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.
With 2:26 left, the Hartford Hawks took the lead, in the midst of a 22-6 run. Miroslav Stafl hit back-to-back layups to take a three-point lead, and then Terrance McBride split free throws for the Big Red.
But with 19 seconds left, freshman Jordan Jones committed the cardinal sin of basketball: a foul on a three-point attempt. Hunter Marks missed on the first, but it didn’t matter as he hit the last two and gave the Hawks a two possession lead. Traci Carter had two free-throws with eight seconds left, and Dean Noll hit a floater at the buzzer but the big Red fell 80-76.
Jimmy Boeheim had another big game for the Big Red, going for 26 points. Terrance McBride had 14 points off efficient 5-for-9 shooting, and Jones added 10. Jones also led the Big Red with seven boards.
Something to build on…. I guess
Despite the fact that the Big Red (1-9) blew a 15-point lead in the final 10 minutes, the team did do a lot right.
They finally got the lid off from downtown, hitting eight threes in 25 tries. That still isn’t a great rate, but much better than before. It had been forever since they had made eight threes in a game. They also shot 49% from a field, a drastic improvement from their previous few games. The team has continued to hold their ground on the boards, winning this battle 38-30. Thirteen of the 38 rebounds were on the offensive end.
The ball movement was good as always, as 18 of their 30 buckets were assisted on. McBride and Josh Warren each had four.
The Achilles heel of the afternoon
The main reason why the Big Red dropped their ninth straight happened to be because they allowed the Hawks (6-7) to make 13 of their 24 attempts from downtown. This isn’t like the Big Red at all. Their defense has been pretty good this season, but Hartford found some gaps and cashed in.
Another problem spot was that Warren and Jones each had four fouls, limiting their involvement at times.
Up next:
After a week off to celebrate the holidays, the Big Red will be back in action next Sunday at No. 23 Penn State. Game time will be at noon from the Bryce Jordan Center, and the game will be telecast on ESPNU.
In my mind, it doesn’t really matter if the Big Red win or not. Obviously a win would be great, but I just want to see them play 40 minutes of good basketball. Penn State is the best team that they’ll face this season, and if they can go to State College and put up a good fight, I’d call it a successful day.