Cornell Athletics Game Notes for Nationally Televised Game at St. Bonaventure

Men's Hoops Visits St. Bonaventure Saturday On NBC Sports Network

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ST. BONAVENTURE INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

GAME INFORMATION
Game #13: Cornell at St. Bonaventure
Tip off: Saturday, Jan. 4, at 2 p.m.
Site: The Reilly Center (5,480), Olean, N.Y.
2013-14 Records: Cornell (0-12, 0-0 Ivy); St. Bonaventure (9-4, 0-0 A-10)
Series Record: Cornell leads 8-6
Last Meeting: St. Bonaventure won 72-68, Nov. 14, 2012 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: HITS 103.3 FM (Barry Leonard)
TV: NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss, Dalen Cuff)
Live Stats: available at www.GoBonnies.com
Live Video: Not available for this game
Tickets: check availability by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH BILL COURTNEY
Cornell head coach Bill Courtney is in his fourth season at Cornell (35-64, .354; 18-24 Ivy, .429) ... Courtney became the fifth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on April 23, 2010.

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STORY LINES:
It's a new year with a clean slate and the Cornell men's basketball team will close out the non-conference road schedule with a contest on NBC Sports Network when it visits St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. The Big Red will attempt to end an 18-game winless streak dating back to last year and pick up its first win of the 2013-14 campaign when it visits one of the nation's toughest road environments.

Cornell has played some good basketball despite its 0-12 start, with two of the losses coming to 2013 NCAA Final Four squads (Syracuse, Louisville) and six total coming at the hands of 2013 postseason squads (Syracuse, Louisville and Notre Dame - NCAA, Stony Brook - NIT, Loyola - CIT, Western Michigan - CBI) that went a combined 161-58. Cornell has shown glimpses of really good play despite its heavy reliance on underclassmen and inexperienced upperclassmen. Four of the team's top eight scorers are freshmen or sophomores and the three top upperclassmen had made a combined 23 career starts entering the year.  The Big Red led No. 8/7 Syracuse by 14 points in the first half and by six at the break, led a Loyola (MD) team that won 23 games a year ago by seven points with five minutes remaining and had a 19-point advantage against Binghamton with 13 minutes left and a 10-point lead with four minutes to play against Siena and led Western Michigan in the second half. Cornell went on to drop all five games.

The Big Red backcourt has been its strength, with its three starting guards all averaging double figures. Sophomore guard Nolan Cressler is off to a great start for the Big Red, averaging 16.7 points and 4.8 rebounds and freshman guard Robert Hatter is at 11.3 ppg. while chipping in 2.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds. Junior Devin Cherry rounds out the trio at 10.4 ppg. to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Senior forward Dwight Tarwater has been a double-double threat, posting 7.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per night and pacing the team and ranking among the Ivy League leaders in offensive rebounds (2.7 per game). Freshman Robert Onuorah (3.3 ppg., 3.4 rpg., 0.8 bpg.) and junior Deion Giddens (4.1 ppg., 3.5 rpg., 0.8 bpg.) are holding down the middle, while senior guard Dominick Scelfo (3.6 ppg., 1.2 apg.) and freshman guard Darryl Smith (3.7 ppg., 1.8 rpg.) are providing firepower off the bench. The Big Red is scoring 66.1 points on 41 percent shooting and has a neutral assist:turnover ratio. Much of Cornell's troubles have come on the defensive end, where the team is allowing 83.3 points on 49 percent shooting, including 41 percent from 3-point range.

St. Bonaventure has historically been one of the nation's top teams at home on Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center, sporting a 424-188 record (.693) since opening the building and is a perfect 5-0 this season. Led by head coach Mark Schmidt, the Bonnies are off to a 9-4 start to the season. Matthew Wright leads three double figure scorers and seven players at eight points per game with his 16.3 ppg. scoring average. Guards Charlon Kloof and Andell Cumberbatch lead a guard trio posting 41.4 points per game, more than half the team's total. The Bonnies have also owned the backboards, outrebounding its opponents by 6.2 each outing.

A WIN OVER ST. BONAVENTURE WOULD:
• avoid the Big Red's first 0-13 start to a season in program history.
• snap an 18-game losing streak dating back to last season, the longest in school history and the longest skid in Division I.
• end a nine-game road skid.
• extend Cornell's advantage in the series record against St. Bonaventure to 9-6.
• put an end to the Bonnies' three-game win streak in the series to an end.
• make the Big Red 18-22 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10 conference.
• be the 1,210th in program history (1,209-1,338 in 114 seasons).

ABOUT ST. BONAVENTURE:
• St. Bonaventure brings a 9-4 record into the New Year after dropping Delaware 80-73 on Monday evening at Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center.
• The Bonnies have won three of their last four games, with the lone loss during that span coming at Wake Forest (77-62).
• SBU has wins over Canisius, Southern Illinois, Wagner, Iona and Niagara, while losing contests to Louisiana Tech, Buffalo and Siena.
• The Bonnies are a perfect 5-0 at home and have won those games by an average of 16.6 points.
• Guard Matthew Wright leads three double figure scorers with 16.3 ppg. He is also posting 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
• Charlon Kloof (12.8 ppg., 3.6 rpg., 4.5 apg., 1.2 spg.) and Andell Cumberbatch (12.3 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 1.5 spg.) are also better than double figures on the season, while four others are posting at least 7.9 points every night.
• St. Bonaventure is shooting 46 percent from the floor while posting 75.5 points per game and has outrebounded opponents by more than six rebounds each time out.
• Seventh-year head coach Mark Schmidt has led SBU to a 97-99 overall record, including the 2011-12 NCAA tournament.

THE CORNELL-ST. BONAVENTURE SERIES:
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 8-6, with the Big Red's last win coming in Olean during the 2004-05 season, a 58-54 Cornell victory at the Reilly Center.
• The Big Red had its five-game win streak in the series snapped two years ago before dropping last season's opener in Olean, 79-58. That started SBU's current three-game win streak.
• The teams first met on Jan. 1, 1923, a 28-16 win for Cornell in Olean.

