In a high-scoring affair, Columbia lost 102-85 to Cornell Monday afternoon, dropping its last home game for the next month.
Columbia (6-14, 1-4 Ivy) jumped out to a strong start with a 7-2 run before Cornell (14-4, 4-1) went on a 7-0 run of its own to tie the game at 9-9. Sophomore forward Robbie Stankard hit a three to give the Lions a 10-9 lead, their last advantage of the game.
Sean Hansen
Princeton men sneak past Cornell to take solo Ivy League lead
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.
Cornell men pull away late for decisive victory over Penn
ITHACA, N.Y. — Since former Cornell men’s coach Steve Donahue took over Penn in 2015, the Big Red have beaten him just once.
Make that twice after Friday night.
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.
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.”
Cornell men never trail in bounceback victory over Lehigh
ITHACA, N.Y. — After consecutive losses to Miami and Syracuse of the ACC, the Cornell men needed a bounce-back victory.
They got it in the biggest way.
Shooting woes plague Cornell men in loss at Syracuse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — One thing has become apparent for the Cornell men the last two seasons: They’ll live and die by the three-pointer.
On Saturday against Syracuse, the Big Red got burnt.
Cornell led by as many as 11 points early in the first half, but a 2-for-17 start from behind the three-point line in the second half plagued the Big Red as they fell, 78-63, to the Orange.
“I thought we had pretty good shots, we just couldn’t make them,” coach Brian Earl said. “It just didn’t go our way at all.
Cornell men prove legitimacy in near-win at Miami
If you said that Cornell men’s basketball would score 105 points on Miami, an Elite 8 team from last season, you would have thought the Big Red would win, right?
You’d be wrong.
An unlikely comeback generates more optimism for Cornell men
Trailing by 11 with under five minutes to go, a win seemed unlikely for the Cornell men against Delaware. But a 20-2 run to finish the game shocked the Blue Hens as the Big Red escaped with a 74-67 victory.
Cornell faced a Delaware squad just months removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance, and the team returned many key pieces. It’s a significant victory against a quality mid-major opponent.
Frankly, Cornell probably didn’t deserve to win that game. Delaware pushed a 10-0 run in the ensuing minutes before Cornell’s dramatic comeback. But it’s a telling victory.
Cornell men pick up where they left off by pushing tempo
The Cornell men have picked up right where they left off last season.
Through three games, the Big Red are 2-1. They lost at the buzzer on opening night to Boston College, 79-77, before routing SUNY Delhi in a lopsided 57-point laugher.
Cornell defeated Saint Francis (Pa.), 80-77 Monday despite surrendering multiple double-digit leads. The Big Red led 70-57 with 5:11 remaining, but several Cornell fouls gave the Red Flash opportunities at the free-throw line. Max Watson, a junior college transfer, split a pair of free throws in the closing seconds for the Big Red, and a St. Francis half-court heave missed the mark, securing the Cornell victory.
The impressive part about Cornell’s quick start has been the changed offensive approach from Cornell coach Brian Earl. A disciple of Pete Carril, Earl came to East Hill in 2016 with the typical slow, methodical Princeton offense. In the 2019-20 season, Cornell ranked 314th in adjusted tempo and 325th in average possession length, per KenPom.
But after a year off from the COVID-19 pandemic, Earl came into 2021 with a much quicker pace. Cornell ranked 16th in adjusted tempo and third in average possession length, per KenPom.
The Big Red have continued that trend this season. In three games, Cornell is 16th in adjusted tempo and 17th in average possession length amongst 363 Division l teams. In comparison, former Princeton teammate Mitch Henderson’s Princeton squad is 207th in adjusted tempo and 256th in average possession length after a convincing 94-64 win over UMBC Monday.
Cornell has also continued its balanced scoring approach. Seven players are averaging eight or more points through the Big Red’s first three contests, led by senior Greg Dolan at 15.7 points per contest. On Monday, Sean Hansen scored 26 points to lead the Big Red, blowing away his previous high of 13 points last season.
And the team has much more room to grow, too. Sophomore guard Nazir Williams, although scoreless Monday, has shown flashes of 20-point-per-game potential and has seemingly improved his decision-making. The same goes for junior guard Chris Manon, who is averaging 10.7 points per game.
Junior forward Keller Boothby, who shot 49% from deep last season, has made just six of his first 21 treys this season. That clip is sure to improve.
After Cornell faces crosstown foe Ithaca College on Friday, it enters the most crucial portion of nonconference play.
On November 22, the Big Red host Canisius, which is fresh off an overtime victory against St. Bonaventure. Three days later, Cornell travels to New Jersey to play Monmouth in its first season as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. Six days later, the Big Red will travel to Delaware before heading home to battle Lafayette on December 4.
Games against Miami and Syracuse, both projected NCAA Tournament teams, are sandwiched around a 10-day break for exams.
We’ll know a lot more about this Cornell squad in the coming days and weeks. But so far, the Big Red seem to be clicking well. Earl is continuing to build in Ithaca, and the reigning Ivy League Coach of the Year is hungry to lead Cornell back to Ivy Madness and, potentially, the program’s first NCAA Tournament since 2010.