News and Notes: Thursday Edition

Below, some news and notes for Thursday...

• The Columbia Spectator summarized Cornell's last road weekend as follows: "Cornell-It was a disappointing weekend for the Big Red. In its game against Penn, the Big Red was unable to limit its turnovers. Cornell gave the ball up 10 times over the first 20 minutes of the game. The Big Red led by six points in the second half, but after 11 lead changes and 10 ties, the team fell 66-73. After the close game against Penn, Cornell went to visit the Tigers. Princeton shot 69 percent from the floor and dominated on the glass, leading it to a 75-57 victory over the Big Red."

• Checking in around the Ivy League, the Daily Princetonian writes, "Cornell (10-14, 5-5) Cornell finally fell out of the top half of the league last week, and it doesn’t look like the Big Red will get back there soon. The Big Red was swept by the treacherous Penn-Princeton road trip, snapping a three-game win streak. With games against Brown and Dartmouth remaining, Cornell should finish at .500, but doing better than that will require an upset at Yale or against Harvard."
  

• Jeff Foote (Cornell '10), an NBA D-League All Star, and his Springfield Armor are not back in action until March 2, following the All-Star Weekend break. The Armor's next game is at Maine. All D-League games are broadcast online via Futurecast on the league website. The D-League All Star game is February 25 at 2 pm and will be broadcast on NBA TV.

• The Celtics Blog writes, "Breaking news items: Water is wet, the Earth is round, taxes are due on April 15th, and the Celtics could use some help in the big man department... I had previously written about Jeff Foote of the Springfield Armor as a potential guy we could sign on a 10 day contract. If they go that route, they'd have to cut someone loose but with the way the bench has been playing lately, that shouldn't be too painful. Sasha Pavlovic immediately comes to mind, but Marquis Daniels hasn't exactly separated himself in a good way lately either."
  

• Not a member of Twitter? See what The Cornell Basketball Blog is tweeting and retweeting each day by visiting our Twitter Timeline.

• Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's updated profiles of Cornell's five committed recruits from the classes of 2012 and 2013: Robert Mischler (Mishawaka HS) Marian, IN, 6-2, G, Braxston Bunce (Kelowna Secondary School) Kelowna, BC, Canada, 6-11, Holt Harmon (Plano West HS), Plano, TX, 6-9, F; Nolan Cressler (Plum HS) Plum, PA, 6-4, G (class of 2012) and Tim Higgins (Paul VI HS) Fairfax, VA, 6-10, C (class of 2013).

• Committed Cornell recruit, Nolan Cressler scored 27 points (including five 3-pointers) in a WPIAL opening round playoff game on Wednesday night. The Pittsburgh Tribune writes:

Kiski Area and Plum made for a terrific first-round playoff matchup because of the teams' similarities — strong guard play, disciplined coaching and familiarity, having played once earlier in the season.

But Plum had a considerable edge in the thrilling rematch Wednesday night: Nolan Cressler.

The 6-foot-4 guard, who will take his talents to Cornell next year, hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 27 points — including 10 during a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter — to push No. 8 seed Plum past No. 9 Kiski Area, 61-57, in the teams' WPIAL Class AAAA playoff opener at Gateway.

Firing from NBA range before a packed gym, Cressler buried back-to-back 3-pointers — one to tie it and the second to put the Mustangs ahead, 57-55, with 57 seconds to go.

For good measure, Plum's all-time leading scorer swatted away senior point guard Alex Lamendola's layup try with 50 seconds to play.

"We knew this would be a close game," said Cressler, the WPIAL's second-leading scorer (26 ppg). "Finally, we're out of the first round."

Cressler was 1-2 in previous playoff appearances. Now, he'll get a shot at No. 1 Shaler [and Penn State recruit, Geno Thorpe] (21-2), which beat Plum (16-7) earlier this season, with a semifinal berth on the line. The teams will play Saturday at a time and site to be determined.

• After committed Cornell recruit, Braxston Bunce and his Kelowna Owls fell in a non-conference game on Friday night to Vancouver College, The Daily Courier asks if the defeat was a "good thing" for Kelowna as they head into the postseason. Bunce finished with 16 points in the loss but played only half the game due to the flu. Also last week, Bunce finished with 28 points and 19 rebounds in a win over South Kamloops.
  

• Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recap sections from each of Cornell's games this season.