CORNELL VS. THE ATLANTIC 10:
• Cornell is 17-22 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10.
• The Big Red is 8-6 all-time against St. Bonaventure and has also faced Dayton (0-1), Duquesne (0-2), Fordham (4-4), La Salle (3-2), Massachusetts (1-0), Richmond (0-1), Saint Joseph's (1-3), Saint Louis (0-1) and Virginia Commonwealth (0-2).
• Cornell has never played George Mason, George Washington or Rhode Island.
• The Big Red was a perfect 4-0 against Atlantic 10 teams in 2009-10, topping Massachusetts and La Salle on the road, knocking off Saint Joseph's at home and defeating A-10 champ Temple in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Cornell 6-5 in its last 11 meetings against Atlantic 10 squads dating back to its 58-54 victory at St. Bonaventure in 2004-05, but has lost three consecutive games to the Bonnies over the last three seasons.

LAST TIME VS. THE BONNIES:
• Senior Errick Peck scored 17 points and added seven rebounds off the bench to lead four double figure scorers, but St. Bonaventure held off a late Big Red rally to collect a 72-68 win at Newman Arena.
• In a game that featured 54 fouls (30 on Cornell) and 70 free throws (42 for St. Bonaventure), the Big Red fell just short of what would have been a rally for the ages.
• After trailing by eight points with 90 seconds left, Cornell's defense helped it pull within one.
• Cornell missed a game-tying free throw attempt with under 20 second to play, then a game-tying 3-point attempt in the final 10 seconds. Senior Josh Figini got a clean look from the top of the key, but it went long and the Bonnies were able to hit a game-sealing free throw with 0.6 seconds left to pick up the win.
• The Big Red limited St. Bonaventure to 42 percent shooting overall and a miserable 2-of-14 from 3-point range, but it was able to do just enough to squeak by after taking 42 free throws on the road.
• Peck was joined in double figures by Devin Cherry (14), Galal Cancer (11) and Johnathan Gray (11).
• For St. Bonaventure, Chris Johnson scored a game-high 19 points, while Demitrius Conger and Marquise Simmons each had 14 points and six rebounds.

THE STREAKS:
• Cornell is 107-85 (.557) in the last six seasons.
• The Big Red is 56-28 (.667) in its last 84 Ivy League contests over the last six years.
• Cornell is 60-27 (.690) over its last 87 home games.
• Cornell has lost 18 consecutive games, the longest stretch in school history and the longest active losing streak in Division I.

NOTES TO KNOW:
• Cornell has increased its win totals in each of the last two seasons under head coach Bill Courtney, from 10 in 2010-11 after graduating eight seniors from the previous year's NCAA Sweet 16 team, to 12 in 2011-12 to 13 a year ago.
• Head coach Bill Courtney will be on the sidelines for his 100th game directing the Big Red program.
• The Big Red brings an 18-game losing streak into the contest, its longest in school history and the longest in Division I.
• In the Big Red's five home games, Cornell is shooting 46 percent from the floor and has 71 assists to just 48 turnovers, but has attempted 66 fewer free throws than its opponents.

NEXT UP:
• Cornell closes out its non-conference slate when it plays host to Division III Oberlin on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena.

News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Below, news and notes for Tuesday...

• Athlon Sports writes, "Outside of Cornell, which was winless through the first 11 games of the 2013-14 campaign, the [Penn] Quakers are the weakest team in the Ivy."

• After Binghamton knocked off Bryant, Binghamton head coach Tom Dempsey told the Binghamton Press, "It’s one thing to win at Cornell (earlier this season) when you scored 60-something points in a half and everybody makes every shot, but to win a grind — that was a good college basketball game." 

• Cornell recruiting commit, Riley Glassman had a big 28 point game in the championship of the Wheeling Hardwood Classic per Comcast Sports Chicago.  Glassman had 24 points in the 2nd round, per Chicago Tribune (he was 10/14 from the floor) and 19 points in the semifinals, per the Peoria Journal.  Glassmann was the tournament MVP, see the Daily Herald and the Peoria Journal.

• Cornell recruiting commit, Pat Smith scored 19 points in a defeat, per the Bucks County Courier Times.

• The Buffalo News notes that St. Bonaventure's next game is against Cornell.

• Complex.com considered the candidates for the "Worst Basketball Team in New York State and writes:

Candidate No. 3: Cornell University
Cornell is going into the new year without a single win, which is obviously a big disappointment in itself. But how about this fact: Cornell's 0-12 start is the worst in the school's history. It looked like the school at least fixed some of its problems in its 67-59 loss against St. Peter's. Big Red's field goal percentage was better (.400 to St. Peter's .367) in addition to the rebounds (34-32). This time the killer was St. Peter's hitting 20 more free throws than Cornell. Yikes.

THE WORST TEAM IN NEW YORK TODAY IS... 
Cornell University. The Knicks still suck, and that's not changing for a while. The Nets are pretty bad too, but they at least put up a decent fight against the Pacers. They aren't historically bad, unlike Cornell. It's the only team Division-I and up to have not won a game.

• Below, the weekly Ivy Awards.  Here is a link to this week's award winners.  Nolan Cressler was named to the honor roll.  The Ivy Office notes of Cressler:

Nolan Cressler, Cornell (So., G - Pittsburgh)  
21 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals at Saint Peter's

IVY LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS 2013-2014
 

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Wk 1 Nov 11-Tony Hicks, Penn/Justin Sears, Yale
Wk 2 Nov 18-Sean McGonagill, Brown/Javier Duren, Yale
Wk 3 Nov 25-Maodo Lo, Columbia
Wk 4 Dec 2- T.J. Bray, Princeton/Wes Saunders, Harvard
Wk 5 Dec 9-Wes Saunders, Harvard
Wk 6 Dec 16-T.J. Bray, Princeton (Cornell no games)
Wk 7 Dec 23-Siyani Chambers, Harvard
Wk 8 Dec 30-Siyani Chambers, Harvard

ROOKIES OF THE WEEK

Wk 1 Nov11-Robert Hatter, Cornell
Wk 2 Nov 18-Norman Hobbie, Brown
Wk 3 Nov 25-Leland King, Brown
Wk 4 Dec 2- Robert Hatter, Cornell
Wk 5 Dec 9-Spencer Weisz, Princeton
Wk 6 Dec 16- Spencer Weisz, Princeton (Cornell no games)
Wk 7 Dec 23-Luke Petrasek, Columbia
Wk 8 Dec 30-Luke Petrasek, Columbia/Steven Spieth, Brown

• 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 December 31, 2013 is No. 342 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 341 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 343. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter.  Not a member of Twitter? See what The Cornell Basketball Blog is tweeting and retweeting each day by just visiting our Twitter Timeline.  The Cornell Basketball Blog received mention on NBC Sports' social media Must Follow College Hoops Directory.

