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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Three takeaways from Penn men’s strong performance in home win over Colgate

Junior guard Clark Slajchert exploded for a career-high 33 points on 13-for-18 shooting Saturday at the Palestra, lifting Penn past Colgate. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Penn turned in its best performance of the season on Saturday, and it paid off in the form of its first win over an opponent in the KenPom top 100 since a February 2020 triumph over Yale.

The Quakers used elite scoring performances from guards Clark Slajchert and Jordan Dingle to earn an 81-69 win over Colgate at the Palestra. The contest marked an unhappy homecoming for Raiders head coach Matt Langel and assistant coaches Camryn Crocker and Trey Montgomery, all of whom had played or coached for Penn.

Colgate, which had beaten Syracuse on the road by 12 earlier in the season, entered Saturday ranked 98th in KenPom.

Now 4-4, the Quakers have won three straight contests.

What can Penn fans take away from a particularly satisfying win?

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Ivy hoops roundup – New opportunities

As Ivy League basketball emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, new opportunities abound for new and returning Ivy players, coaches and even windows:

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Ivy hoops roundup – Aug. 1, 2020

Back on the Jazz 

Miye Oni returned to the Utah Jazz official 17-man roster for the Jazz’s NBA season reopening win over the New Orleans Pelicans in Orlando on TNT Thursday evening, the NBA’s first action since March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oni did not play but did join the other players in kneeling for the national anthem. Oni wore Power to the People on the back of his jersey, as all of his teammates opted to replace their last names on their jerseys with a message of social justice.

Oni briefly got playing time toward the end of the Jazz’s second game Saturday, a 110-94 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Orlando. In his sixth NBA game, Oni pitched in three points, two rebounds, a steal and a block in just under six minutes of action.

Dartmouth men announce Class of 2024

Dartmouth men’s basketball recently announced its Class of 2024 on Twitter:

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Ivy hoops figures continue to speak out against racial injustice and killings of black people

The Ivy hoops community has continued to protest against the injustice that black people face in America in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis officer while three other officers stood last Monday.

Harvard men’s hoops 2018 grad Chris Egi was the subject of a SportsNet feature Tuesday highlighting the Markham, Ontario native’s drive to launch the No More Names campaign, a fundraising and awareness building organization aiming for criminal injustice and police brutality.

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Columbia can’t slow down red hot Raiders, lose 89-71 in pre-Christmas matinee

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Columbia Lions struggled to piece together stops and allowed the Colgate Raiders to shoot 53% from the field in an 89-71 matinee loss to the reigning Patriot League champs Sunday.

“We mixed and messed up some coverages, [and] they passed the ball really well so they picked on us when we messed up a coverage,” said Columbia head coach Jim Engles.

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Cornell going cold in second half at Colgate means eighth straight loss and work to do

The Cornell Big Red took a 38-33 halftime lead and started off the second half on a 6-0 run. However, the offense then fell cold again and the team suffered their eighth straight loss Wednesday, this time at the hands of the host Colgate Raiders, 66-58.

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Cornell women blow second-half lead to Colgate, lose 62-58

Much like the men’s game the night before, the Cornell women’s squad jumped out to a sizable halftime lead but failed to close it out as they lost to the Colgate Raiders, 62-58.

The Big Red held the Raiders to just 28% shooting in the first half, including 22% in the first quarter while Cornell shot over 50% in the first half. Cornell took a 15-point advantage into the locker room at the half.

Samantha Widmann scored a layup just six seconds into the third quarter, but after that it was all Colgate. They cut a 41-24 Cornell lead to just three points with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter. The Big Red made just two shots in the third quarter. However, they were still clinging onto a three-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Big Red led by eight with seven minutes left in the game, but it didn’t seem to matter to the Raiders, who went on a 11-1 run and took a one-point lead with 2:55 remaining in the game.

But Kate Sramac hit an enormous three-pointer with 1:36 left to put Cornell back on top by one. Then the Big Red got a much needed stop but couldn’t take advantage of it as Widmann was called for an offensive foul with 52 seconds remaining.

Colgate went down on their end and Haley Greer drilled a three with 37 seconds left, and that was the shot that put the Raiders ahead for good. Colgate made four free throws in the final 25 seconds, and that would be about it.

The Big Red scored just 19 points in the second half and made just five field goals.

“They (Colgate) didn’t change anything (in the second half). We stopped executing our offense, we rushed shots, we didn’t get second chances with boards, we let the refereeing get in our heads, we didn’t finish when there was contact, and we didn’t really get stops on the defensive end,” said Cornell coach Dayna Smith. “We’ve gotta dig down, we get some of those defensive rebounds and not give up five (offensive rebounds) in one possession.”

Despite the fact the Big Red lost, they won the rebound margin (47-34), but allowed 16 offensive rebounds. They gave up nine of those offensive rebounds in the final five minutes of the third quarter.

“I just expect more out of our upperclassmen, our captains, our veterans; they played a lot of minutes (and) there was no putting a foot down and carrying our team over that emotional ride they (Colgate) were on,” Smith said.

The Big Red did a nice job of guarding the Raiders star Rachel Thompson in the first half. She was limited to just four points on 2-for-7 shooting. Abby Schubiger led the Raiders with 11 points in the first half but was contained in the second stanza. Thompson went off, scoring 17 second-half points.

Widmann and Laura Bagwell-Katalinich led the way for the Big Red, scoring 15 and 14 points respectively. Bagwell-Katalinich also had 11 boards, and Widmann had seven. Also chipping in was Shannon Mulroy with nine points, and Kate Sramac and Dylan Higgins with six apiece.

The Big Red continue their three-game homestand on Saturday when they host the NJIT Highlanders. Game time will be at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Cornell goes cold in loss to Colgate

A rough Sunday afternoon for the Matt Morgan-led Cornell Big Red found the Colgate Raiders pulling away in the second half, winning by a score of 73-57 in the Central New York Hoops Classic at Newman Arena. Cornell would fall to 2-1 with this being their first loss, and Colgate would improve to 2-1.

Matt Morgan would finish with 12 points while shooting 4-for-14 overall, including 1-for-9 from deep. However, he was able to haul in 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. 

Cornell struggled mightily from both the three-point and free throw lines, shooting 4-for-28 (14.3 percent) and 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) from those areas respectively. 

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