good start," he said. "We lost a home game (Jan. 14 vs. Pennsylvania), and we lost a game we could have got last week (at Columbia), so that's a disappointment, but 2-2 is obviously growth from where we were last year. I know we're a better team than we were last year, I know that for sure. We've just got to get some results that prove that out."

Saturday's result might prove to be the first of those for the Red. Senior point guard Chris Wroblewski scored eight of his game-high 19 points in a torrid first four minutes of the second half, sparking a run that put the home team ahead by 14 points with 15:13 to play.

Junior guard Johnathan Gray scored 14 points and freshman forward Shonn Miller added 10 points, seven rebounds and two spectacular blocks for the Red, which shot 41.5 percent.

Gray said Wroblewski's catching fire can ignite the rest of the team.

"He's our leader," he said. "Whenever we can, we just want to get him good looks at the basket. When he's going, it gets us going."

Columbia (12-8, 1-3 Ivy League) was led by junior point guard Brian Barbour, who scored 16 of his 19 points after intermission. He keyed the Lions' seven-minute surge through the middle of the second period that turned a 47-33 deficit into a 53-all game with 8:04 left.

"He's an incredible point guard, and all the credit to him," Wroblewski said. "I couldn't keep him in front of me, and he made some ridiculous shots."

Wroblewski was relieved his shot started falling after some early frustration this season. He finished 5-for-8, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.

"It feels good," said Wroblewski, whose confidence might have been bolstered at the end of the first half, when he flung the ball, baseball-style, from about 70 feet away a split second after the horn sounded and drained it.

"It's tough, because I feel like I'm shooting well in practice," he said. "I've been coming in here between classes and putting in the extra work. And not having that show up in the games has been tough, you can get down on yourself. So a game like this gives me a little confidence."

A confidence-booster like Saturday's win comes at the right time for Cornell, which sets its sights on Friday in Cambridge, Mass., with a game against Harvard (18-2, 4-0). The Crimson have fallen out of the national rankings since a loss to Fordham on Jan. 3, but are still the unquestioned cream of the crop in the Ivies and coming off a weekend sweep of Yale (65-35) and Brown (68-59).

"If we play well, and play like we do in practice, then we'll have a chance," Courtney said. "We've also got to guard them, but the biggest thing is, you've got to score. You look at what they did against Yale (Friday) night, and we know you've got to put the ball in the basket."

Wroblewski, Gray Help Men's Hoops Split Series With Columbia
Cornell Athletics

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)
Photo Gallery (photos by Patrick Shanahan)

ITHACA, NY – The expectation entering the season would be that nearly every Ivy League game would be a war. In this game, a fullcourt bomb helped awaken the Big Red offense.

Cornell earned a split of the season series with Columbia with a 65-60 win at Newman Arena on Saturday evening. The Big Red improved to 7-11 (2-2 Ivy), while the Lions slipped to 12-8 (1-3 Ivy) with the loss.

Senior guard Chris Wroblewski paced three Big Red players in double figures with 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including a 4-for-6 effort from the 3-point line. Wroblewski also dished out a game-high five assists and added seven rebounds and two steals. His fullcourt, one-handed heave just after the buzzer seemed to awaken the Big Red fans and appeared to be the symbolic moment when the senior co-captain launched himself out of a season-long shooting slump.

Cornell also got 14 points from junior guard Johnathan Gray and 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals from freshman forward Shonn Miller. The Big Red shot 42 percent from the floor and limited the Lions to 37 percent shooting, including a miserable 4-of-22 from beyond the arc (18 percent).

Brian Barbour had a team-high 19 points and added five assists for the Lions, while Mark Cisco had his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Alex Rosenberg rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points.

Cornell held just a 60-59 lead with 1:49 left to play before putting the game away by shooting 5-for-6 from the foul line in the last 1:40. Gray shot 4-for-4 during that span. Following a 30-second timeout with 11 seconds to play. Columbia's Brian Barbour missed a 3-pointer that would of tied the game at 63 with three seconds left. The Big Red rebounded and Gray nailed consecutive charity shots to put the game out of reach.