November 11, 2011 at St. Bonaventure L 58-79


November 14, 2011 vs. Binghamton W 76-61

November 16, 2011 at Buffalo L 59-68

November 20, 2011 vs. Boston University W 71-66

November 22, 2011 at Delaware L 68-76

November 27, 2011 vs. American L 63-65

December 3, 2011 vs. Lehigh W 81-79 (OT)

December 17, 2011 vs. Albany W 85-82 (OT)

December 19, 2011 at Illinois L 60-64

December 21, 2011 at Penn State L 67-74

December 28, 2011 at Stony Brook L 58-69 (OT)

December 31, 2011 at Bucknell L 60-63

January 3, 2012 at Maryland L 62-70

January 7, 2012 vs. Albright W 78-60

January 13, 2012 vs. Princeton W 67-59

January 14, 2012 vs. Penn L 52-64

January 21, 2012 at Columbia L 56-61

January 28, 2012 vs. Columbia W 65-60

February 3, 2012 at Harvard L 60-71

February 4, 2012 at Dartmouth W 68-59

February 10, 2012 vs. Yale W 85-84 OT

February 11, 2012 vs. Brown W 72-63

February 17, 2012 at Penn L 66-73

February 18, 2012 at Princeton L 57-75

• Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of February 23 is No. 190 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 189 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 198 Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

• Here is a look at Ivy League results and upcoming games. A full Ivy composite schedule may viewed by clicking here.

IVY LEAGUE COMPOSITE SCHEDULE

Friday, November 11
Johnson & Wales 66 Brown 86 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 57 Connecticut 70[ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 58 St. Bonaventure 79 (Box Score - Recap)
MIT 49 Harvard 76 (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 56 Rutgers 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 59 Maryland-Baltimore County 45 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 73 Central Connecticut State 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 12
Wagner 73 Princeton 57 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 14
Albany 77 Brown 68 (NIT Tip-Off-1st Round@Syracuse, N.Y.)[ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Temple 73 Penn 67 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Furman 58 Columbia 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Binghamton 61 Cornell 76 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 15
Harvard 73 Holy Cross 64 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Quinnipiac 68 [SNY] (Box Score - Recap)
Brown 52 Manhattan 54 NIT Tip Consolation@Syracuse, N.Y. [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 16
Cornell 59 Buffalo 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Vermont 65 Dartmouth 53 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 58 North Carolina State 60 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 17
Penn 78 Rider 72 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Lyndon State 37 Yale 101 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 19
Buffalo 53 Princeton 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Hartford 52 Brown 59 (Box Score - Recap)
American 66 Columbia 58 (Box Score - Recap)
Bryant 62 Dartmouth 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Robert Morris 60 Penn 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 77 Loyola Marymount 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 21
Brown 48 George Mason 74 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 22
Brown 79 Monmouth 71 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 53 Stony Brook 67 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 64 Delaware 72 (Box Score - Recap)
Wagner 71 Penn 65 (Box Score - Recap)
Elon 56 Princeton 55 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Seton Hall 73 (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 24
Dartmouth 69 San Francisco 71 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 75 Utah 47 [HDNet] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, November 25
Dartmouth 64 vs. Alaska-Anchorage 52(Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 46 Florida State 41 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Bucknell 62 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
Pittsburgh 78 Penn 58 [TCN] (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 26
Yale 84 Army 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 59 Manhattan 41 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Morehead State 68 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
James Madison 60 Penn 58 [TCN] (Philly Hoop Group Classic) (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 48 Western Michigan 65 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 59 Central Florida 49 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 27
Brown 64 Sacred Heart 77 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 66 West Alabama 66 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
American 65 Cornell 63 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 28
Swarthmore 42 Columbia 104 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 29
Manhattan 72 Penn 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 74 Hartford 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 30
Dartmouth 50 New Hampshire 53 (Box Score - Recap)
Lafayette 69 Princeton 54 (Box Score - Recap)
Rhode Island 56 Brown 65 [myRITV] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 1
Harvard 55 Vermont 48 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 2
Columbia 69 Loyola Marymount 61 (LA Westside Centennial Classic) (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 3
Vermont 52 Yale 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Brown 54 Iowa 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Lehigh 79 Cornell 81 (OT) (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 65 Villanova 73 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 72 North Texas 57 (Box Score - Recap) (LA Westside Centennial Classic)

