Jordan Jones

Cornell men’s basketball looking to resume upward trajectory under Brian Earl

by

In Brian Earl’s first three seasons on East Hill, the Cornell men’s basketball team improved from eight to 15 wins, clinching a birth in the 2019 CIT to conclude Matt Morgan’s collegiate career. The Big Red took an expected step back in 2019-20, winning just seven games but setting themselves up for a strong 2020-21 with Jimmy Boeheim and Terrance McBride leading the way.

But, of course, that never happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Boeheim now plays for his father, Jim Boeheim, at Syracuse, while McBride now plays for the Rice Owls, tabbed eighth in Conference USA.

Headed into the 2021-22 season, the Big Red are without their star power from two years ago but are hoping to develop under a group of returners.

“We took some lumps [in 2019-20] to have a team last year we thought would’ve been really competitive,” Earl said. “Once we knew those guys were going to move on, I think our team did a really good job of coming together – the younger guys realizing that we’re turning the page.”

While Boeheim and McBride are gone, Cornell has a core of players from two years ago to lead the team in a season filled with unknowns.

Read more

Ivy League men’s basketball Media Day roundup

by

Two days after the Media Day for Ivy women’s hoops, the men had their turn at the virtual podium.  A day prior, the results of the preseason poll were released.  While five different teams earned top votes, the overall totals showed no changes from the last day of competition in 2020.

Yale, two-time defending Ivy champion, was again picked to come in first with 115 points and seven first-place votes.  Harvard, the 2019 co-champion, was close behind, tallying 110 points and four first-place votes.  Princeton, the 2017 title winner, closed out the top tier with 108 points and two first-place votes.

Penn, the 2018 co-champion, secured the last slot in the upper division with 93 points and two first-place selections.  Brown, which last held the title in 1986, again found itself behind the Quakers for fifth place with 79 points and a pair of title votes.

Dartmouth, which last entered the winner’s circle in 1959, was tabbed in the six slot with 43 points, four points more than Cornell, which last held the top spot in the Sweet Sixteen season of 2010.  Columbia, the 1968 champion, was projected to finish last with 25 points.

Read more

What to expect when Ivy League basketball returns

by

As this Ivy non-season progresses, we thought it’d make sense for us to do an Ivy Hoops Online contributors’ roundtable looking ahead to next season, assuming there is one:

Read more

Post-double OT fatigue, Boeheim’s absence nonfactors as Cornell dominates Brown

by

Cornell seized a lead with 14:51 left in the first half and never looked back, beating Brown in dominating fashion, 63-45, at Newman Arena Saturday night.

After a back-and-forth first five minutes, the Big Red (6-17, 3-7 Ivy) jumped ahead by as many as 14 in the first half but went to the locker room up nine.

Cornell came back out hot, scoring the first seven in the second half. Bryan Knapp hit a jumper, Kobe Dickson converted a layup, and Terrance McBride drilled a three to push the Big Red lead to 16. They led by 20 at times in the second half but would eventually win by 18.

Read more

Columbia men cruise past Cornell, 75-61

by

Columbia built an early lead and avoided a late-game collapse, as the Lions opened the Ivy schedule with a convincing 75-61 victory over Cornell Saturday at Levien Gym.

The Big Red (3-11, 0-1 Ivy) started out strong, shooting 57% by the first media timeout, to take a quick 12-9 lead.  Unfortunately for the visitors, the Lions (6-11 overall, 1-0) limited Cornell to 14% shooting over the next 14-plus minutes.  The Columbia offense, meanwhile, was clicking on all cylinders, shooting 67% from two, 50% from three and 71% from the free throw line to take a commanding 48-29 halftime lead.

Read more

Cornell dominated by Penn State, 90-59

by

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Cornell Big Red were only able to hang around for a few minutes against No. 20 Penn State (11-2), losing a Sunday matinee by a score of 90-59 to conclude 2019.

“They’re enormous and athletic. At our level, it’s rare,” said head coach Brian Earl about the Nittany Lions (11-2). “I know Yale has that sort of size, and they made a fight out of their game [against Penn State]. For us, we just don’t have the horses to match [Mike] Watkins and [Lamar] Stephens.”

The two senior forwards each had 19 points to lead the Nittany Lions.

Read more

Cornell hits rock bottom, blows 15-point lead at Hartford

by

It’s official. Cornell has hit rock bottom.

Everything was going right for the Big Red Sunday at Hartford.  Josh Warren had just made a layup to extend the Big Red lead to 15 with 10 minutes left. But then, Cornell forgot how to play basketball.

Read more

Cornell going cold in second half at Colgate means eighth straight loss and work to do

by

The Cornell Big Red took a 38-33 halftime lead and started off the second half on a 6-0 run. However, the offense then fell cold again and the team suffered their eighth straight loss Wednesday, this time at the hands of the host Colgate Raiders, 66-58.

Read more

Cornell loses another heartbreaker, this time to Lafayette

by

ITHACA – I’ve never seen a team so good yet so bad at the same time.

The Cornell men’s basketball team dropped its seventh straight, this time 62-59 to Lafayette at Newman Arena, as Lafayette big man Myles Cherry swished a three-pointer with three seconds left to win it for the Leopards, who are now 4-0 against the Ivy League this season with wins over Penn, Princeton and Columbia as well.

Read more

Cornell loses to Navy, continues to struggle

by

The Cornell Big Red continue to struggle, having now lost their sixth straight game, this time to Navy by 11 points.

The Big Red would score first on a layup from Jordan Jones, but that would unfortunately be the only lead they would have a lead. They trailed 42-29 at the half en route to a 72-61 defeat.

Read more