GAME RECAPS: St. Peter's 67 Cornell 59

Saint Peter's Holds On To Stop Men's Hoops, 67-59

Cornell Athletics

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Marvin Dominique scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, including key offensive boards in the second half to stave off a Cornell run, but Saint Peter's was able to hang on for a 67-59 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Yanitelli Center. The Big Red slipped to 0-12, while the Peacocks improved to 4-7.

Junior Devin Cherry and sophomore Nolan Cressler each scored 21 points and combined for 11 rebounds, while the defense held the Peacocks to 37 percent shooting. All of that and outrebounding Saint Peter's 34-32 wasn't enough to help Cornell snap an 18-game skid dating back to last season. The Big Red was without starting point guard and second-leading scorer Robert Hatter for much of the game after suffering an injury early on and reserve center Deion Giddens, who was sick and missed the trip.

Dominique scored 26 and his five offensive boards were huge, as were the 11 Saint Peter's steals on 14 Cornell turnovers that led to a number of run-out baskets. Trevis Wyche and Dei Washington each had 11 points and Wyche added six helpers in the win.

The Big Red defense came to play in the first half, limiting the Peacocks to 32 percent shooting overall and 22 percent from beyond the arc (2-of-9), but the difference in a three-point half was Dominique. The big man had 14 points, nine rebounds, a block and a steal, while also draining his only two 3-point attempts. Cornell wasn't much better at 36 percent and 4-of-14 beyond the arc (29 percent), but held its own on the backboards (20-20).

Saint Peter's scored the game's first six points and led by as many as seven points early (10-3), but Cornell answered with a 10-2 run to take its first lead at 13-12. The game would see-saw through the rest of the first half with eight total lead changes, though the home team would get the last switch in momentum. The Big Red led 27-26 with under two minutes to play before a Wyche layup and two free throws sent Saint Peter's into the locker room with a narrow 30-27 edge.

Cressler had 10 points for the Big Red, while Cherry had four points and five rebounds for Cornell. Eight different Big Red players reached the scoring column, but only Cressler had more than five points. Wyche had seven in the first 20 minutes for the Peacocks, including the last four of the half, to go along with Dominique's impressive effort. The Cornell defense limited Desi Washington, the team's second leading scorer who went off for 37 points in an overtime win over Seton Hall, to three points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half.

The second half saw the Peacocks get off to a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 11 at 40-29, but Cornell clawed back to within four on two occasions, the last with 41 seconds left. Saint Peter's was able to hold on with eight made free throws in the final 46 seconds to pull out the win.

The Big Red returns to action when it travels to meet St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. in a game that will be televised by the NBC Sports Network. The Big Red will kick off the new year in Olean, N.Y. in the 15th meeting between the programs (Cornell leads 8-6). 

 Dominique's 26 Points Powers Men's Basketball To 67-59 Win Against Cornell

St. Peter's Athletics

Box Score

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Marvin Dominique (Miramar, Fla./Miramar [Fordham]) tallied 26 points and 13 rebounds to lift Saint Peter's past Cornell 67-59 in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday.

Dominique finished shooting 8-for-13 from the floor, 2 of 3 from behind the arc and 8 of 9 from the foul line en route to his sixth 20-point performance of the season. The junior, who leads the team with 18.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, also finished with 13 boards for his sixth double-double of the season.

Desi Washington (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin [Delaware State]) and Trevis Wyche (Neptune, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) each added 11 points for the Peacocks (4-7) in the winning effort.

Nolan Cressler and Robert Hatter each registered 21 points to pace the Big Red (0-12) in the loss.

Saint Peter's took the lead in the final four minutes of the first half and never looked back to earn its second-straight win against Cornell in a series that started last season.

After Dominick Scelfo gave the Big Red its largest lead on a 3-pointer at 27-23, the Peacocks scored the final seven points to take a 30-27 advantage into the locker room.

Dominique started the run with a 3-pointer at 1:59 and Wyche scored the final four points in the spurt after a layup at 1:27 and two charity tosses with two seconds left for the three-point lead at the break.

Saint Peter's used a 10-2 run to open up the final frame to take an 11-point lead with 14:55 on the clock. Dominique and Chris Burke (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) each had four points on the run before Jamel Fields (Albany, N.Y./Cheshire Academy [Fairfield]) capped the spurt with two free throws at 14:55 for a 40-29 advantage.

Cornell cut the margin to four points with 6:41 left after a Cressler 3-pointer, but Dominique made four unanswered at the line to regain an eight-point lead at 52-44 with 6:12 on the clock.

With Saint Peter's holding a 57-48 lead, the Big Red scored six of the next eight points to make it a three-point contest with 2:18 remaining thanks to six points from Cherry.

Fields hit a jumper at 2:01 and Wyche made two free throws with 46 ticks remaining to give Saint Peter'd s a 61-54 edge.  Cressler nailed a 3-ball with 41 seconds left, but Wyche and Washington converted all six from the charity stripe to seal the victory in the final non-conference game of the year.

Saint Peter's jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first half after Dominique scored the first 10 points of the game for the Peacocks.

Cornell rallied with a 9-1 run to take a 13-12 lead with 11:07 left in the first half.

Saint Peter's answered with a 5-0 run to claim a 17-13 margin after two free throws from Fields at 10:54 and a traditional 3-point play from Washington at 9:37. 

