Saturday, March 06, 2010
Cornell Captures Ivy; Earns Tourney Seed
College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, March 5, 2010
With their 95-76 win at Brown Friday night, Cornell's Big Red locked up first place in the Ivy League, earning them an automatic NCAA tournament bid.
Their remaining game at Yale tonight becomes inconsequential as Cornell already has a 12-1 record and 2nd place Harvard is two games back at 10-3, so, after Saturday's road finale, it will be back to the books for the brainy Cornellians, awaiting their fate from the selection committee on March 14. By the time Cornell players are back on the hardwood they will have had at least an 11-day layoff. That's a long time the Big Red can use to plot the overthrow of a #3 or #4 seed. They're currently ranked around 50 in the field of 65.
In Friday's win, the Big Red used long ball to demolish the Brown Bears, hitting 20 of 30 shots from 3-point range. Leading the long-range barrage was senior forward Jon Jaques, who 7 of 9, including 6 of 8 from downtown. A 48% 3-point shooter on the season, Jaques also handled 7 rebounds and led five players in double figures with 20 points.
The Big Red has demonstrated ability to score in all aspects of the game throughout the season, so their opponent in the first round of the NCAA tourney better come well-prepared.
With their 95-76 win at Brown Friday night, Cornell's Big Red locked up first place in the Ivy League, earning them an automatic NCAA tournament bid.Their remaining game at Yale tonight becomes inconsequential as Cornell already has a 12-1 record and 2nd place Harvard is two games back at 10-3, so, after Saturday's road finale, it will be back to the books for the brainy Cornellians, awaiting their fate from the selection committee on March 14. By the time Cornell players are back on the hardwood they will have had at least an 11-day layoff. That's a long time the Big Red can use to plot the overthrow of a #3 or #4 seed. They're currently ranked around 50 in the field of 65.
In Friday's win, the Big Red used long ball to demolish the Brown Bears, hitting 20 of 30 shots from 3-point range. Leading the long-range barrage was senior forward Jon Jaques, who 7 of 9, including 6 of 8 from downtown. A 48% 3-point shooter on the season, Jaques also handled 7 rebounds and led five players in double figures with 20 points.
The Big Red has demonstrated ability to score in all aspects of the game throughout the season, so their opponent in the first round of the NCAA tourney better come well-prepared.
Labels: Cornell Big Red, Jon Jaques
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Big Red Steaming Toward Ivy league Title
College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 19, 2010
If it's Friday, it must mean Ivy League hoops. Unlike most other conferences, which take Friday's off, many of the Ivy League schools - where the focus is on academics - play almost exclusively on weekends, meaning cramming games onto the Friday night fare.
Last Friday, Cornell was suffering through its worst game of the season, a 79-64 loss to lowly Penn at the Palestra. The Big Red quickly made amends, beating Princeton the following night before heading back North to Ithaca, NY.
This Friday found the Cornell troops at Harvard, where Ryan Wittman and his buddies dispatched the Crimson smart set with a 79-70 win. Wittman, a 6'6" senior forward, scored a game-high 27 points on 10-for-20 shooting, which included 6 of 12 from beyond the arc. He also collected 6 rebounds and blocked a pair of sots as Cornell won their third straight game - all on the road - and continued to lead Princeton by a 1/2 game at 8-1 in the conference standings. Princeton improved to 7-1, coasting past Yale, 81-52.
Wittman has scored in double figures every game except one this season, when he scored just 4 points at UMass in Cornell's second game of the season.
Cornell travels again, to Dartmouth, Saturday, before returning home to prepare for next Friday's 7:00 pm home showdown with Princeton.
If it's Friday, it must mean Ivy League hoops. Unlike most other conferences, which take Friday's off, many of the Ivy League schools - where the focus is on academics - play almost exclusively on weekends, meaning cramming games onto the Friday night fare.Last Friday, Cornell was suffering through its worst game of the season, a 79-64 loss to lowly Penn at the Palestra. The Big Red quickly made amends, beating Princeton the following night before heading back North to Ithaca, NY.
This Friday found the Cornell troops at Harvard, where Ryan Wittman and his buddies dispatched the Crimson smart set with a 79-70 win. Wittman, a 6'6" senior forward, scored a game-high 27 points on 10-for-20 shooting, which included 6 of 12 from beyond the arc. He also collected 6 rebounds and blocked a pair of sots as Cornell won their third straight game - all on the road - and continued to lead Princeton by a 1/2 game at 8-1 in the conference standings. Princeton improved to 7-1, coasting past Yale, 81-52.
