Men's Basketball 22-23

Time to start a new thread. I see that the incoming recruiting class is posted. Pretty guard heavy. Was hoping they could bring in some more height. Maybe a player out of this group can pick up the slack for Jordan Jones's scoring punch (Jones went into the Transfer Portal).

DJ Nix had offers from Boston College & Washington State

First recruit for 2023-24 has committed: Jake Fiegen, a 6-3 guard from Illinois. The report is that he's a sharpshooter and had offers from Navy and Cal-Poly.

mountainred
First recruit for 2023-24 has committed: Jake Fiegen, a 6-3 guard from Illinois. The report is that he's a sharpshooter and had offers from Navy and Cal-Poly.

My fears, recalling 45 off years, about 5 good years, the sweet sixteen year, is that a 6-foot-3 recruit is coming in as a forward. Fortunately not in this case.

Be nice to have an extra stat (alongside favororite color or astrological sign): Aspirational step-up school if you really develop by sophomore year.

New recruit for Fall of ‘23, Ian Omegwu, a 6’9” forward from Blair Academy in NJ. Brings some needed size to the program. Not a big scorer last season at Blair, but apparently has been productive on the summer circuit. He held one other D1 offer from Rider, and apparently had serious interest from other Ivy and Patriot programs.

scoop85
New recruit for Fall of ‘23, Ian Omegwu, a 6’9” forward from Blair Academy in NJ. Brings some needed size to the program. Not a big scorer last season at Blair, but apparently has been productive on the summer circuit. He held one other D1 offer from Rider, and apparently had serious interest from other Ivy and Patriot programs.

Ian Imegwu

Ken711

scoop85
New recruit for Fall of ‘23, Ian Omegwu, a 6’9” forward from Blair Academy in NJ. Brings some needed size to the program. Not a big scorer last season at Blair, but apparently has been productive on the summer circuit. He held one other D1 offer from Rider, and apparently had serious interest from other Ivy and Patriot programs.

Ian Imegwu

Thanks for the correction

Ken711
Ian Imegwu

More typing class practice for above and below the home row

I thought Blair only produced wrestlers. (Too be clear, I know Blair has a great hoops program).

If his coach's tweets are to be believed, Ian is a lefty "physical stretch 5" (read that as likes to take three pointers) who was getting interest from Elon, Wagner, UMBC, & Maine.

Men's hoops is picked to finish 5th in the Ivies, behind the usual suspects. Bart Torvik pegs the Big Red at 7-7 and tied with Princeton for 4th. KenPom agrees at 7-7 and 4th, but tied with Harvard. Of course, KenPom's info is behind a paywall, so you didn't hear that from me.

Season begins Monday (tomorrow as I type this) at BC. Here's a thumbnail of the team for those who don't really follow. Last year saw Coach Earl change his style completely as the team played at a much faster pace (11th fastest in the nation) and used a ton of players (13 regulars who got at least 8 minutes a game). And it worked pretty well, 15 wins, 4th place in the league, and the Big Red were the only team to beat both Princeton and Yale, who were the two best teams in the league last year.

Gone to graduation are All-Ivy Guard Dean Noll, captain Sarju Patel, and center Kobe Dickson. Wing Jordan Jones left the team with the stated intention of transferring, but it appears he remains a Cornell student. Anyway, here is who remains:

Guards: Sr. Greg Dolan is a point guard out of central casting; he passes and shoots well. It would be great if he can make the kind of senior year jump that Noll made last year. So. Nazir Williams is more of a scorer than a distributor. He was dynamic at times, other times he looked like a rookie trying to do too much. Still, he has the potential to be special. JuCo transfer Max Watson is aiming to be a three point sniper along the lines of Drew Ferry, he shot 40% from behind the arc last season. Jr. Isiah Gray is a ferocious defender with a high basketball IQ; he was supposed to be the best recruit from the class of '24. His problem last year was he couldn't shoot at all (50% from the line and 0 for the season from 3). He will be a difference-maker if he can get those number up, otherwise he's nice role player off the bench thanks to his D.