Wroblewski wowed the crowd of more than 4,100 with a length of the court 3-pointer at the end of the the first half that came just after the buzzer. Cornell rode the momentum after the break to turn a 30-23 lead into a 14-point bulge with a 17-10 run to open the second half. Columbia was able to even the score at 56-56, but Cornell never trailed in the final 28 minutes.

Much like a week ago in New York City, the home team took control midway through the first, ran out to a double figure lead and looked poised to collect an easy win. Then the visitors made a run, getting right back in it, only to see the home team grab control of the momentum again in the final minutes in front of a vocal crowd to earn a hard-fought win.

Such is the history with Cornell-Columbia basketball.

The Big Red started a lineup with four guards and center Eitan Chemerinski and succeeded in neutralizing Mark Cisco, who ripped the Big Red for 18 points and 20 rebounds a week prior. Though Cisco continued to dominate the backboards with seven in the first seven minutes and nine before the break, Cornell was able to successfully speed up the Lions, who ended the half with eight turnovers while making just 29 percent of its shots (7-of-24).

The second half saw the Big Red really open it up, scoring 17 points in the first 4:47 to extend the lead to 47-33 after the last of three straight 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. Gray's two treys were sandwiched around one by Max Groebe. The Lions methodically cut into the lead and even appeared to take a lead on a made basket by Rosenberg, but the freshman was instead called for a charge with 6:42 left on the clock. A minute and a half later, John Daniels tied the game on a tip-in, but the game's sixth tie would only last for 17 seconds, long enough for Cornell's Miller to pull through, get into the lane and hit an acrobatic running layup to give the Big Red the lead it would never relinquish.

Six times in the final five minutes, the Lions attempted a shot to tie or take the lead, but missed each attempt. Cornell played brilliant defense on Barbour's game-tying attempt with less than five seconds to go and rebounded the miss to even the team's record in Ivy play.

Cornell returns to action when it heads to Harvard on Friday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass.

Red's Offense Comes Alive in Home Win Over Lions
Cornell Daily Sun

Just after the halftime buzzer sounded, senior guard and co-captain Chris Wroblewski threw the basketball from Columbia’s 3-point line, 75 feet away from the basket, toward the rim. Instead of looking away and walking off the court, he watched it swish through the net as referees, teammates and fans all cracked a smile at his incredible shot. Although the play had no tangible impact on the final score, it appeared to give Wroblewski enough confidence to play one of his best games of the season as he helped Cornell (7-11, 2-2 Ivy League) beat Columbia (12-8, 1-3), 65-60, to avenge last week’s loss in New York City.

Wroblewski had one of his strongest performances so far this season, filling the stat sheet with 19 points — including 4-of-6 shooting from downtown — seven rebounds, five assists and just two turnovers. The co-captain did most of his work at the start of the second half, right after his incredible heave at the end of the first half. He nailed two 3-pointers and added two free throws to score the Red’s first eight points, expanding the lead to 11.

“It feels good; it feels really good,” Wroblewski replied when asked about his shooting. “This is has been a frustrating year for me shooting-wise. I’ve been struggling and it’s tough because I’m shooting well in practice and I’m getting [in the gym] in between classes and putting in the extra work. Not having that show up in the game, you get down on yourself.”

“[Chris] is our leader; we really want to go to him a lot and whenever we can,” said junior guard Johnny Gray, who finished the game with 14 points and seven rebounds. “We want to give him good looks, especially since when he’s going, it gets us going. Seeing him getting into the game and knowing that he’s hot, everyone follows his lead.”

To match Wroblewski’s strong start after halftime was Columbia’s point guard Brian Barbour. He scored Columbia’s first 10 points in the second half to keep the Lions in the game, matching Wroblewski shot-for-shot. Barbour finished the game with 19 points and five assists, committing just one turnover. The guard did most of his damage in the second half of the game, scoring 16 of his 19 and dishing out three assists.

