In a critical game in the fight for an Ivy Madness berth, the Cornell men’s offense never made the trip up to New Haven.
The Big Red scored fewer than 60 points for the second consecutive game, losing 76-58 to Yale for their fifth loss in the last six games
The loss takes Cornell out of the driver’s seat for the final spot in Ivy Madness.
The Big Red shot just 39% from the field and 27% from downtown. Cornell prides itself on making shots, but the execution hasn’t been there. It seems like the team is getting many looks but simply not connecting.
Sophomore guard Nazir Williams and junior guard Isaiah Gray continued to play well, scoring 15 points and 13 points, respectively. Sophomore forward Guy Ragland Jr. added 13, but the offense was otherwise nonexistent.
Junior guard Keller Boothby continued to struggle, having connected on just one of his last 10 three-pointers after going scoreless at Yale. His perimeter shooting is down to 35% this season after making 50% of his shots last season.
Cornell has also missed the production of junior guard Max Watson, who has gone scoreless in six of the last eight games. Junior forward Sean Hansen went scoreless Saturday, as did freshman guard Josh Baldwin.
The depth of the Big Red — which was a major bright spot earlier in the season — has seemingly diminished. That’s turned into a problem when players like Williams and senior guard Greg Dolan are guarded closely.
While disappointing for Cornell, Yale kept in the hunt for a share of the regular season Ivy League title. In his final home game, junior forward EJ Jarvis registered a career-high 34 points off 13-for-18 shooting. Sophomore guard John Poulakidas added 14 and junior guard August Mahoney posted 12.
Yale will cap off its regular season next weekend at Brown.
That’s significant for the Big Red.
Cornell needs to beat Columbia and have Yale beat Brown in Providence to get into Ivy Madness. A Brown victory locks the Bears in.
Cornell, however, holds the necessary tiebreakers over Brown should the Bears fall at home to Yale.
If Penn and Yale are tied atop the league, Cornell gets in since it went 2-2 against those teams. Brown, hypothetically, would be 0-4.
If Princeton and Yale are tied atop the league, Cornell would get in. Cornell and Brown would each be 1-3 against those teams. The third league tiebreaker is an average of the most recent metrics set in advance by league coaches. The metrics favor Cornell given its strong nonconference performance.
Who will get in, Cornell or Brown?
It would be a great story for the Bears. It would be a late-season meltdown for the Big Red.