Wings: Jr. Chris Manon is the lone returning full-time starter. He's a disruptive force who was second in the league in steals and had the ability to take over a game. He could also drift into hero ball. He's uber-talented though and the best best to be all-Ivy because of how he contributes in every category. Fr. DJ Nix is the most highly-regarded recruit of Earl's tenure and should be part of the regular rotation from the start.

Forwards: Jr. Keller Boothby was among the nation's three point shooting leaders all season, finishing at an outstanding 49.5% (41.7 in league games). He also rebounds fairly well. But his offense last year was limited to the 3s as he only took 14 shots inside the arc all season. His league percentage is probably more sustainable, but over 40% is still outstanding. Sr. Marcus Filien started to get more run in the league season where he helped on the glass. Soph. Guy Ragland made 10-16 3's during an early season stretch of 4 games. Unfortunately, over the rest of the season, a much larger sample size, he was just 14 for 53, and spent far too much time behind the arc for his skill set. Soph. Evan Williams caught a few minutes here or there and flashed some interesting skills to me.

Center/Post: Jr. Sean Hansen takes over the post role, a role that remains vital cog in the offense as our high post is expected to distribute to the guards cutting to the basket. Hansen is a better shooter than was Dickson, but Kobe was a surprisingly efficient passer. Hansen's ability to make the half-court offense run will be critical. So. Chris Cain could see some time in the post, as could 6-10 So. Ryan Kiachian, who missed all of last year with an injury.

Should be an entertaining year with the guys in the mix for a spot in the Ivy Tournament. The style Earl discovered before last year creates match-up problems and hides some of the height problems since less time is spent in the half-court set. It should also help with recruiting; Nix claimed it was a big factor in his decision. There doesn't look to be a superteam in the Ivies, but Penn is largely seen as the favorite.

After BC, the team has both of their annual D3 games, two very winnable games with Canisius and Monmouth and a toss-up at St. Francis. 5-1 (or dare to dream 6-0) at the end of the month would be great; 4-2 is fine; 3-3 would be disappointing, 2-4 terrible, and let's not consider anything worse.

Looking at the first game notes, it appears that Williams and Kiachian are outside the projected rotation, while Fr. G Cooper Noard may be in it. Noard was the main scorer on his suburban Chicago high school team.

Thanks for the preview.

Yeah, thanks.

Let's hope they continue improving.

Really nice work, mountain. Thank you very much.

Happy to help. If Earl plays the same style, and all indications are that he will, the team is fun to watch. The game notes also list Williams, Dolan, Gray, Boothby and Hansen as the "probable" starters. Gray is a bit a surprise, but maybe that portends he's improved his shooting. Also a surprise to see Manon is likely not starting. Perhaps he's hurt, or maybe Earl wants to save him for the second wave. When you play a dozen guys 10-20 minutes, being a starter doesn't mean as much.

Thanks for reminding us the basketball still exists and won't be terrible. My undergrad years there was a ~4-23 season (no, not coached by David Archer Sr.) and it made Sports Illustrated, but not for the excellence of Cornell basketball and player-coach goodwill.

And from this team 40 years later came a sweet sixteen team.

Cornell weathered some brutal early shooting to get to within 2 at the half 43-41. 11 guys have seen action so far.

mountainred
Cornell weathered some brutal early shooting to get to within 2 at the half 43-41. 11 guys have seen action so far.

Live by the three, die by the three.

Al DeFlorio

mountainred
Cornell weathered some brutal early shooting to get to within 2 at the half 43-41. 11 guys have seen action so far.

Live by the three, die by the three.

Ragland is as wild tonight as he is fearless

Cornell leads 68-65 with 4:53 left. Nazir Williams is showing he’s our best talent, and by a significant margin.

