Nazir Williams

Cornell men’s basketball falls to George Mason, ending nonconference win streak

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Cornell junior guard Nazir Williams notched 13 points and six rebounds in Cornell’s loss to George Mason Wednesday. (Mitchell Richtmyre | Fourth Estate)

For the first time in four years, Cornell men’s basketball lost a mid-major nonconference game. The Big Red fell to George Mason 90-83 on Wednesday in Fairfax, Va., getting handed their first loss of the season.

The Patriots of the Atlantic 10 Conference earned their third win of the 2023-24 campaign in the paint. Though it had the size, Cornell just couldn’t counter George Mason’s physicality. The hosts scored nearly half (44) of their points in the paint, forcing the Big Red to have to shoot their way to a win.

That said, Cornell did a pretty solid job of hanging around. The visitors made eight threes in the first half and trailed just 42-41 heading into the locker room.

But the Patriots opened up a 10-3 run to start the second half as the well started to run dry for Cornell. The Big Red couldn’t make enough timely shots in the final 20 minutes to put themselves in a position to win.

Junior guard Nazir Williams hit a three-pointer with 4:19 remaining to get Cornell within one, but that’s the closest it got. Keyshawn Hall, who scored 29 for George Mason and led all scorers, connected on a pair of free throws and Amari Kelly hit a jumper to put the Patriots up five. On the following possession, Sean Hansen rolled toward the rim wide open and missed a dunk to seemingly give George Mason momentum.

After Williams missed a pair of free throws, Hansen got an offensive rebound and to the line, redeeming himself with a pair of makes. But George Mason guard Darius Maddox connected on a contested triple on the other end to put the Patriots up six and essentially seal the victory.

Despite the loss, the Big Red still have positives they can take away. For the second consecutive game, they held their ground against an A-10 school. After defeating Fordham on the road Saturday, Cornell should feel good about playing a stout George Mason team well.

The Big Red went 14-for-29 from distance and a lot of that came from the success of junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. and senior forward Keller Boothby. They each ripped the nets at 4-for-5 shooting with Ragland ending at 16 points and Boothby at 12. The always consistent Williams added 13 as he stepped into the starting lineup for the first time this season.

Cornell heads to Florida at 3-1 on the season for a matchup with Cal St. Fullerton on Sunday. It’ll play either Southern Mississippi or Utah Valley on Monday in Brian Earl’s first multiple-team event as coach of the Big Red.

2023-24 Ivy men’s media day recap and season preview

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With the season a few weeks away, the Ivy League hosted its Men’s Basketball Media Day on Thursday. the second of two hoops-themed media availabilities. The event was hosted over Zoom for media members and is available on the conference’s YouTube channel.

The preseason media poll was released on Tuesday with Yale, last year’s regular season co-champions, securing the top spot. Princeton, which used its Ivy League Tournament title victory as a springboard to a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament run, was picked second.

The Bulldogs received 14 of 16 first-place votes, while the Tigers earned the other two top votes.

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Ivy League Tournament men’s semifinal preview: No. 4 Cornell vs. No. 1 Yale

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Ivy League Tournament – at Jadwin Gymnasium (Princeton)

Saturday, March 11: Semifinals
No. 1 Yale (20-7, 10-4 Ivy) vs No. 4 Cornell (17-10, 7-7 Ivy) at 11:00 a.m. (available on ESPNU and ESPN+)

Game #1, 1/13/23: Cornell (home) over Yale, 94-82
Game #2, 2/25/23: Yale (home) over Cornell, 76-58

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Cornell men keep Ivy Madness hopes alive with victory over Columbia

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ITHACA, N.Y. — Two things needed to happen for the Cornell men to make it to the Ivy League Tournament: beat Columbia and hope Brown loses to Yale.

Part one of that equation has been completed.

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Jarvis’ “out-of-body experience” lifts shorthanded Yale men past Cornell

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Senior forward EJ Jarvis gave shorthanded Yale a major lift with a career-high 34 points in its 76-58 win over Cornell Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Yale completed its revenge tour of teams against defeated the Bulldogs earlier in the season with a decisive 76-58 win over Cornell at John J. Lee Amphitheater Saturday.

And oh, what a Senior Night it was for senior forward EJ Jarvis.

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Cornell men’s offense sputters in key loss at Yale

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In a critical game in the fight for an Ivy Madness berth, the Cornell men’s offense never made the trip up to New Haven.

The Big Red scored fewer than 60 points for the second consecutive game, losing 76-58 to Yale for their fifth loss in the last six games

The loss takes Cornell out of the driver’s seat for the final spot in Ivy Madness.

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Cornell men on a familiar Ivy Madness bubble

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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

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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.

Ivy men’s week seven roundup: Ancient Eight’s top 10

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Week seven for the Ancient Eight saw Yale avenge its shocking opening day loss at Columbia and move into a tie at the top of the conference leaderboard.  After a close half that saw the Bulldogs holding onto a slim 31-26 lead, the Bulldogs outscored the last-place Lions 58-32 for the dominant 31-point win.  Yale, winners of six straight, had 13 different players in the scoring column and shot 65% from the field. 

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