“[Barbour] is an incredible point guard — all the credit to him,” Wroblewski said. “I couldn’t keep him in front of me and he made some ridiculous shots. He’s crafty [and] he’s tough to guard.”

“Brian Barbour got it going a little bit, causing us trouble in transition and just attacking the basket and finishing and-ones,” Gray added. “We wanted to make it as difficult as possible [since] we knew that he would get going eventually but we wanted to make sure we hounded him for 40 minutes.”

The start of the game was not as exciting as the start of the second half. After losing last week at Columbia, head coach Bill Courtney experimented with the starters, using a four-guard lineup.

“The four-guard set is just one of our strengths,” Gray said. “We have a lot of guards who can handle the ball and it causes other defenses fits. They have to probably put a big out there and we get mismatches and we use our speed. We have a lot of guards out here that can get up and down the court, which causes other defenses to have to get back in transition.”

Both teams had trouble shooting the ball out of the gates, as the game was tied, 13-13, with 8:28 to go in the half. The Red’s offense suddenly came to life as shots started falling. Cornell expanded the lead to 10 at one point and entered the half leading, 30-23.

The game went back-and-forth for several minutes, with neither team pulling ahead by more than 4 points. With 1:25 left and the Red up three, 62-59, the Lions had a chance to tie the game, as they attempted three open 3-pointers in one possession after securing two offensive rebounds. Luckily for the Red, all three attempts missed the mark. Despite a late lapse, Cornell’s overall effort rebounding the ball was much improved compared to last week, where Columbia held the advantage on the glass, 45-29.

“We got dominated on the boards last week and we really wanted to make an effort to get on the boards, block out [center Mark] Cisco and [forward John] Daniels and try to get rebounds,” Gray emphasized. “They’re not really going to score a lot in their half-court offense, they were [just] getting a lot of second chance points … We just wanted to cut those out and it helped us get the win.”

The game came down to Columbia’s final possession, when freshman guard Galal Cancer covered Barbour perfectly, forcing him to throw up a desperation fade-away 3 that harmlessly bounced off the rim. Gray grabbed the rebound and was promptly fouled and hit both free throws, leading to the final score, 65-60.

This game helped the Red regain its confidence after a tough loss at Columbia last week and is now ready to take on the rest of the Ivy League, according to Wroblewski.

“This one was a must-win for us, especially [with] a big weekend coming up — going to Harvard and Dartmouth — and to get back to [2-2] in the league, but more so for our morale and confidence,” Wroblewski said. “I thought we played our tails off … I’m so proud we got the win.”

Cornell hands Light Blue third single-digit Ancient Eight loss

Facing a 14-point deficit with 15 minutes to play, the Light Blue staged a spirited comeback to pull within two with under a minute to play before losing, 65-60 Columbia Spectator

ITHACA, N.Y.—For the third time in four games, the Lions found themselves in a large hole in the middle of the second half. For the third time in four games, they managed to stage a comeback and pull within two points with less than 30 seconds to play. For the third time in four games, they came up just short, losing to Cornell 65-60 on Saturday night.

“You know it’s an Ivy League game—same deal,” head coach Kyle Smith said after the game.

“We’re just 1-3 in these situations. We had a number of shots to tie it or even go ahead.”

The fact that the men’s basketball team (12-8, 1-3 Ivy) had several chances to tie the game was surprising, given that it was trailing the Big Red (7-11, 2-2 Ivy) by 14 with 15 minutes remaining in the second half. Cornell took a seven-point lead into halftime and opened it up in the first five minutes after intermission by knocking down five consecutive threes.

Senior guard Chris Wroblewski made the first two of those treys and led his team with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Last week at Levien, Wroblewski was just 3-of-13 from the field and 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.

“I knew he’d eventually snap out of his shooting slump, and unfortunately, it was tonight,” Smith said.

The bleeding could have been much worse if Brian Barbour had not stepped up. The junior guard had just three points in the first half, but scored Columbia’s first 10 points of the second half.