Watching us play is thrilling and infuriating all at once. We do some great things and amazingly bonehead things in the span of seconds. Up by 2 with about 3 minutes left, but just had a 6 point lead with a chance to go up 8.

BC hits a shot with under a second left to win 79-77. Very frustrating, as this one was very winnable for the reasons scoop mentioned.

Random thoughts:

Williams is fricking talented and is going to be special. His body control is astounding.

Dolan is a rock in the back court and very efficient. And Gray is a tremendous defender who looks like he can play some offense. If so, he's very valuable.

Ragland could be a real difference maker if he played to his strengths and stayed near the glass, but 1-7 from behind the arc hurts the team.

Hansen's passing is going to be a problem if it doesn't get better fast.

One more to help me sleep. The Ivies lost every d1 game they played tonight and the Big Red were the only ones who played with a power 5 team. So, yay?!?

mountainred
Random thoughts:

Williams is fricking talented and is going to be special. His body control is astounding.

Dolan is a rock in the back court and very efficient. And Gray is a tremendous defender who looks like he can play some offense. If so, he's very valuable.

Ragland could be a real difference maker if he played to his strengths and stayed near the glass, but 1-7 from behind the arc hurts the team.

Hansen's passing is going to be a problem if it doesn't get better fast.

I posted last year that Williams was our best player, but he wasn’t consistent enough. If tonight’s performance is any indication, he’ll be in the running for All Ivy this year.

The coaches have to rope in Ragland on those wild 3’s. It’s nice the kid is fearless, but he needs to show a bit better judgment.

Agreed about Hansen’s passing—that’s got to improve given the type of offense we play.

Nice debut for Watson. He’s a good fit for our style. I thought Nix would be in the rotation, but maybe he’ll work his way in as the season moves along.

Really would have been great to walk away with the win, but a few too many turnovers and gave up some ill-timed offensive rebounds when BC made it’s late run. But a lot to be optimistic about.

thanks all for the session preview and game analysis. I hadn't realized the season was starting until I saw the final score on Twitter and did a double-take. already looking forward to the Columbia game.

scoop85
The coaches have to rope in Ragland on those wild 3’s. It’s nice the kid is fearless, but he needs to show a bit better judgment.

Good insights. Also: You just defined college student.

billhoward

scoop85
The coaches have to rope in Ragland on those wild 3’s. It’s nice the kid is fearless, but he needs to show a bit better judgment.

Good insights. Also: You just defined college student.

See the article about Cornell in today’s New York Times.

One of the annual D3 games was tonight, and the BR took care of business 114-57. Last 10 minutes was full "empty the bench mode," so first sightings of DJ Nix, Ryan Kiachian, Adam Tsang Hinton, Josh Baldwin, and a guy that was added to the roster today AK Okereke.

One of the annual D3 games was tonight, and the BR took care of business 114-57. Last 10 minutes was full "empty the bench mode," so first sightings of DJ Nix, Ryan Kiachian, Adam Tsang Hinton, Josh Baldwin, and a guy that was added to the roster today AK Okereke.

mountainred
One of the annual D3 games was tonight, and the BR took care of business 114-57. Last 10 minutes was full "empty the bench mode," so first sightings of DJ Nix, Ryan Kiachian, Adam Tsang Hinton, Josh Baldwin, and a guy that was added to the roster today AK Okereke.

Serious question. How does a guy just get added to the roster today? Where did he come from?

abmarks

mountainred
One of the annual D3 games was tonight, and the BR took care of business 114-57. Last 10 minutes was full "empty the bench mode," so first sightings of DJ Nix, Ryan Kiachian, Adam Tsang Hinton, Josh Baldwin, and a guy that was added to the roster today AK Okereke.

Serious question. How does a guy just get added to the roster today? Where did he come from?