Wittman has scored in double figures every game except one this season, when he scored just 4 points at UMass in Cornell's second game of the season.
Cornell travels again, to Dartmouth, Saturday, before returning home to prepare for next Friday's 7:00 pm home showdown with Princeton.
Labels: Cornell Big Red, Ryan Wittman
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Big Red Continues to Stomp Through Ivy
College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 5, 2010
After dispatching with previously-perfect in conference Harvard in a very unfriendly manner last Saturday (86-50), Cornell's Big Red continued their domination of lesser Ivy league foes by thrashing Yale, 90-71, with 7-foot senior center Jeff Foote having another big game.
Foote hit 7 of 11 shots from the field for 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for his 7th double-double of the season. Unranked Cornell sports one of the better records in the nation at 19-3 are 5-0 in the Ivy League. Their remaining major test comes next Saturday (Feb. 13), when they travel to face Princeton (12-5, 3-0). The two teams have a return date at Cornell on the 26th of February. Those two games should decide the Ivy League champion, though Cornell currently appears unbeatable.
After dispatching with previously-perfect in conference Harvard in a very unfriendly manner last Saturday (86-50), Cornell's Big Red continued their domination of lesser Ivy league foes by thrashing Yale, 90-71, with 7-foot senior center Jeff Foote having another big game.Foote hit 7 of 11 shots from the field for 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for his 7th double-double of the season. Unranked Cornell sports one of the better records in the nation at 19-3 are 5-0 in the Ivy League. Their remaining major test comes next Saturday (Feb. 13), when they travel to face Princeton (12-5, 3-0). The two teams have a return date at Cornell on the 26th of February. Those two games should decide the Ivy League champion, though Cornell currently appears unbeatable.
Labels: Cornell Big Red, Jeff Foote
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Cornell Stomps Dartmoth, Continues Roll through Ivy
College Hoops Player of the Day for DAY, Month, 2010
When Ivy Leaguers from Dartmoth meet with Cornell, it's Big Green vs. Big Red, but the greens were swallowed up in a sea of red Friday night as Cornell plastered Big Green, 71-37, continuing their dominance over fellow Ivy Leaguers.
Sporting a 17-3 record, Cornell's only losses have come from outside the conference, to powerhouses Syracuse, Kansas and Seton Hall, though Big Red held their own in each of those contests. Against Dartmouth, Cornell emptied their bench (amd maybe some of the stands) using 19 different players to extend a 27-13 half time lead for 44 second half points and a thorough beating.
Leading the way was 3-point specialist and Massachusetts transfer, Max Groebe, who hit his only 2-point attempt, and connected on 4 of 6 from beyond the arc to raise his season shooting percentage from long range to an incredible 59.4%. Groebe played just 16 minutes but tallied a team-high 15 points. 11 other Big Red players scored in the one-sided affair.
Cornell will try to go 4-0 in the Ivy League when they face Harvard - also 3-0 - on Saturday in Ithaca, NY. Back-to-back weekend games are the norm in the Ivy, where the focus is on books rather than hoops. All conference games are played on either a Friday or Saturday.
When Ivy Leaguers from Dartmoth meet with Cornell, it's Big Green vs. Big Red, but the greens were swallowed up in a sea of red Friday night as Cornell plastered Big Green, 71-37, continuing their dominance over fellow Ivy Leaguers.Sporting a 17-3 record, Cornell's only losses have come from outside the conference, to powerhouses Syracuse, Kansas and Seton Hall, though Big Red held their own in each of those contests. Against Dartmouth, Cornell emptied their bench (amd maybe some of the stands) using 19 different players to extend a 27-13 half time lead for 44 second half points and a thorough beating.
Leading the way was 3-point specialist and Massachusetts transfer, Max Groebe, who hit his only 2-point attempt, and connected on 4 of 6 from beyond the arc to raise his season shooting percentage from long range to an incredible 59.4%. Groebe played just 16 minutes but tallied a team-high 15 points. 11 other Big Red players scored in the one-sided affair.
Cornell will try to go 4-0 in the Ivy League when they face Harvard - also 3-0 - on Saturday in Ithaca, NY. Back-to-back weekend games are the norm in the Ivy, where the focus is on books rather than hoops. All conference games are played on either a Friday or Saturday.
Labels: Cornell Big Red, Max Groebe