“What casual observers probably don’t recognize is that they load up so hard on him in the first half,” Smith said of Barbour. “I think they wore down a bit—they can’t guard him that way the whole time.”

Barbour finished the game with a team-high 19 points on 6-for-15 shooting. As he had in the Light Blue’s close losses to Princeton and Penn two weeks ago, Barbour put on an impressive second-half performance to put his team back in the game, only for Columbia to come up just short.

“Each one gets worse a little bit—hurts more and more,” Barbour said.

“It’s tough coming all the way up here, fighting back, and then not being able to pull it out. Having to travel back is not going to be as fun, but, you know, we’re right there, which is a positive—you got to try to look at the positives after these things. We’re so close, so we just got to keep going.”

Still, the Lions had their chances. With about 12 minutes to play, junior center Mark Cisco hit his second consecutive jumper to bring Cornell’s lead back to eight, and the Light Blue continued to chip away from there.

With 1:49 left to play, freshman guard Noah Springwater hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 60-59. Two foul shots by Cornell junior guard Johnathan Gray brought the Big Red’s lead back to three, but the Lions had three opportunities on their next possession to tie the game. However, all of those three-point attempts—by Barbour, freshman forward Alex Rosenberg, and sophomore guard Meiko Lyles—were off the mark.

Cisco, who had a career game against Cornell last weekend with 18 points and 20 rebounds, was obviously a focus of the Big Red’s defense this week. His two jumpers were his only shots of the second half.

“They were defending me really hard,” Cisco said. “Every time I got the ball, they were straight doubling me. But, you know, I was trying to kick it out to the guards—some of those fell, some of those didn’t.”

Still, Cisco recorded his third consecutive double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“I played all right. I could do better,” Cisco said.

What was perhaps the difference in the game was Columbia’s poor shooting from three-point territory. The Lions made just four of their 22 attempts from beyond the arc (18.2 percent) and have struggled from downtown since the start of league play.

“We’re getting good shots. We just got to hit them—that’s all it comes down to,” Barbour said. “I know we’re going to, I know it’s going to come, but it’s tough when you miss a couple.”

The Light Blue will need those shots to fall when it takes on league-leading and nationally-ranked Harvard next Saturday after facing off against Dartmouth on Friday.

Unable to Complete Second-Half Comeback, Men's Basketball Falls at Cornell 65-60
Columbia Athletics

Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. - Columbia's last five games had been decided by seven points or fewer. When Cornell built a 47-33 lead with 15 minutes to play after leading by seven at halftime, it appeared that the Big Red was on its way to a rare double-digit victory.

But Columbia rallied back, on the strength of 16 second-half points by Brian Barbour and strong contributions from its bench to tie the game at 53 with eight minutes remaining. But the Lions could not complete the comeback as Cornell came away with a 65-60 win at Newman Arena on Saturday night.

Both teams did not shoot well from the field to open the game, similar to last week's defensive struggle between the Ivy League travel partners. After the Lions led 13-10 with nine minutes left, the Big Red embarked on an 18-5 run to go up by 10, 28-18 with two minutes left. Columbia cut the deficit to seven points, 30-23, at halftime.

Barbour came out of halftime on fire, scoring 10 straight points for the Lions in the first three minutes of the second half. His triple brought the Lions within five, 38-33, at the 17-minute mark.

Cornell then hit three straight three-pointers, two by Jonathan Gray, to take a 47-33 lead with 15:13 left in the game.

Noah Springwater answered with a deep three-pointer to start Columbia's comeback. Cornell still led 53-43 after a putback by Shonn Miller but Barbour found Alex Rosenberg for a three-pointer on Columbia's next possession to cut the Cornell lead to seven.

After forcing a missed three at the defensive end, Barbour took the ball the length of the court and converted a conventional three-point play to make it a 53-49 game. Cornell then turned the ball over and on an inbounds play, Rosenberg broke free for an uncontested layup to make it a two-point game. Columbia forced another Cornell miss and Barbour found John Daniels cutting to the hoop for two, tying the game at 53 with eight minutes left.