The Big Red responded with a 9-1 spurt to take its largest lead at 22-18 with 6:40 left in the stanza, but the Peacocks closed the half on a 7-0 run and never trailed again.

Saint Peter's finished non-conference play 4-5.

Washington is now 23 points away from 1,000 for his career.

The Peacocks return to action when they restart conference play with its MAAC home opener against Manhattan on Thursday. Game time is 7 p.m.

News and Notes: Saturday Edition

Get all the information you need about Cornell's game at St. Peter's, Saturday, December 28, 2013, with The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center.  Below, news and notes for Saturday...

• The Ithaca Journal previews today's game and writes:

Cornell men's basketball looks to end 2013 on a high note at Saint Peter's

ITHACA — The Cornell men’s basketball team will close the book — gladly, no doubt — on a rough 2013 calendar year when it takes on Saint Peter’s University today in Jersey City, N.J. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. (HITS 103.3 FM).

The Big Red (0-11) will be attempting to snap a record losing streak of 17 games, which began with a 79-71 home loss to Ivy League rival Pennsylvania on Feb. 22 last season. The loss streak eclipsed the previous school-record run of futility endured by the 1972-73 squad, coached by Tony Coma, which lost 16 in a row and wound up 4-22.

Coach Bill Courtney’s Big Red has gone 7-21 in the calendar year, and was 13-12 overall and 5-3 in the league before finishing last season with six consecutive losses.

Not helping the Red’s cause this year has been the loss of 6-foot-7 junior forward Shonn Miller, a first-team All-Ivy selection last year and the 2011-12 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. He missed the final four games of last season with a shoulder injury and is likely to miss the entire 2013-14 season after leading Cornell in scoring (11.5 points per game) and rebounding (6.8 rpg.) last season.

Sophomore guard Nolan Cressler leads the Red in scoring (16.3 ppg.), followed by freshman guard Robert Hatter (12.1 ppg.), junior guard Devin Cherry (9.5 ppg.) and senior forward Dwight Tarwater (7.6 ppg., 6.6 rebounds per game).

Cornell is being outscored by an average of 84.8 to 66.7, and is allowing opponents to shoot nearly 50 percent from the floor, including 42.4 percent from 3-point range.

The Peacocks (3-7) have dropped four of their past five games, with the lone win over that span an impressive 83-80 overtime win at Seton Hall. Its last game was a 66-56 loss at Hartford a week ago.

Junior forward Marvin Dominique (18.1 ppg.) leads the Peacocks in scoring and is shooting 49 percent from the floor; he’s also grabbing 9.9 rebounds per game.

Junior guard Desi Washington (13.3 ppg.) is second in scoring for a Saint Peter’s team that is averaging 66.1 points on 43 percent shooting, including 32 percent from beyond the arc.

Saint Peter’s defeated Cornell early last season, 68-64, in the only previous meeting between the schools.

In a scheduling oddity, the Big Red plays only four games in January — one each on the four Saturdays — beginning next weekend at St. Bonaventure. Cornell returns home to face Division III Oberlin College at 2 p.m. on Jan. 11, then begins Ivy League play with its annual home-and-home set against travel partner Columbia — at 7 p.m. on Jan. 18 in New York and at noon on Jan. 25 at Newman Arena.

• USA Today's preview of today's game:

GAME NOTES: The Cornell Big Red will continue their search for their first win of the campaign as they visit the Yanitelli Center for a non-conference tilt against the Saint Peter's Peacocks.

Cornell dropped to 0-11 last Sunday when it was defeated, 76-54, by Stony Brook, which was its sixth true road game. Coach Bill Courtney's team has struggled on both ends during its winless stretch to start the season and ranks last among Ivy League schools in both scoring offense (66.7 points per game) and scoring defense (84.8 ppg). All but two of the Big Red's losses have come by 10 points or more, including their last five.

Saint Peter's looked like a completely different team in mid-December when it survived its visit to the Prudential Center with an 83-80 overtime win over Seton Hall, but it quickly returned to its more usual unimpressive caliber of play last Sunday to suffer a 66-56 setback at Hartford. The Peacocks are now 3-7 overall and 0-2 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action with defeats at Canisius and Niagara. They have done a decent job on the defensive end as their allowed average of 70.1 ppg is second-best among MAAC schools, but they are posting only 66.1 ppg offensively.

Saint Peter's won the only previous meeting between the teams as it exited Newman Arena in Ithaca with a 68-64 decision. Cornell is 62-51 all-time against members of the MAAC.

Although the Big Red have struggled as a unit, sophomore guard Noah Cressler has managed to climb into third place in the Ivy League scoring title race by netting 16.3 points per game to go along with 4.2 rpg. Cressler's efficiency needs to improve as he is converting just under 40 percent of his field goal attempts and only 27.3 percent of his tries from behind the 3-point line. Robert Hatter is adding 12.1 points and 2.8 assists per tilt while Devin Cherry and Dwight Tarwater are both solid contributors as well. However, Cornell has not had a consistent fifth man to round out its rotation. Outside of their four leading scorers, all of the Big Red's players are clocking less than 18 minutes per game.

Saint Peter's is well below the .500 mark through its first 10 games despite the excellent play of junior forward Marvin Dominique, who registered his third double-double in his last four games with 11 points and 14 rebounds versus Hartford. The 6-foot-7 Fordham transfer is nearly averaging a double- double with 18.1 points and 9.9 boards per game. Although junior guard Desi Washington is chipping in 13.3 ppg, he is making just under 40 percent of his shots from the floor. No other Peacock is close to a double-digit scoring average. Saint Peter's is doing an excellent job on the glass as its rebounding defense (32.7 rpg) is tops in its conference.

The Big Red will be looking to end an eight-game road skid, a program record 17-game losing streak and avoid their first 0-12 start to a season in school history. Although SPU recently took down Seton Hall, it showed against Hartford that it very well could have been a fluke. The Peacocks will need their top two players to both perform well if they hope to deny Cornell its first triumph.

