Cornell men on a familiar Ivy Madness bubble

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?

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Cornell men pull away from Dartmouth in overtime for 95-83 win

In a must-win game, the Cornell men came through when it mattered most, outscoring Dartmouth 15-3 in overtime to win 95-83.

Sophomore guard Nazir Williams scored 27 points, 18 of which came in the first half. He connected on all three of his three-pointers and dished out six assists.

Junior forward Sean Hansen recorded an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. He hit three of his six three-pointers, including a perimeter shot to give the Big Red a 79-76 lead with 1:18 remaining.

That was the last field goal Cornell scored in regulation. Dartmouth freshman Ryan Cornish split a pair of free throws to cut it to two before Hansen missed on the other end.

Dartmouth freshman forward Brandon Mitchell-Day split free throws, as did Williams for Cornell. Down two points, senior forward Dame Adelekun rolled off a screen and slammed down a thunderous dunk to tie the game.

After a pair of Cornell timeouts, the Big Red wanted to hold for the final shot. Senior guard Greg Dolan backed down in the post with the ball and lost it, giving the Big Green a final opportunity. Adelekun missed a three-pointer at the buzzer to send it to overtime, where the Big Red dominated.

Junior guard Isaiah Gray and Dolan each scored 17, and junior guard Chris Manon, who was inserted into the starting lineup five games ago, added 11.

Cornell and Dartmouth battled back and forth throughout the first half before Williams hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Cornell a 45-39 lead at the half. The Big Green battled back but never led by more than one in the second half.

Cornish and junior forward Dusan Neskovic each scored 19 points to pace Dartmouth. Junior guard Jaren Johnson added 11.

Cornell shot 48% from the field and 42% from deep, while Dartmouth shot 44% and 37%. The Big Red paced rebounding, 37-35.

Cornell hosts Harvard on Saturday while Dartmouth travels to Columbia.

Manon goes for 23 as Cornell men beat Brown, 80-73

No Nazir Williams, no problem.

Despite missing the standout sophomore guard due to injury, the Cornell men preserved and overcame a difficult perimeter shooting afternoon to defeat Brown, 80-73, Saturday at Newman Arena.

Cornell coach Brian Earl was forced to alter the starting lineup for the first time all season with Williams’ absence, inserting junior guard Chris Manon.

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Harvard men ride hot hands to 95-89 win over Cornell

Senior guard Idan Tretout contributed to Harvard’s hot shooting in its win over Cornell Saturday, going 3-for-5 from three-point range en route to a 17-point performance. The Crimson shot 10-for-18 (55.6%), powering them to a win that pulled them into a tie with three other Ivies for third place in the Ivy League behind Princeton and Cornell. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

The Achilles heel of the Cornell men finally felled them Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion. 

The Big Red allowed the Harvard Crimson to shoot 60% from the field as they fell 95-89 for their first Ivy League road loss of the season.

Cornell (14-5, 4-2 Ivy) showed its typical full-court pressure, but it didn’t faze Harvard (12-8, 3-3). The Crimson attacked the rim, scoring 42 points in the paint and 10 off the fastbreak.

Senior standout Chris Ledlum showed why he’s one of the best in the Ivy League, scoring 24 points and hauling down nine boards to lead the way. Senior guard Idan Tretout tallied 17, junior guard Sam Silverstein notched 16, junior forward Justice Ajogbor pitched in 12 and senior guard Luka Sakota added 10.

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Cornell men explode in second half to notch comeback victory over Yale

Brian Earl addresses the media after he was hired by longtime athletic director Andy Noel as Cornell men’s basketball coach in April 2016. Nearly seven years later, Earl has rejuvenated the program, with his team delivering a dramatic win over Yale Friday on Noel’s last day on the job before retiring. (Cornell University)

ITHACA, N.Y. — With 12:06 remaining, the Cornell men faced a 68-53 deficit to Yale and seemingly had no answers on the defensive end. The Bulldogs were shooting nearly 69% from the field and were dominating the interior.

But all of a sudden, something clicked for the Big Red. Cornell finished the game on a 41-14 mega-run to defeat the defending league champions 94-82 and move into solo second in the Ivy League.

“We don’t necessarily care being down a lot,” Cornell coach Brian Earl said. “Yale’s a great team. They scored on us a lot, but the waves of us coming and never stopping I felt was good. Our guys hung in there.”

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Princeton men sneak past Cornell to take solo Ivy League lead

Reigning Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan played a critical role in Princeton’s win at Cornell Saturday night, characteristically stuffing the stat sheet with 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

ITHACA, N.Y. — In a game between the two Ivy League men’s basketball unbeatens, something had to give. On Saturday, it gave in favor of the Princeton Tigers.

Princeton outscored Cornell 12-5 in the final four minutes to win 75-68 and take an outright league lead. Mistakes added up for Cornell as the Tigers found a way to get the Big Red out of rhythm on offense.

“[Princeton] just slowed us down, mucked it up a little bit and I don’t think we reacted well to it,” Cornell coach Brian Earl said. “Just some really dumb plays. Just let it get away from us a little bit — too much one-on-one.

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Major tests loom for Cornell men after 74-63 win at Dartmouth

It felt like a typical Ivy League game — hard-fought and not always pretty. But from the moment the Cornell and Dartmouth men tipped Sunday afternoon, it immediately felt like whoever had the most grit would walk away with a 1-0 conference record.

That team was Cornell.

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Takeaways from Cornell men’s 10-3 start

After a week-long break for the holidays, Cornell men’s basketball returned home to defeat Binghamton, 86-70, to wrap up the 2022 portion of the schedule. It was a straightforward win for Cornell. Sophomore guard Nazir Williams hit eight of his 10 shots for a career-high 23 points and junior guard Chris Manon scored 16 off the bench.

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Cornell men establish themselves with win at Colgate

HAMILTON, N.Y. — Cornell men’s basketball coach Brian Earl refused to call Tuesday’s game a statement win.

But he didn’t downplay the importance of it, either.

The Big Red led for nearly 38 minutes en route to a 91-80 victory over Colgate, the two-time defending Patriot League champion an hour and a half up the road.

“It’s good to beat a program like that who has been built so much,” Earl said postgame. “We studied them a little bit and made our guys aware that there might be some open shots, but you’ve got to be unselfish and get it to the right guys, and they did that.”

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