The game remained tied at 56 after a putback by Daniels with 5:10 left to play. Miller scored at the other end to put Cornell back in front by two and after a Columbia missed three, Chris Wroblewski hit two free throws to put the Big Red ahead by four, 60-56, with four minutes left.

The Lions trailed by three, 62-59, with 1:40 remaining and had three good looks to tie the game but were unable to connect. Columbia was able to force a turnover and after Barbour hit one of two free throws, trailed 62-60 with 19 seconds remaining.

Columbia fouled Drew Ferry, who made one of two free throws to make it a three-point game again. The Lions had possession with 14 seconds left and Barbour's off-balance three-point attempt went just long with time winding down. Gray made two free throws with six-tenths of a second left for the final margin.

"We had chances to tie and we've got to execute and make those shots, " head coach Kyle Smith said after the game. "I'll take our chances on the road with those guys [shooting]."

Barbour finished with 19 points and five assists against one turnover. Mark Cisco posted his third straight double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) and his fourth of the season. Rosenberg added 10 points and four rebounds for the Lions.

"We had good energy and good momentum," Smith said of the second-half comeback. "We just couldn't get over the hump."

Wroblewski's 19 points led Cornell, which received 14 points and seven boards from Gray. Miller had 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench.

Columbia will be back to Ivy League action on the road at Dartmouth on Friday, February 3 at 7 p.m.

NOTES:

Van Green had a career-high four steals in 16 minutes off the bench for Columbia ... John Daniels finished with six points and nine rebounds ... Steve Egee scored five points in his first start of the season ... Columbia outrebounded Cornell 37-33 and 12-8 on the offensive glass ... the Lions made just four of 22 from three-point range ... both teams had 14 turnovers ... it was Newman Nation Jersey Night at Cornell and more than a thousand students came out for the promotion ... the Lions had won the previous three games with the Big Red.

Ithaca Journal Profiles Jeff Foote (Cornell '10)

2012-01-28T09:21:00.004-05:00

Well-traveled Foote still shooting for NBA
Seven-footer from Cornell, Spencer-Van Etten honing skills in D-League
The Ithaca Journal

ITHACA -- By any measure, professional basketball player Jeff Foote went through a lot during his college years.

From not being recruited out of high school, to walking on at St. Bonaventure University, to eventually transferring to Cornell and winning three Ivy League titles -- not to mention making a Sweet 16 appearance his senior year that thrust him and the Big Red into the national spotlight -- one could expect that Foote faced his fair share of obstacles along the way. And like many other college students and athletes around the country, Foote did his fair share of growing up and maturing.

But even all of that couldn't possibly have prepared the Spencer-Van Etten graduate and 7-foot, 265-pound giant for what would come following his time on East Hill. A testing journey through the ranks of international basketball took him, in barely over a year, to such faraway places as Israel, Morocco and Poland.

Forget worrying about handing a class assignment in on time, or making sure to get enough sleep before a big game. As a pro, Foote's daily challenges became making sure he got home from practice safely and figuring out how he was going to communicate with a coach or teammate who didn't speak English.

"I learned that you really get spoiled in college," said Foote, 24, who graduated from Cornell in 2010 and now plays for the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League. "Everything is taken care of for you, whereas overseas you're really more responsible for yourself. You really have to act with your own best interest in mind, and you have to figure things out for yourself. You're not going to get a whole lot of help over there."

In June 2010, following three highly successful seasons at Cornell that saw the Big Red go 69-18 and win three straight Ivy championships, Foote signed a three-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, a professional team in Israel and one of the most successful European clubs of the last decade.

Midway through the season, however, admittedly "more or less inexperienced in the overseas game" and after logging only four minutes with the Euroleague giants, Foote was sent to Spanish second-division team Melilla Baloncesto in November on a one-year loan.