Good question, I was wondering the same thing. From this story it seems like AK is a walk-on who was admitted to Cornell as a regular student. Putting up 22.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game at a good sized high school in Fresno means he may earn some PT.

mountainred

abmarks

mountainred
One of the annual D3 games was tonight, and the BR took care of business 114-57. Last 10 minutes was full "empty the bench mode," so first sightings of DJ Nix, Ryan Kiachian, Adam Tsang Hinton, Josh Baldwin, and a guy that was added to the roster today AK Okereke.

Serious question. How does a guy just get added to the roster today? Where did he come from?

Good question, I was wondering the same thing. From this story it seems like AK is a walk-on who was admitted to Cornell as a regular student. Putting up 22.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game at a good sized high school in Fresno means he may earn some PT.

Now I'm remembering my freshmen-year roommate (and senior-year housemate), Max Turkenich, who used to play pick-up games all the time. Our senior year, there were a number of recruits who quit the team over differences with the coach (Al Walker, I think?). Yadda-yadda, Max made the team as a walk-on from the JV squad, and only got garbage time. I got to see him on TV during the winter break as the game vs. Kansas was carried by ESPN. He didn't even start on Senior Night, but as the game vs. Penn got out of hand, we led the chants to put in Max. He finally got in, and hit the final shot as we lost by 15, but the crowd exploded. The local papers had nice write-ups about it. Walker got fired, and went to Binghamton several years later.

[cornellbigred.com]

mountainred
One of the annual D3 games was tonight, and the BR took care of business 114-57. Last 10 minutes was full "empty the bench mode," so first sightings of DJ Nix, Ryan Kiachian, Adam Tsang Hinton, Josh Baldwin, and a guy that was added to the roster today AK Okereke.

Perhaps so bad the opponent played in Icognito Mode. It was SUNY-Delhi (southeast of Oneonta and I-88): [cornellbigred.com]

billhoward

mountainred
One of the annual D3 games was tonight, and the BR took care of business 114-57. Last 10 minutes was full "empty the bench mode," so first sightings of DJ Nix, Ryan Kiachian, Adam Tsang Hinton, Josh Baldwin, and a guy that was added to the roster today AK Okereke.

Perhaps so bad the opponent played in Icognito Mode. It was SUNY-Delhi (southeast of Oneonta and I-88): [cornellbigred.com]

You know, I thought the Broncos were a decent D3 squad, certainly compared to some of the D3 teams Cornell has scheduled, but they'd played the night before and wanted to play at Cornell's pace. They just didn't have the legs to keep up. Credit to the team for taking care of business.

Everyone who was healthy got to play and no one was injured. About all you can ask for.

Cornell escapes St. Francis with an 80-77 win they tried hard to give away, hitting just 4 of their last 10 FTs. Hansen with 26 pts, 5 assists, and no turnovers to be the MVP. He was perfect from the field and perfect from the line until he joined the team effort down the stretch. Dolan had 19, Gray was on fire in the first half, and Max Watson hit some key shots down the stretch.

Earl is still looking for the depth he had last year as only 8 guys played in the second half.

On the bright side, the guys found a way to win a road game when they weren't hitting 3's, weren't hitting foul shots, Boothby was o-fer from behind the arc and Williams fouled out in 11 minutes with no points.

mountainred
Cornell escapes St. Francis with an 80-77 win they tried hard to give away, hitting just 4 of their last 10 FTs. Hansen with 26 pts, 5 assists, and no turnovers to be the MVP. He was perfect from the field and perfect from the line until he joined the team effort down the stretch. Dolan had 19, Gray was on fire in the first half, and Max Watson hit some key shots down the stretch.

Earl is still looking for the depth he had last year as only 8 guys played in the second half.

On the bright side, the guys found a way to win a road game when they weren't hitting 3's, weren't hitting foul shots, Boothby was o-fer from behind the arc and Williams fouled out in 11 minutes with no points.

I seem to recall we struggled at the foul line early last season but improved as the year went on. Hopefully we see a similar pattern this year.

