The Ivy League Tournament bubble.
Certainly not uncharted territory for the Cornell men. But after the way the season started to trend for the Big Red, it’s a bit of a surprise we’re talking about this.
Cornell has lost four of its last five games, dropping the team from a tie for first to a tie for fourth. By virtue of a tiebreaker, the Big Red would be in Ivy Madness over Brown since it beat Yale and Penn. The Bears have only beaten Princeton among the trio of teams tied for the conference lead.
But that tiebreaker is by no means safe.
What happened?
For starters, the Big Red have allowed 80 or more in four of the last five. Their defensive efficiency has trended downward as their offensive efficiency has trended upward.
Teams are breaking Cornell’s press and getting open looks at the hoop. The Big Red like playing fast, but opponents are countering it by playing just as fast themselves.
Cornell has scored 66 or fewer in two of the last three games. To put that in perspective, the Big Red have scored 73 or more in all but four of their 25 games.
Has anything been different on offense?
Junior guard Chris Manon has started the last six games, but he’s averaged 14.2 points in that span. He nearly single-handedly beat Brown on Jan. 28.
There have just been games in which the shots simply aren’t falling for the Big Red. They shot a tick over 33% against Harvard on Saturday. The only time they shot lower from the field was against Syracuse, and that was a microscopic difference.
It also didn’t help that sophomore guard Nazir Williams missed three games, including back-to-back at Princeton and Penn.
As they seemingly have to most years, Cornell will now have to claw its way into Ivy Madness. A game at Yale looms Saturday which won’t be easy. Cornell shouldn’t have beaten Yale at home, but 51 points in the second half led to an improbable comeback.
The saving grace would appear to be the season finale at home against Columbia.
The Bears have the same schedule to end as the Big Red but flipped. They’ll visit Columbia on Saturday before hosting Yale in the finale.
Dartmouth and Harvard still lurk in the picture at 5-7, too.
Cornell made Ivy Madness in a last-ditch effort in 2018. It made the tournament on the final weekend in 2022.
Will Cornell pull off more end-of-season heroics?