Although technically a Spanish city, Melilla is in northern Morocco and serves as an African port city for mainland Spain. There, and despite gaining some valuable experience and averaging a solid 7.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 25 games, Foote would be exposed to some of the harsh realities of international pro basketball. It eventually led him back to the states.

"Maccabi Tel Aviv is a big-name team, so everything was really well-organized and well-run," said Foote, who describes his time in Israel as "by far the best" of his overseas adventures. "But Melilla was a pretty rough city. It was an awkward experience. There's a lot of poverty and drug-ridden areas. But overall, it was a good learning experience there."

His most loyal fans were particularly happy to see Foote home. His parents, Don and Wanda, had meticulously tracked their son's overseas career, albeit from half a globe away.

"As his parents, obviously our major concern was his safety and well-being," said Don Foote, who was the boys' JV basketball coach at Spencer-Van Etten while his son played for the Panthers. "With his being so far away, we really didn't get a whole lot of time to talk to him, but it was a great experience for him, to get to see the world and play basketball and do what he likes."

Big Red reunion

The following summer, Foote reconnected with three of his close friends, classmates and teammates from Cornell -- Louis Dale, Ryan Wittman and Jon Jaques. The gang all got a place together in New York, played basketball, explored their surroundings and generally caught up on lost time.

At summer's end, Foote gave the European circuit one final try, this time bringing his good friend Wittman along with him. The pair signed on with Polish club Zastal Zielona Góra of the Tauron Basket League, although the result was again a failed experiment.

"When we got there, things started off pretty well, but that's kind of the European standard and after we lost a couple of games in a row things got really rocky," said Foote. "They decided to let go of Ryan, and from there it became very uncomfortable for me, so I decided to come back, as well."

Since his stint in Poland, Wittman has landed a job with Morgan Stanley in Minneapolis, and according to Foote, "is pretty happy where he's at, and I don't blame him." Dale, on the other hand, is recovering from a torn ACL suffered while playing professionally in Germany, and after having his surgery done in Europe plans to return to his home state of Alabama in the next few months before living with Foote in New York again this summer to "figure out his next step."

Perhaps not surprisingly, considering his college experience, Foote says the biggest obstacle he faced overseas was adjusting to the difference in the attitudes of the players.

"The team game is more or less over," Foote said. "A lot of people are just looking out for themselves, looking to get what they want and advance their careers, and you can't really blame them. We had a very special thing at Cornell. We didn't really care how it got done as long as it did. That whole family aspect is more or less gone over there."

Even more worrisome, he said, are some of the structural issues he encountered, as well as the target he said he wore on his back as an American player.

"You have to learn how to deal with a lot of different things," Foote said. "They're going to be late on payments all the time, and they're going to give you a million different reasons why. And especially being an American, you're always going to kind of be the goat. If you play well and your team loses, it's going to be your fault. If you play well and your team wins, it's going to be because the national guys played well. You have to learn to take your lumps."

As if the odds weren't already stacked high enough, Foote says he was often held back by a language barrier that made communication with some of his coaches and teammates almost impossible. In Israel, where English is taught as a second language, the young center found himself under the tutelage of an American coach. But in Morocco, and especially in Poland, things were not so simple.

"In Poland, our coach spoke a bit of broken English, but after that there was literally nobody else who spoke English," Foote said. "So if you can't speak the language, good luck. If your coach mistranslates something and you go do it wrong, it's going to be your fault."

Since returning to the U.S. for the second time, a stronger and more seasoned Foote has made huge strides toward his goal of playing in the NBA. When the lockout ended, he was invited to the Portland Trail Blazers' training camp, where he rubbed shoulders with fellow big man Marcus Camby, a former Defensive Player of the Year and 14-year NBA veteran, before being one of the last players cut.

Determined to keep improving and continue pursuing his NBA dream, Foote signed last month with the Armor of the NBA D-League. In 17 games (16 starts) at center, he's averaging 15.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 55 percent.