• The Plum Advance Leader looks back at big sports moments in the area in 2013 and writes:

Cressler makes his mark

Plum grad Nolan Cressler, a sophomore on the Cornell men's basketball team, is named to the Pittsburgh Pro-Am Summer League all-star team. He is one of six players selected to the squad.

Pitt senior forward Talib Zanna helps PGT Trucking to the league title, and he is picked as the league MVP.

Cressler averages 23 points over seven league games for the P&W BMW team, which finishes the six-game regular season in first place with a 5-1 record. But the team falls in the semifinals.

• Hammer and Rails notes the biggest Purdue sports stories of the year and writes:

Transfers, transfers, transfers - It certainly does not qualify as good news, but four players on last season's men's basketball roster left the program with eligibility remaining. Only one, Sandi Marcius, left as a graduate transfer, as he is playing his final season at DePaul. Anthony Johnson and Jacob Lawson are sitting this year out after moving on to Northern Illinois and Appalachian State, respectively. Finally, Donnie Hale surprised many by leaving just days before practice started. He is playing this year at Division II Bellarmine in Louisville.

All the movement did allow for two newcomers, as Errick Peck come on board from Cornell as a graduate transfer and Sterling Carter joined from Seattle in the same manner.

• The Ft. Wayne News Sentinel discusses Basil Smotherman's replacement of Peck in the Purdue starting line up and writes:

Smotherman's increased playing time has come at fifth-year senior transfer Errick Peck's expense. Peck started the first eight games before moving into an off-the-bench role. Against West Virginia he played just seven minutes, totaling three fouls, two turnovers, two rebounds and no points.

“Earlier I thought it was clear cut that Errick should start ahead of Basil,” Painter said. “Now, in the past two to three weeks, it's been clear cut Basil should start.”

Painter, like most coaches, wants competitive depth to fuel improvement. If you don't produce, somebody else will. In six of Peck's last seven games, he's scored five points or fewer. He has had five games of at least four rebounds in that stretch.

“There's really nothing to talk about,” Painter said. “Somebody has played better than you. Someone has brought us more energy. So I'll play somebody else. If that doesn't send a message, then they normally don't get the message.”

Painter said he has no problem playing Smotherman and Peck (who averages 5.2 points and 4.8 rebounds) at the same time.

“I'd like to see both play at a high level. If they do that, that will force my hand to get them in there at the same time.”

• Cornell recruit, Riley Glassman scored 13 points and dished 4 assists on Friday.  See the Daily Herald for the recap.

• On the Orange Bowl Classic, the Miami Herald writes:

Gonzaga (Washington D.C. ) is off to a poor start at 2-5 but is led by 6-7 senior forward Jordan Abdur-Ra’oof, who is a Cornell recruit, and 6-2 junior point guard Bryant Crawford, who has offers from UConn, Georgetown, Indiana and others.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/27/3838943/ob-basketball-tourney-will-have.html#storylink=cpy

• The Olean Times Herald writes:

Senior forward Wil Bathurst has led Olean in scoring in four of five games. The Cornell commit is averaging 25 points per game.
“Wil’s defined his game,” Anastasia said after the Huskies beat Silver Creek. “Last year, he was pretty much just a slasher. This year, he can shoot from the outside, he can slash, he has great court sense, knows where his teammates are and he has a really good feel for the game.”

• Bathurst was named to the IAABO All Tournament Team after scoring 18 points in a championship win including clutch free throws with 7.1 seconds left.

• The New York Times writes:

Four Years After Its Wild Ride, Cornell Turns Back Into a Pumpkin

New York Times

In Cornell’s last men’s basketball game, at Stony Brook, Coach Bill Courtney often threw his arms up in frustration after a turnover and frequently flashed an exhausted smile when his team committed an imprudent foul.

By the time Jameel Warney of Stony Brook made a layup and free throw with 12 minutes 32 seconds remaining, giving the Seawolves a 55-36 lead, the front of Courtney’s dress shirt was fully untucked, completing the image of a coach watching his winless team.

Cornell lost Sunday, 76-54, dropping to 0-11 this season. Of the 351 Division I men’s basketball programs in the country, Cornell is the last team without a victory. And as Cornell searches for that first win, its coach is trying to forge a team identity.

“We don’t have a lot of issues with guys giving up or doubting what we’re trying to do — I feel very fortunate for that,” said Courtney, who was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech and a longtime assistant at George Mason under Jim Larranaga. “I see brighter days ahead for us. We just got to keep working at it.”

Just four seasons ago, Cornell was the darling of the N.C.A.A. tournament, the underdog from the Ivy League that hit 3-pointers with regularity and grinded its way to the program’s first appearance in the Round of 16.

That senior-laden team earned three consecutive Ivy League titles and N.C.A.A. tournament appearances, the most prominent run in Cornell history. Before 2008, the Big Red had qualified only two other times, in 1954 and 1988.

But Cornell has yet to finish with a winning record since 2010. The first two months of this season have exemplified their struggles. This is the first time a Cornell team has started a season 0-11. Dating to February of last season, the Big Red have lost 17 consecutive games, the most in program history.

In 2009-10, the Big Red played toe-to-toe with Kansas and Kentucky, were personified by the outside shooting of Ryan Wittman; the post presence of the 7-foot Jeff Foote, who played four N.B.A. games for New Orleans in 2012; and the dynamic point guard play of Louis Dale. Cornell has yet to solidify its own philosophy under Courtney, who was hired after Steve Donahue was lured to Boston College after the 2010 season.

“It’s tough to watch a little bit, but I know they’re a very young team, still kind of finding their groove,” said Foote, who is playing for the Springfield (Mass.) Armor of the N.B.A. Development League.

Stephen Steinlight, editor of the Cornell Basketball Blog, said Courtney has recruited more players who like to create off the dribble, with “less emphasis on skill and more emphasis on athleticism.” Among those who post frequently on the site’s forums, Steinlight said, “there were some doubts if a program could be built that way.” Recent forum threads have included “Has Bill Lost This Team?” and “When Will Rebuilding End?”

