Editor’s note: Cornell men’s basketball got its first win against ACC competition since 1951 Tuesday evening at Haas Pavilion, topping California, 88-80, to improve to 7-3 and drop the Golden Bears to 6-4. Clovis, Calif. native and junior forward AK Okereke led the Big Red with 24 points on 10-for-18 shooting, adding six rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Below are photos from the Big Red’s big win:
Cornell senior guard Nazir Williams dribbles while teammate and senior forward Guy Ragland Jr. looks on. Williams posted 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting in 33 minutes, while Ragland registered eight points and four rebounds in 23 minutes. Each dished three assists. (Matthew Hirsch | Ivy Hoops Online)
Three more points about Cornell’s victory over California:
• Jon Jaques delivered consecutive wins against Cal for coaches from the Ivy League. Three days earlier, former Columbia coach Kyle Smith faced off with Cal as coach at Stanford for the first time. Lots of similarities in the two games. Stanford and Cornell both raced out to big halftime leads. Both weathered a second-half challenge, and both came away with the win.
• Cal coach Mark Madsen’s postgame comments: “Give credit to Cornell. They absolutely ran us out of the gym in the first half. They got everything. They caused turnovers. They got deflections. They got every loose ball. We couldn’t stop them one on one. And they took all the momentum early. We never recovered.”
• Cal is a rising program that was brimming with confidence prior to the games against Stanford and Cornell. The Golden Bears started the season 6-2 with just a pair of road losses against SEC teams. Madsen, in his second year at the helm, stocked the Cal roster with talent from the transfer portal after developing his top player last season, Jaylon Tyson, into a first-round pick in the NBA Draft. Tyson now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. On the road against Cal, Cornell earned a quality win.
Thanks IHO for publishing the photos. Special thanks to my assistant photographer Emmett and my Jumbotron superstars Hannah and Hazel.
Incredible win on the road. This is the best I’ve seen Cornell play since their Sweet Sixteen run, which of course involved Jon Jacques, now their new head coach. Right now their starting five are each playing like all Ivy candidates, and their bench, lead by Ryan Kachian, makes for no drop off. Whoever were responsible for Cornell being picked fourth in the pre season Ivy polls are going to have some serious explaining to do-keep up the great work, Big Red!