Sunday, December 4
Columbia 78 La Sierra 56 (Box Score - Recap) (LA Westside Centennial Classic)
Seattle 70 Harvard 80 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, December 5
Brown 49 Providence 80 [ESPN3/SNY] (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 73 Sacred Heart 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, December 6
Holy Cross 45 Columbia 46 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 7
Delaware 60 Penn 69 (Box Score - Recap)
New Hampshire 69 Brown 56 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 59 Rutgers 57 (Box Score - Recap)
Bryant 59 Yale 76 (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 8
Harvard 53 Connecticut 67 [ESPN2] (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 10
Central Connecticut State 80 Brown 90 (Box Score - Recap)
Long Island 53 Columbia 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 76 Boston University 52 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 60 Drexel 64 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 73 UCLA 77 [DirecTV] (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 47 Notre Dame 65 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, December 13
Dartmouth 51 IPFW 56 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 14
Princeton 72 Rider 71 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 17
Elon 54 Dartmouth 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Albany 82 Cornell 85 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, December 18
Princeton 71 Northeastern 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 68 Rhode Island 65 [COX RI] (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, December 19
Cornell 60 Illinois 64 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 55 Colgate 61 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 21
Dartmouth 64 Army 67 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 67 Penn State 74 [Big Ten Network] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 22
Florida Atlantic 51 Harvard 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 59 Siena 63 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 23
Maine 71 Brown 58 (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 74 Albany 82 (Box Score - Recap)
Marist 71 Penn 84 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 28
Columbia 59 Marist 79 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 59 Stony Brook 68 OT [Cablevision] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 29
Brown 49 St. Francis (N.Y.) 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 67 Boston College 46 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 70 Davidson 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 71 Wake Forest 72 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 30
Princeton 75 Florida State 73 (3OT) [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Lafayette 67 Columbia 77 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 31
Cornell 60 Bucknell 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Holy Cross 65 Dartmouth 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 70 Florida 90 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
Saint Joseph’s 69 Harvard 74 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, January 1
Princeton 76 Florida A&M 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 55 Duke 85 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, January 2
American 70 Brown 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Fairleigh Dickinson 52 Columbia 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, January 3
Bucknell 67 Dartmouth 59 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 54 Fordham 60 (Box Score - Recap)
Holy Cross 67 Yale 82 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 62 Maryland 70 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, January 4
Columbia 66 Colgate 59 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 78 Lafayette 73 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, January 7
*Dartmouth 47 Harvard 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Albright 60 Cornell 78 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, January 8
Columbia 65 Elon 60 (Box Score - Recap)
The College of New Jersey 68 Princeton 79 (Box Score - Recap)
St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) 86 Yale 101 (Box Score)

Tuesday, January 10
Harvard 70 Monmouth 61 (Box Score - Recap)
La Salle 68 Penn 57 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, January 11
Longwood 79 Brown 77 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, January 13
*Penn 66 Columbia 64 (Box Score - Recap)
*Princeton 59 Cornell 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, January 14
*Brown 64 Yale 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Longwood 67 Dartmouth 83 (Box Score - Recap)
George Washington 48 Harvard 69 (Box Score - Recap)
*Princeton 62 Columbia 58 (Box Score - Recap)
*Penn 52 Cornell 64 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, January 21
*Yale 73 Brown 60 (Box Score - Recap)
*Cornell 56 Columbia 61 (Box Score - Recap)
*Harvard 54 Dartmouth 38 (Box Score - Recap)
Saint Joseph’s 80 Penn 84 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, January 23
Brown 67 Bryant 60 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, January 27
*Dartmouth 59 Brown 66 (Box Score - Recap)
*Harvard 65 Yale 35 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, January 28
*Harvard 68 Brown 59 (Box Score - Recap)
*Columbia 60 Cornell 65 (Box Score - Recap)
*Dartmouth 52 Yale 62 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, January 30
*Princeton 67 Penn 82 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, February 3
*Princeton 77 Brown 63 (Box Score - Recap)
*Columbia 64 Dartmouth 62 (Box Score - Recap)
*Cornell 60 Harvard 71 (Box Score - Recap)
*Penn 53 Yale 60 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, February 4
*Penn 65 Brown 48 (Box Score - Recap)
*Columbia 52 Harvard 57 (Box Score - Recap)
*Cornell 68 Dartmouth 59 (Box Score - Recap)
*Princeton 54 Yale 58 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, February 10
*Brown 60 Columbia 86 (Box Score - Recap)
*Yale 84 Cornell 85 (OT) Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 56 Penn 50 (Box Score - Recap)
*Dartmouth 47 Princeton 59 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, February 11
*Brown 63 Cornell 72 (Box Score - Recap)
*Yale 59 Columbia 58 (Box Score - Recap)
*Dartmouth 55 Penn 58 (Box Score - Recap)
*Harvard 62 Princeton 70 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, February 17
*Brown 42 Harvard 69 (Box Score - Recap)
*Columbia 66 Princeton 77 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
*Cornell 66 Penn 73 (Box Score - Recap)
*Yale 70 Dartmouth 61 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, February 18
*Brown 53 Dartmouth 58 (Box Score - Recap)
*Columbia 59 Penn 61 OT (Box Score - Recap)
*Cornell 57 Princeton 75 (Box Score - Recap)
*Yale 51 Harvard 66 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, February 24
*Cornell at Brown, 7 pm
*Columbia at Yale, 7 pm [YES]
*Penn at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Princeton at Harvard, 7 pm

Saturday, February 25
*Columbia at Brown, 6 pm
*Cornell at Yale, 7 pm
*Princeton at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Penn at Harvard, 7 pm [ESPN3]