Guys sleepwalk through a win over IC (an inner city rival as Barry called them a couple of times) 83-61. Most of the game played in the 10-15 point range, so no chance to get the deep reserves any real time. Which sucks because that is about the only reason to play these D3 games. Some thoughts:

* Half of Cornell's shots were from behind the arc, which is silliness considering the height advantage Cornell had. Rebounds were about even, which again should not happen. The team looked really disinterested.
* Really nice game by Ragland: 14p, 10r, and he took twice as many shots from inside the arc as outside. Ithaca had no answer for his athleticism.
* Freshman Josh Baldwin was part of the main rotation. Earl seems to like him.

Matinee win over Canisius 79-70. Most of the second half was played at a 12-ish point spread, until the Griffs hit 6 straight 3 pointers to get to within 5 at 75-70.

Nice balance on offense as 6 players had 10, 11, or 12 points. Throw in 10 steals and winning the rebounding game. But hitting just 2 of the last 6 free throws, including two misses on the front end of one and ones, has got to stop or it will cost the team a win.

mountainred
Matinee win over Canisius 79-70. Most of the second half was played at a 12-ish point spread, until the Griffs hit 6 straight 3 pointers to get to within 5 at 75-70.

Nice balance on offense as 6 players had 10, 11, or 12 points. Throw in 10 steals and winning the rebounding game. But hitting just 2 of the last 6 free throws, including two misses on the front end of one and ones, has got to stop or it will cost the team a win.

Great to see the balanced scoring, and Ragland actually hit a few threes (although I wish he’d concentrate on playing closer to the basket).

But the FT shooting at the end of the game has to improve or it will surely bite us in the rear end.

scoop85
Ragland actually hit a few threes (although I wish he’d concentrate on playing closer to the basket).

You and me both scoop. Ragland could be a force if he shot just enough 3's that his man has to respect it and come out to guard him. His rebounding, defense and passing are really outstanding.

Next stop: at winless Monmouth, but don't read too much into that because the Hawks overscheduled. It should be a tight game.

mountainred

scoop85
Ragland actually hit a few threes (although I wish he’d concentrate on playing closer to the basket).

You and me both scoop. Ragland could be a force if he shot just enough 3's that his man has to respect it and come out to guard him. His rebounding, defense and passing are really outstanding.

Next stop: at winless Monmouth, but don't read too much into that because the Hawks overscheduled. It should be a tight game.

Yes, Monmouth's schedule so far has been brutal. I saw their game against Colgate, and Monmouth will be competitive even though we should come out on top.

So glad I found this place. I've been waiting for that other board to approve me, not realizing that they apparently haven't had anyone running it since 2012. LOL.

So stoked about how this team has played so far this season. I'm shocked Brian Earl was back for another season, frankly. I figured someone would poach him after last season. He's a brilliant coach, at least for the type of basketball the Ivies (and other mid-majors) usually have to play.

I am not a fan of criticizing college kids who play basketball, so I'm trying to be circumspect when I say that Guy Ragland's play has been extremely disappointing so far. Hopefully he will improve, just as someone like Kobe Dickson did last season.

Cornell beats Monmouth on the road by 18 after leading by as many as 30. Again we had balanced scoring, with no one with more than 12 points. Although Monmouth is in a rebuild, that’s an encouraging road win.

Out for the holiday weekend, but really wishing I could have watched the 53-16 run the guys had against Monmouth; from 7 down to up 30 is crazy.

The top 8 on this team are really good. Dolan, Gray, Williams and Watson are a nice rotation at guard. Manon is difficult match-up at wing (when he plays in control). And Hansen, Ragland and Boothby provide different looks as our bigs. The drop off after that is pretty steep, however. Filien seems to be the next guy off the bench; he is a solid rebounder, but his offensive game has never come around. So. Cain and Fr. Baldwin are next, but they just don't seem ready yet. I'm mildly disappointed Nix hasn't forced himself into the rotation.