Courtney pointed to Harvard, which won or shared the last three Ivy League titles and is 10-1 this season, as proof that a faster style of play could succeed in the Ivy League.

Despite the success of the teams from 2008 to 2010, Cornell’s continued league dominance was unlikely. The 2010 class graduated eight seniors, four of them starters. Courtney is “a tremendous guy and coach,” Foote said, “but I knew there’d be a little bit of a down period.”

One roadblock to rebuilding has been injuries. Shonn Miller, who was a first team All-Ivy League selection last season, missed the end of 2012-13 with a shoulder injury and remains sidelined indefinitely.

Steinlight, who graduated from Cornell in 1998 and started the blog in 2007, said this team “has a lot more talent than what its win-loss record reflects,” but that their failures “can’t all be blamed on just Shonn Miller being unavailable this season.”

“There seems to be some type of — something missing,” said Steinlight, who added that he was a big supporter of Courtney. “Some type of chemistry issue, but I can’t point a finger whether it’s its players lacking in belief in the coach or lacking in belief in each other.”

Dwight Tarwater, a senior captain, disputed the notion that the team was not committed to its coach’s vision. 

 “It’s definitely hard because everybody’s got an opinion, but what coach has been really trying to tell us, it doesn’t really matter what everyone else says,” Tarwater said. “He’s really just done a great job of ingraining that in our minds.” 

There have been small signs of hope this season. In Cornell’s opening game at Syracuse, the Big Red led, 38-32, at halftime, but then lost, 82-60.

“Syracuse, we played great in the first half,” Courtney said. “I think you take from that some positive things and showing our guys how good we could possibly be. That’s where we want to strive to be more persistently.”

But there were also frustrating games against lesser teams. Cornell led Binghamton by 19 points with 13 minutes to play on Nov. 13 but lost by 10; led Siena by 10 points with 4:46 remaining on Nov. 22 but lost by one; and lost to a 1-7 St. Francis, Pa., team, 72-62, in Ithaca as the university welcomed back basketball alumni and honored some of its best teams.

Cornell will next try to end the skid on Saturday afternoon at St. Peter’s in Jersey City or at St. Bonaventure on Jan. 4. Cornell will play Division III Oberlin on Jan. 11, before starting the competitive Ivy League season.

“I’m very positive,” Courtney said. “I know we’re going to get there. It’s going to take us some time. We’ve been thrown off our path a little bit, but we’ll get on the right path soon enough. I don’t think anyone doubts that.”

There was optimism to be taken away from the 22-point loss at Stony Brook. The Seawolves’ lead ballooned to 69-39. With the game out of reach, Courtney said he thought his players responded and later gave their best defensive effort of the season.

And in those waning, mop-up minutes, when Courtney removed a player after a turnover or a foul, he did not yell. He would wrap his arms around the player and talk closely in his ear, passing along what went wrong and what should be done the next time. Then he would grin and go back to watching his fledgling team take its lumps as it struggles to return to a winning path.

• Ivy Hoops Online ranks the Top 5 finishes in the Ivy for 2013 and notes as an honorable mention:

February 2, 2013: Cornell over Penn, 71-69. Galal Cancer’s bank shot in the closing seconds lifted the Big Red to a big win in the Palestra.

• 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 December 28, 2013 is No. 334 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 342 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 339. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter.  Not a member of Twitter? See what The Cornell Basketball Blog is tweeting and retweeting each day by just visiting our Twitter Timeline.  The Cornell Basketball Blog received mention on NBC Sports' social media Must Follow College Hoops Directory.

Cornell Athletics Game Notes for Visit to St. Peter's

Men's Hoops Closes Out Calendar Year At Saint Peter's

Cornell Athletics

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GAME INFORMATION
Game #12: Cornell at Saint Peter's
Tip off: Saturday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m.
Site: Yanitelli Center (3,200), Jersey City, N.J.
2013-14 Records: Cornell (0-11, 0-0 Ivy); Saint Peter's (3-7, 0-2 MAAC)
Series Record: Saint Peter's leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Saint Peter's won 68-64, Nov. 16, 2012 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: HITS 103.3 FM (Barry Leonard)
TV: None
Live Stats: available at www.SaintPetersPeacocks.com
Live Video: available at www.PeacocksNetwork.com
Tickets: check availability by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH BILL COURTNEY
Cornell head coach Bill Courtney is in his fourth season at Cornell (35-63, .357; 18-24 Ivy, .429) ... Courtney became the fifth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on April 23, 2010.

---

STORY LINES:
The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to close out the 2013 calendar year on a high note when it meets Saint Peter's on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 2 p.m. at Yanitelli Center in Jersey City, N.J. The Big Red will be attempting to end a 17-game winless streak dating back to last year and pick up its first win of the 2013-14 campaign.

Cornell has played some good basketball despite its 0-11 start, with two of the losses coming to 2013 NCAA Final Four squads (Syracuse, Louisville) and six total coming at the hands of 2013 postseason squads (Syracuse, Louisville and Notre Dame - NCAA, Stony Brook - NIT, Loyola - CIT, Western Michigan - CBI) that went a combined 161-58. Cornell has shown glimpses of really good play despite its heavy reliance on underclassmen and inexperienced upperclassmen. Four of the team's top eight scorers are freshmen or sophomores and the three top upperclassmen had made a combined 23 career starts entering the year.  The Big Red led then-No. 8/7 Syracuse by 14 points in the first half and by six at the break, led a Loyola (MD) team that won 23 games a year ago by seven points with five minutes remaining and had a 19-point advantage against Binghamton with 13 minutes left and a 10-point lead with four minutes to play against Siena and led Western Michigan in the second half. Cornell went on to drop all five games.

