It shouldn’t be a surprise at this point that the Cornell men are 7-1 for the second time in the last three seasons. That’s just the new standard under coach Brian Earl.
The final scores aren’t eye-popping like they’ve been the last few years. That’s because opponents have learned how to tackle Cornell’s unique, high-tempo Princeton offense.
Since losing to George Mason on Nov. 15, the Big Red knocked off Cal State Fullerton 88-70 and Utah Valley to win the Bay bracket of the Jacksonville Classic. On Nov. 29, Cornell fought off Monmouth, a team it blew out last season, 91-87 at Newman Arena. On Saturday, in a game where the Big Red shot just 8-for-32 from distance, they beat Lafayette 79-71.
Even in the opener against Lehigh, another team Cornell handled last year, the Big Red won by just six.
So far, Cornell’s metrics align similarly to last year. According to KenPom, where the team is ranked 115th overall, the Big Red are 55th in the NCAA in adjusted offensive efficiency. They are 17th in average possession length at 15.2 seconds and 32nd in adjusted tempo. At 63.7%, Cornell is second in the country in two-point field-goal percentage, while still at a reasonable 34% from deep.
The only major outlier from last season’s campaign is turnover percentage, where the Big Red have fallen from 69th all the way to 312th.
Once again, the Big Red have had no problem finding scoring options. Senior forward Sean Hansen leads the team at 12.4 points while sophomore guard Cooper Noard, who has had a breakout start to the season, is at 11.9 points. Senior guard Chris Manon is averaging 10.8 points, junior guard Nazir Williams is at 9.9 points and junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. is at 9.3 while leading the team with 6.8 rebounds. Eight players are averaging five or more points per game.
Cornell still has work to do on the defensive end, giving up 77 points per game and sitting 227th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. However, three of the Big Red’s upcoming five nonconference games should help give an accurate reading of where the team is at.
On Tuesday, Cornell travels to Syracuse in hopes of breaking the Orange’s 42-game winning streak in the I-81 rivalry. The Big Red led nearly the entire first half last season before losing 78-63. That, however, was still under Jim Boeheim’s tenure — Adrian Autry will square off against Cornell for the first time as head coach.
Following Christmas, it’ll be games against Colgate and Baylor in the span of four days. The Big Red have won their last two games against the Raiders, both of which came in years when Colgate made the NCAA Tournament.
Baylor, though, is self-explanatory. Ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll, the 2021 national champions are off to an 8-0 start with wins over Auburn and Florida.
Can the Big Red keep up their hot start? Will they finally knock off Syracuse? We’ll find out in the coming days.