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.
For the second straight night, the Big Red were without Jimmy Boeheim, but it turned out to be not much of a problem. Terrance McBride and Bryan Knapp led the way, each scoring 17. McBride and Knapp have been extremely underrated, especially in Ivy play. Both players have been shooting more and getting better looks, and the result is efficient scoring. The two juniors shot a combined 12-for-20 from the floor.
Also making a huge contribution was Kobe Dickson, who scored 10 points and hauled in eight boards. He’s replaced Boeheim in the lineup and played well over the weekend. Dickson will likely be the starting center next season since Josh Warren is in his final season.
Freshmen duo Greg Dolan and Marcus Filien each made impacts off the bench, Dolan scoring seven and Filien scoring six with nine rebounds. Both are developing very nicely.
The Big Red limited the Bears (13-10, 6-4 Ivy) to just 26% on a night where their offense was struggling. Tamenang Choh led the visitors with 13, and Jaylan Gainey added 11. That’s about it for Brown. It was not a good showing.
The Bears shot just 17% from downtown while the Big Red shot 67%. They turned the ball over 12 times to 14 for Cornell and had only six assists. The Big Red had 11.
An impressive weekend for Cornell
The Big Red split this weekend, but it was overall an impressive one for Brian Earl’s team.
They lost to Yale by just one point in double overtime after leading all game, then on tired legs beat a Brown team which had won six of their last seven by 18 points.
Cornell did that with Josh Warren close to a non-factor both nights, its best player hurt (Jimmy Boeheim), and one of their best shooters hurt (Jordan Jones).
Except for Warren, all these players are coming back next season in addition to a transfer and three freshmen. This team is building for next season, and if it can stay healthy, it could be a legitimate threat next season. Many teams are graduating their top players, and the Big Red have their best returning.
Cornell continues its homestand next weekend when they welcome Dartmouth and Harvard, as Brown, currently holding onto fourth place in the Ivy standings with a one-game lead over Penn, heads home to host Princeton and Penn.