Sophomore guard Nolan Cressler is off to a great start for the Big Red, averaging 16.3 points and 4.9 rebounds. Sophomore guard Robert Hatter is also averaging double figures (12.1 ppg.) while chipping in 2.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds. Senior forward Dwight Tarwater has been a double-double threat, posting 7.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per night and pacing the team and ranking among the Ivy League leaders in offensive rebounds (2.8 per game). Junior guard Devin Cherry rounds out a foursome of players scoring at least 8.0 points per game (9.5 ppg., 3.5 rpg. and 3.3 apg.). Freshman Robert Onuorah (3.5 ppg., 3.5 rpg., 0.8 bpg.) and junior Deion Giddens (4.1 ppg., 3.5 rpg., 0.8 bpg.) are holding down the middle, while senior guard Dominick Scelfo (3.6 ppg., 1.1 apg.) and freshman guard Darryl Smith (3.8 ppg., 1.6 rpg.) are providing firepower off the bench. The Big Red is scoring 66.7 points on 42 percent shooting and has a positive assist:turnover ratio. Much of Cornell's troubles have come on the defensive end, where the team is allowing 84.8 points on 50 percent shooting, including 42 percent from 3-point range.

Saint Peter's brings a 3-7 record into the weekend and has dropped four of its last five contests, though the lone win during that stretch was an impressive 83-80 triumph at Seton Hall on Dec. 14. The Peacocks, under eighth-year head coach John Dunne, feature a pair of double figure scorers, including double-double performer Marvin Dominique (18.1 ppg., 9.9 rpg.) down low. Guard Desi Washington is also scoring 13.3 ppg. Saint Peter's has used its size and strength to outrebound opponents by 3.4 boards per game. The Peacocks have been to the NCAA tournament as recently as the 2011 campaign when they won the MAAC tournament title.

A WIN OVER SAINT PETER'S WOULD:
• avoid the Big Red's first 0-12 start to a season in program history.
• snap a 17-game losing streak dating back to last season, the longest in school history and the longest skid in Division I.
• end an eight-game road skid.
• even Cornell's series record against Saint Peter's at 1-1.
• make the Big Red 62-51 all-time against members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
• be the 1,210th in program history (1,209-1,337 in 114 seasons).

ABOUT SAINT PETER'S:
• Saint Peter's is 3-7 this season and has dropped four of its last five games, though the lone win was an impressive overtime contest at Seton Hall (83-80) on Dec. 14.
• The Peacocks will have been off for a full week since its last contest, a 66-56 defeat at Hartford.
• Junior forward Marvin Dominique (18.1 ppg.) leads the Peacocks in scoring and is shooting 49 percent from the floor for the season while logging 9.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
• Junior guard Desi Washington is also in double figures at 13.3 ppg.
• As a team, the Peacocks are averaging 66.1 points on 43 percent shooting and hit 32 percent from 3-point range. Saint Peter's is outrebounding its opponents by 3.4 per game (36.1-32.7).
• Eighth-year head coach John Dunne led the Peacocks to the 2011 NCAA tournament and recently served as the Chair of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee (2013).

THE CORNELL-SAINT PETER'S SERIES:
• Saint Peter's won the only previous meeting between the teams, a 68-64 decision over the Big Red last season at Newman Arena in Ithaca.

CORNELL VS. METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE:
• Cornell is 61-51 all-time against current members of the MAAC, including 0-1 against Saint Peter's.
• The Big Red has also played Canisius (25-17), Fairfield (0-2), Iona (0-2), Manhattan (1-1), Marist (2-3), Niagara (27-20), Quinnipiac (2-2), Rider (3-0) and Siena (1-3).
• Cornell has never played Monmouth, who like Quinnipiac, is in its first year in the MAAC.
• This is the second of two games Cornell is scheduled to play against MAAC schools this season. The Big Red dropped a 71-70 decision to Siena on Nov. 22 at Newman Arena.

LAST TIME VS. THE PEACOCKS:
• A Saint Peter's offensive rebound gained the Peacocks an extra possession they were able to convert on in the final minute as the visitors escaped Newman Arena with a 68-64 win on Nov. 16, 2012.
• Devin Cherry scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead four double figure scorers, while Shonn Miller (13 points, three blocks, three steals), Galal Cancer (13 points, five rebounds, four assists) and Nolan Cressler (10 points, three rebounds) also contributed offensively.
• Saint Peter's scored 32 points in the paint and were able to consistently get in the lane, while hitting seven timely 3-pointers.
• The Peacocks turned the ball over just 12 times against Cornell's pressure and connected on 47 percent of its shots overall. Blaise Ffrench had a career-high 22 points and Yvon Raymond added 14.

THE STREAKS:
• Cornell is 107-84 (.560) in the last six seasons.
• The Big Red is 56-28 (.667) in its last 84 Ivy League contests over the last six years.
• Cornell is 60-27 (.690) over its last 87 home games.
• Cornell has lost 17 consecutive games, the longest stretch in school history.

NEXT UP:
• Cornell will open up the 2014 calendar year when it visits St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. at the Reilly Center.
• The game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network for the second straight year.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 8-6, though the Bonnies have won three straight, including last season's 72-68 Cornell defeat in Ithaca.

St. Peter's Athletics Game Notes for Cornell

#RockTheRec And Help Men's Basketball Wrap Up Non-Conference Play Against Cornell On Saturday At The Yanitelli Center

St. Peter's Athletics

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opening tip... Saturday's game between Saint Peter's and Cornell marks the second meeting in the all-time series dating back to last season.
• The Peacocks downed the Big Red 68-64 on Nov. 16, 2012.

about the big red... Cornell comes into the contest 0-11 after falling 76-54 on Sunday.
• Junior G Devin Cherry and freshman G Darryl Smith paced the Big Red with 11 points apiece. Cherry scored a season-high 19 points in a 86-71 loss against Radford on Nov. 25. The junior ranks third on the team with 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Smith notched a career-best 13 points in a 93-89 overtime loss against Loyola on Nov. 10. The freshman is averaging 3.8 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.
• Sophomore G Nolan Cressler leads the team with 16.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. The sophomore scored a season-high 27 points in an 83-70 loss against Western Michigan on Nov. 29 and 25 points against Siena in a 71-70 loss on Nov. 22.
• Freshman G Robert Hatter is second on the squad with 12.1 rebounds and 2.5 rebounds per game. Hatter notched a career-high 32 points against the Greyhounds and has recorded double figures in four of his last five games, including two 20-point performances.