5-1 is as good as we could have realistically hoped for -- it was very close to 6-0 -- and the basketball they play is entertaining (if occasionally frustrating when they start being overly-reliant on the three).

The rest of the non-conference schedule consists of two road tips to power five teams (Miami and SU), three home games against teams that aren't very good (Lafayette, Lehigh and Bingo), a trip to a good Colgate team who beat Syracuse again (and just lost to Penn) and a trip to Delaware that looks like a toss-up. I would take 9-4 entering league play and be happy, but I'm greedy and would like another win or two.

2023 @LvilleSchool G Jacob Beccles (@jsbecc1es) has committed to @CUBigRedHoops, per his Twitter page. The 6-foot-3 guard avg. 24.1 points, 4.6 rebounds & 2.3 steals last season, scored 1,460 career points with @ConHighBall1. Led the Generals to b2b PIAA Class 2A title games pic.twitter.com/R4wQyFhbUg

— Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33) November 28, 2022

Looks like a nice guard prospect.

I wish I understood what Ragland is doing most of the time.

WHAT. A. COMEBACK!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Outscored Delaware 20-2 after being down by 11 with about five minutes left. Amazing.

Mr. Niss
WHAT. A. COMEBACK!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh, yep!

Cornell closes on a 12-0 run to beat Delaware 74-67! This after the chickens had an 18-3 run late to seemingly put the game away. A lot of credit to the guys for fighting back on the road.

With 4:26 left, Delaware led 65-54. Greg Dolan was very clutch as he scored 11 of team high 15 in that final 4:26. 20 team assists to 10 team turnovers and 10 team steals.

mountainred

Mr. Niss
WHAT. A. COMEBACK!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh, yep!

Cornell closes on a 12-0 run to beat Delaware 74-67! This after the chickens had an 18-3 run late to seemingly put the game away. A lot of credit to the guys for fighting back on the road.

With 4:26 left, Delaware led 65-54. Greg Dolan was very clutch as he scored 11 of team high 15 in that final 4:26. 20 team assists to 10 team turnovers and 10 team steals.

****

The last time I looked at Ken Pom before the game, Delaware was about 20 spots ahead of us. His prediction had us losing by 4.

They're now 191 and we're 180.

Six spots ahead of Louisville.

Now that's balanced scoring.

ugarte
Now that's balanced scoring.

It’s the depth of this team that sets it apart from most college programs. No reason we shouldn’t be in the running for a top-4 league finish.

scoop85

ugarte
Now that's balanced scoring.

It’s the depth of this team that sets it apart from most college programs. No reason we shouldn’t be in the running for a top-4 league finish.

For the season, Dolan is averaging 13.4 points a game to lead the team. The rest of the eight man rotation averages between 10.7 (Williams) and 8.1 (Ragland and Watson). Defenses have to worry about everyone on the floor equally.

41-41 at the half versus a mediocre Lafayette team. The Leopards hit 8 of 13 three pointers, including a banked in thirty-footer to end the half, and all seven of their foul shots.

Down by 8 late in second half. May need another big closing run to pull this one out. If we do, it would match our longest win streak since the season we went to Sweet 16 (2009-10).

dbilmes
Down by 8 late in second half. May need another big closing run to pull this one out. If we do, it would match our longest win streak since the season we went to Sweet 16 (2009-10).

And they get it! Good guys escape with a 73-68 win.

Lafayette completes a three point play with 4:08 to go, and never score again. Great defense down the stretch by the Big Red to close on an 11-0 run.

Manon, Dolan, and Williams with a game high 12 points. And credit to Filien for some big time rebounds late and then hitting the final two FTs to largely ice the game.

Cornell-Miami is on NESN+ tonight at 7, for those who have that channel.

Al DeFlorio
Cornell-Miami is on NESN+ tonight at 7, for those who have that channel.

