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Two days removed from earning its first-ever bid to the National Invitational Tournament, Cornell men’s basketball had Ohio State on the ropes. Each team took swings with double-figure leads, but with a minute remaining, the Big Red led by two.
Fifth-year forward Jamison Battle knocked down a three with 43 seconds remaining, putting the Buckeyes up 82-81. Then came the first of two crucial mistakes for Cornell.
NEW YORK – The second day of the Ivy League Tournament brought the four men’s teams to Levien Gymnasium on the campus of Columbia University.
Below are highlights of the press conferences and links to the videos:
Cornell men’s basketball didn’t win Friday night’s marquee matchup with Yale because of its offense.
It won because of its defense and grit. And maybe a little luck.
Surviving the Bulldogs, 65-62, the Big Red took sole possession of first place in the Ivy League standings.
After its first Ivy League loss to Yale last weekend, Cornell men’s basketball wasn’t fazed.
Chip on their shoulders and all, the Big Red returned home and came up with a sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth for the second time in three weeks.
On Monday, Brown men’s basketball built up a big second half lead at Harvard and held on in the final minute for a two-point win. Five days later, however, the Bears found itself on the other end of that formula and came up one-point short against Cornell in an 84-83 defeat at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
The Big Red (13-3, 3-0 Ivy), winners of three straight league contests for the first time since their Sweet 16 2009-10 season, finished the day tied with Princeton and Yale at the top of the Ancient Eight standings, while the Bears (5-13, 1-2) were knotted in fourth place with Harvard and Penn.
Down 31-28 at the half, the shots just weren’t falling for Cornell men’s basketball at Newman Arena against Penn on Monday. When a team like the Big Red live and die with offense, 36% shooting wasn’t going to cut it against a Quakers squad that rolled Dartmouth by 29 in its conference opener.
But Cornell went on to make 10 triples in the second stanza as it defeated the visitors, 77-60.
Senior guard Chris Manon stuffed the stat sheet for the hosts — recording 16 points, eight rebounds and finishing with five helpers. He swatted a pair of shots and came up with four steals. Junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. had an efficient afternoon, scoring 16 points off 6-for-10 shooting in front of 1,462 at Newman. Senior guard Isaiah Gray and junior guard Nazir Williams each poured in 10 while senior forward Keller Boothby knocked down three triples.
Here’s are two things we learned after Cornell improved to 2-0 in the Ivy League:
ITHACA, N.Y. – For the first time this season, Brian Earl finally gave junior guard Nazir Williams the nod to start. After an offseason knee procedure, he had been coming off bench and playing fewer minutes than last year.
Naturally, he delivered.
Cornell men’s basketball had an opportunity to mount an improbable comeback against No. 18 Baylor on Tuesday but ultimately fell short, 98-79.
It’s year three of Brian Earl’s reinvented, high-pace Princeton offense. Much like the first two seasons, it’s worked quite well.
ALBANY, N.Y. — In its first game back from a two-week break, Cornell men’s basketball did what it does best – light up the box score.
Behind a scorching 54% effort from the field in the first half, the Big Red defeated lowly ranked Siena 95-74 on Tuesday at MVP Arena.
“It’s good to see shots going in a tough environment,” Cornell coach Brian Earl said. “In the beginning, we couldn’t get out and run as much as I had hoped. [Siena] did a good job sort of controlling things, and then it loosened up a little bit.
“Most of the game we played hard, which was fun to watch.”