"I definitely think I'm right there, right on the cusp" Foote said. "It's just a matter of developing more and getting an opportunity."

Measuring Foote

» Career averages at Cornell: 11.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks (87 games)

» Career record at Cornell: 69-18 (34-1 home)

» Ivy League Defensive Player of the year (08-09, 09-10)

» First-team All-Ivy selection (09-10)

» Second-team All-Ivy selection (07-08, 08-09)

Cornell All-time Rankings:

» Defensive rebounds: 1st (454)

» Blocked shots: 3rd (159)

» FG percentage, season: 2nd (.625, 09-10)

Ithaca Journal Previews Columbia at Cornell

2012-01-28T09:15:00.002-05:00

Cornell men's basketball team needs to score more
The Ithaca Journal

ITHACA -- Yogi Berra is famously quoted as saying: "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."

One could say the same of basketball. The physical act of putting the ball through the basket can be practiced for hours, day after day, until it becomes a case of the muscles knowing exactly what to do, and the shots falling like rain.

In practice.

Ah, but introduce the pressure of the bright lights, a few thousand onlookers and a scoreboard that is judge and jury, and the shots that touch nothing but net in practice suddenly are drawn to the iron, the glass and a waiting rebounder.

Cornell men's coach Bill Courtney has seen this phenomenon with his Big Red (6-11 overall, 1-2 Ivy League), which will try to gain a split with Ivy travel partner Columbia when the Lions invade Newman Arena Saturday night for a 7 o'clock tip.

Cornell shot just 34 percent in dropping a 61-56 decision to the Lions last Saturday night in New York. Columbia didn't shoot much better (39.6 percent) but got a big game from 6-foot-9 junior center Mark Cisco, who nearly doubled his season average with 18 points and a Levien Gym-record 20 rebounds.

Columbia won despite a sub-par performance from leading scorer, 6-foot-1 junior guard Brian Barbour, who scored 14 points on 4-for-15 shooting.

Courtney knows his players can shoot the ball well, because he sees them do it every day. But in the games, it's different: The Big Red is shooting 40.9 percent, and 32.5 percent from 3-point range, this season; both the lowest percentages in 10 years.

"It's funny because we tend to make shots all the time in practice," Courtney said Thursday. "We just need to carry it over to the game and shoot with confidence like we do in practice. It'll certainly help if we see a couple go down early in the game."

Despite its shooting woes, the Red was right there at the end of last week's game with a chance to win. With Cornell trailing by two points with 32 seconds left, Cisco nailed two free throws, then Red senior point guard Chris Wroblewski hit a jumper to pull the Red back to within a pair at 58-56, but the Lions made three foul shots in the final 15 seconds, Wroblewski missed a potential tying 3-pointer with nine seconds left, and Columbia held on.

Courtney is happy with the way his team stacks up against streaky Columbia, which started the season with four straight losses but has reeled off win streaks of seven and four games since.

"The match-ups are pretty good for us," he said, "but again the biggest thing is we have to make shots. When you hold you're opponent to 39 percent shooting and hold their best player (Barbour) to 4-for-15 shooting and force 18 turnovers, you have to win that game.

"And if you shoot just a little bit better, you do win the game," he said. "We have to take advantage of our opportunities when we get in transition and when we get open shots and when we get to the free-throw line."

Another area where Courtney wants to see improvement is rebounding, and limiting the second chances the Lions get.

"They got 13 offensive rebounds last time and that's just too much," he said. "We'll have to do a much better job of blocking out, and try to force the tempo. Columbia wouldn't mind to have the game be in the 50s, but we'll try to get in more in the 70s if we can."

To do that, the Red needs to hit those shots that have been falling in practice. Courtney is certain Barbour won't leave the door open again for the Red.

"I doubt he'll have as an ineffective a game as he did last time," the coach said. "(That was) a very good job on our end, but he's a very good player and I'm sure at some point he's going to get going."