Had to stop and think, Cradle of Coaches Miami of Ohio Redhawks, or Lost Instutional Control of Hurricanes Football 1990s? It's Hurricanes.

(Sports Illustrated line from the 1990s: "Miami was the only football team with player pictures taken from the front and both sides." )

i guess they keep the camera on him?

Miami hitting threes. Cornell isn't. Down 35-29 mid-first.

We're in this game. Manon needs to slow down. He looks like he's trying to show Miami he's as good as they are. Not good.

Miami 6 of 11 from three

I had not seen Miami yet. They seem solid. They make threes and they make FTs. Meanwhile, Guy Ragland needs to never take a 3. Ever.

Can't stop Wong. Has 22 first half.

Amazing that we have played great and may go into halftime down double digits.

This is insane.

Early we were going to the basket. Not any more.

Miami now 8 of 14 from three.

We have played a ridiculously good half against a team that is meaningfully better. We're down 11 because Miami is shooting the lights out, after going 25% from three in their last game against a worse team (Louisville).

Did Naz change his number? Wearing 10 tonight?

Miami 13 of 14 from the line.
9 of 15 from three.

Down 14 at half after what might have been the best half we have played since 2010. Incredible.

Cornell with more points in the paint.

Al DeFlorio
Cornell-Miami is on NESN+ tonight at 7, for those who have that channel.

On ESPN+ too!

104-94 with 3:31 left. Our offense has been excellent, but Miami has some high level talent and we’re giving up too many offensive boards. Entertaining game against a very good team.

They did *great* tonight. Manon's failure to make his FTs was a killer, but otherwise he played really well when he was under control. I'm really proud of this effort and this team. Miami is one of the best teams in the ACC and could be in the top 25. And we ran into a kid who had a ridiculous night.


Edit -- ** HOLD THAT COPY **

Results be damned, what a wildly entertaining game

Miami on a one-and-one still ...

damn how do they get the ball into the guy who shoots 87%?

scoop85
104-94 with 3:31 left. Our offense has been excellent, but Miami has some high level talent and we’re giving up too many offensive boards. Entertaining game against a very good team.

107-104. :06 to go (but Miami at line)

Mr. Niss
Miami on a one-and-one still ...

damn how do they get the ball into the guy who shoots 87%?

Yeah, not great by us

I they overturn this call I may throw my 2010 replica Ivy League championship trophy through a window.

Ah, so close

I love Brian Earl to pieces. But that last play, blech. You can't have the play be the shortest guy on the floor heaving one when the other team is expecting the shot.

We have two losses this year -- both by two points to two ACC teams. Man. We should jump 100 points in KenPom for this game.

I have no complaint with Watson taking the last shot. Nice block by the Miami kid. Needed a screen there

At 21 down I was glad I didn't try to figure out how to order Bally Sports. By the end I really regretted that decision. Disappointed, but you have to like the fight this team has.

Wish he realized he had time. Could've pumped and gotten the guy in the air. Hindsight is 20-20. Reminds me of the 73-72 loss to Kansas in late '09 (although in that one we led until like the last minute; and, of course, Kansas was #1 and hadn't lost at home in like 72 games).

Mr. Niss

We have two losses this year -- both by two points to two ACC teams. Man. We should jump 100 points in KenPom for this game.

The computers are going to love the offensive work, but hate the defense. Still, they had this as a 16 point loss, so there should be jump. Is this finally the year for a win at the Dome?

mountainred

Mr. Niss

We have two losses this year -- both by two points to two ACC teams. Man. We should jump 100 points in KenPom for this game.

The computers are going to love the offensive work, but hate the defense. Still, they had this as a 16 point loss, so there should be jump. Is this finally the year for a win at the Dome?

We jumped from 185 to 166. Kind of disappointing. I thought we'd get a bigger bump. Not that it matters. We are now ahead of Harvard and Penn, behind Yale (91) and Princeton (111).

