Lancers Blog Previews Cornell

Gameday Preview: vs Cornell Big Red (2-4)

Lancers Blog

Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas
When: Saturday, November 24, 5:30 PM
Cornell Athletic Site: www.CornellBigRed.com
Cornell Fan Site: www.cornellbasketball.blogspot.com

Lancers Blog GameThread

For the fifth time in the Lancers six games this season they will face an opponent that the program has never faced before. After the Lancers 86-83 overtime victory versus Florida A&M yesterday the Lancers will face Cornell today in the the divisional championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational. Cornell earned their spot in today’s game by thrashing Big South rival Presbyterian 89-55. Interestingly enough, this game will mark the first of two games against Ivy League opponents this week for the Lancers. Next Saturday Dartmouth will visit Farmville.

The story off the court for this game has to be Longwood assistant coach Ricky Yahn. Yahn, in his second year on the Lancers’ bench, was an assistant coach for one year at Cornell during the 2010-11 season. Eight players remain on the Big Red from when Yahn coached in Ithaca.

Cornell is a team who was picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the eight team Ivy League. They’ve been an up and down squad early this year losing to Saint Bonaventure and Saint Peter’s at home, struggling against Wisconsin, playing well versus Arizona State, and then crushing Presbyterian yesterday. It’s hard to gauge which Big Red team we’ll see today.

No one is statistically lighting it up for Cornell this year, rather they run a rotation in which nine players average over fifteen minutes. Their leading scorer is Devin Cherry who is averaging 10.2 points per game this year. Their most efficient player has been sophomore forward Shonn Miller. Miller is averaging 8.8 points per game, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.

Cornell should be the favorite for this one, but both teams are very comparable statistically. The key for Longwood will be once again trying to limit turnovers, playing solid half-court defense, and staying out of foul trouble. Despite double-digit scoring performances by TT Carey, Nik Brown, Jeylani Dublin, and Michael Kessens yesterday, the Lancers bench only contributed 6 points. Others will need to step up for Longwood to leave Las Vegas 2-0.