Big Apple Buckets Profiles Cornell vs. Columbia

2012-01-27T13:23:00.003-05:00

SGOTW: Columbia vs. Cornell
Big Apple Buckets

Most of the Ivy League likes to get their home-and-home series between travel partners done early in the season. Thus on Saturday Cornell and Columbia will meet for the second time in as many games. This time the game is in Ithica, New York. The Big Red already beat Princeton at home, so they’re obviously dangerous and they’ll be looking to get revenge for the Lions’ 61-56 victory exactly a week ago. I asked The Cornell Basketball Blog to answer some questions about the team before the game to prepare for the epic rematch.

1. Last time these two teams met Columbia used the home court advantage to pull out the 61-56 as Mark Cisco dominated inside. How does Cornell adapt and contain him inside?

CBB: Cornell has struggled throughout the season defending the paint and rebounding. Cisco is a hard-nosed player and if the Big Red want to contain him, they will need to match his physicality and intensity. Critical will be hedging and denying him the interior entry pass and boxing out on the defensive glass.

2. Lions fans didn’t really see the best of freshman Galal Cancer in the last meeting. What does he do well?

CBB: Galal is still working on his decisions with the basketball and turnovers have been an issue. These are typical areas of needed improvement from freshmen point guards. But he excels both in transition and in the half court at getting himself into the lane and drawing contact. He is also very physical for a guard and from time to time has posted up smaller guards.

3. As the links to the 2010 Sweet 16 team graduate and the Ivy League continues to improve, how do you see Cornell fitting into the league in the near future? (I realize this is a little loaded, feel free to answer in whatever way you see fit.)

CBB: I think Cornell’s best basketball is still ahead and realistically expect this team to win a championship in the short term. The current freshmen class is loaded by Ivy standards and the incoming recruits in the class of 2012 also are each immediate impact types. The focal point of the class is Braxston Bunce, a 6’11′ 265 pound post player from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Another big addition to the roster next season will be the return of junior Errick Peck who is sitting out this season with a knee injury. He was a member of the rotation on the Sweet 16 team.

4. Cornell is 6-11, 1-2. What would a successful finish to the season entail? Is this what you expected considering the inexperience of some of the starters?

CBB: Cornell is by far the most injured team in the Ivy League. Cornell has already lost 89 player games due to injury (Asafo-Adjei – 9; D.Cherry – 4; Gatlin – 17; Groebe – 2; LaMore – 3; Matthews – 17; Peck – 17; Sahota – 17; Scelfo – 3). When you lose so many veteran players to health and rely so heavily on inexperienced freshmen, you have to accept a roller coaster type of season.

Cornell is 1-2 in the Ivy League. I don’t think any of the players or the coaches have given up on winning the league and that still remains the primary objective.

The journey towards a league title continues for both Columbia and Cornell on Saturday night. The loser, with three losses, is probably out of the Ivy title race unless everything goes completely haywire – and even now they’ve got to be hoping for a Yale win against Harvard on Friday night – so this is obviously a big one. A big thanks to The Cornell Basketball Blog. You can follow on twitter too!

Keys to the game for Columbia:

Reestablish the post presence inside early. Sure Cornell is going to try to take away Cisco. Don’t let them. Feed him the ball. Also, Cisco has to make sure he stays out of foul trouble again. Often that’s what’s held him back from producing more than the opponents’ defense.
Understand that every possession won’t be perfect. Both of these teams are much more proficient on defense than offense. Mistakes and missed shots are going to happen. Which team is able to bounce back quickly from those mistakes and make plays consistently is going to pull out the win.
Hit some threes. I don’t know what’s up with Columbia right now, but the Lions are shooting 22.7% from three during Ivy play. That number is 34.0% for the season and the difference is a bunch of points. Meiko Lyles, Brian Barbour and Alex Rosenberg need to break the slump.

Columbia continues on the road in Ivy play next weekend, heading to Harvard and Dartmouth, so winning this one on the road would be a great step forward for the team if they intend to stay in the top half of the league this season. We’ll see if they’ve got what it takes on Saturday night at 7 p.m.