One of my kids is at Syracuse. We don't miss a game. Cornell has the best chance to beat Syracuse that we've had in the 41 years since we last beat them. They also could get waxed, depending upon which Syracuse team shows up. Hopefully, it will be the one that played Colgate and Bryant.

Slightly bigger jump on Bart Torvik's site, but both slot Cornell in the 160s and in the top half of all D1 teams. Which essentially hasn't happened since the Sweet Sixteen.* So, we have that going for us.

*In Courtney's second year -- last year with 'Ski and Ferry and first with Shonn -- the team started fairly high but played themselves out of the top 200. Make of that what you will, if anything.

Mr. Niss

mountainred

Mr. Niss

We have two losses this year -- both by two points to two ACC teams. Man. We should jump 100 points in KenPom for this game.

The computers are going to love the offensive work, but hate the defense. Still, they had this as a 16 point loss, so there should be jump. Is this finally the year for a win at the Dome?

We jumped from 185 to 166. Kind of disappointing. I thought we'd get a bigger bump. Not that it matters. We are now ahead of Harvard and Penn, behind Yale (91) and Princeton (111).

One of my kids is at Syracuse. We don't miss a game. Cornell has the best chance to beat Syracuse that we've had in the 41 years since we last beat them. They also could get waxed, depending upon which Syracuse team shows up. Hopefully, it will be the one that played Colgate and Bryant.

i still can't believe we never beat them during the 3 year Ivy title run.

The first time I clicked on this article, I was able to read it all the way through, but now it has a paywall. That's too bad because it gives the background on how Earl decided to transition to Cornell's current style of play. To summarize, the decision was made during the winter when Ivy basketball was cancelled and Cornell was limited to only practices. As the team was racing up and down the court during practices, Earl realized the current makeup of the team fit in well with that style of play, especially since most of the players were interchangeable in the different positions they could play. He notes that their current 9-2 record is misleading because their schedule hasn't been that tough, and that the players need to learn how to close out tight games (both Cornell losses were by 2 points on the road). It's been over 50 years since Cornell has defeated Syracuse. It would be nice if we could end that streak this weekend.

Best start (11-4) against a big conference team since 10-2 vs Kentucky in the 2010 Sweet 16

Meanwhile, Joe Girard hasn't made a shot all year (an exaggeration to make a point) but today he has been lights out so far.

Someone please tell Guy to STOP SHOOTING

Very disappointing finish to the half -- not just the result, but just dumb play.

Lost an 11 point lead by halftime

Guy Ragland seriously needs to not shoot, period.

This is very disappointing.

It’s almost an annual tradition that Syracuse let’s us think we can beat them before sealing it up. Let’s not be delusional.

Cornell is not going to beat anyone not even Little Sisters of the Poor going 1 for 22 on field goals like it did in the second half-simple math. Colgate beat SU hitting a record number of 3s in the Dome and they were almost beat by Bryant. Cornell had open looks from 3 that were not going in-thus the game. Thought it was Cornell's best chance of beating them and just did not work out. The announcers for the ACC Network were horrible IMO. Liked what I saw of DJ Nix late in the game and hoping he gets some more playing time. Lehigh and Colgate coming up-Colgate will be tough-Head Coach Matt Langel has done an excellent job. What I like about Langel is that he shows no interest in moving up the proverbial coaching ladder (Million-dollar contracts but a lot less security).

mountainred

Mr. Niss

We have two losses this year -- both by two points to two ACC teams. Man. We should jump 100 points in KenPom for this game.

The computers are going to love the offensive work, but hate the defense. Still, they had this as a 16 point loss, so there should be jump. Is this finally the year for a win at the Dome?

Guess not. Getting shots on the Syracuse zone is tough, but this team cannot take 48 3's and expect to beat anyone good. Especially if Watson and Boothby (who is going through some serious regression from last year) shoot a combined 2-17 from behind the arc.