last time we met... Blaise Ffrench scored 22 points to lead Saint Peter's past Cornell 68-64 on Nov. 16, 2012. Yvon Raymond added 14 points, Chris Prescott posted 11 points and Desi Washington chipped in 10 points in the winning effort. Devin Cherry fueled four Big Red players in double-figures with 14 points. Shonn Miller and Galal Cancer each added 13 points and Nolan Cressler recorded 10 points in the loss.

quick hits on hartford... Hartford went on a 15-2 run in the second half to take the lead it would not relinquish en route to a 66-56 win against Saint Peter's on Sunday.
• Junior Marvin Dominique tallied 11 points and 14 rebounds against the Hawks for his fifth double-double this season. The junior has posted double figures in all 10 games this season and has three double-doubles in his last four games. The junior is averaging 17.8 points and 12.0 rebounds per game in his last four games. Dominique, who leads the team with 18.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, has registered five games with 20 points or more.
• Junior G Desi Washington added 11 points against Hartford. The junior has found double figures six times this year, including in all three of the Peacocks wins. Washington is 34 points away from 1,000 points, but only has 572 of those points in a Saint Peter's uniform after playing his first season at Delaware State. Washington ranks second on the team with 13.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
• Freshman G Trevis Wyche posted 10 points against the Hawks for the freshman's second career double-figure point performance. The freshman recorded a career-high 11 points against Kent State on Nov. 17. Wyche has dished out five assist in a game four times this season. The freshman ranks fourth on the team with 6.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.
• Freshman Quadir Welton registered nine points and seven rebounds on Sunday. The freshman is averaging 9.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in his last three games. Welton has posted at least eight points in a game six times this season, including his last three games. The freshman ranks third on the team with 7.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
• The Peacocks have led at halftime in seven of the 10 games in 2013-14. The squad is 3-4 when Saint Peter's has the lead or is tied going into the locker room.
• The tilt at Hartford concluded a five-game road trip. Saint Peter's went 1-4 in this span with its one win coming in the form of an 83-80 overtime win against Seton Hall on Dec. 14.
• The Peacocks return home on Saturday for the first time in 32 days.

next on tap... Saint Peter's continues its three-game homestand and restarts MAAC play on Jan. 2 against Manhattan and then will host Canisius on Jan. 4.
• The Peacocks will play four of its next five games at the Yanitelli Center.

statistically speaking... Saint Peter's ranks in the Top-5 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in nine categories, including leading the circuit in rebounding defense (32.7).
• The Peacocks also ranks second in scoring defense (70.1), second in rebounding margin (+3.4), third in defensive rebound percentage (.708), fourth in field goal percentage (.426), fourth in steals (6.5), fourth in offensive rebound percentage (.347) and fifth in field goal defense (.439).
• Junior Marvin Dominique leads the league in defensive rebounds (6.6) while ranking second in rebounding (9.9), fourth in offensive rebounds (3.2), sixth in scoring (18.1), sixth in blocked shots (1.3) and eighth in minutes played (33.4).
• Freshman Trevis Wyche ranks third in steals (1.5), fourth in assist to turnover ratio (1.8) and fifth in assists (3.9).
• Freshman Quadir Welton is third in field goal percentage (.554) and fifth in offensive rebounds (3.2) while junior Desi Washington ranks fifth in free throw percentage (.848) and fifth in 3-pointers made (2.3). 

home, sweet home... Junior Marvin Dominique is averaging 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in his first two games at the Yanitelli Center.
• The junior posted 12 points against Hampton on Nov. 12 and recorded his first 20-point performance at the Yanitelli Center against Binghamton on Nov. 26.
• Junior Desi Washington is averaging 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in two home games this season. Washington had nine points against Hampton and 12 points against the Bearcats.
• Junior Jamel Fields is averaging 10.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. The junior also had nine points against the Pirates and 12 against Binghamton.
• Saint Peter's is 1-1 in Jersey City after defeating Binghamton 70-57.
• The game against Cornell will be the first home game for the Peacocks in 32 days.
• Saint Peter's is averaging 64.5 points per game at home while the opponents are averaging 60.5 points per game. The Peacocks are shooting 40.4 percent from the floor while the opponents are hitting 41.5 percent of its shots.

in the last five... Junior Marvin Dominique is averaging 18.4 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in his last five games.
• The junior has registered three 20-point performances and three double-doubles in that stretch. Dominique has posted his two best rebound games in his last five games after hauling in a career-best 16 points at Niagara on Dec. 8 and 14 boards against Hartford on Dec. 22.
• Junior Desi Washington is averaging 13.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in that stretch. Washington has recorded three-straight double-figure point performances in the last five games, including his career-high 34 points against Seton Hall on Dec. 14.
• The Peacocks are 1-4 in their last five games. The squad is averaging 65.4 points per game in this span while the opponents are averaging 71.0 points per game. Saint Peter's is shooting .433 percent from the floor and opponents are hitting at a .444 clip.
• Saint Peter's lone win in the last five games was an 83-80 overtime win against Seton Hall on Dec. 14.

playing the numbers game... Saint Peter's has only trailed at halftime in three of the 10 games, but the squad is 3-4 when it takes the lead or is tied going into the locker room and 0-3 when it trails at the break.• The team will be playing its fifth game on Saturday, but its first tilt on the day in Jersey City. The Peacocks are 2-2 on Saturday this season.
• Saint Peter's will also be playing its seventh afternoon game and fifth in the last six games. The squad is 1-5 during the day in 2013-14. The lone win in the afternoon was an 83-80 overtime win against Seton Hall on Dec. 14.
• The Peacocks are 44-22 under head coach John Dunne when the opponent does not reach 60 points in a game.

in the month... Saint Peter's is 120-119 overall in the month of December since joining the MAAC in 1981-82.
• The Peacocks are 57-32 at home and 63-87 away from the Yanitelli Center in that span.
• The squad is 12-25 in league play in the last month of a calendar year, including 5-11 at home and 7-14 on the road.

all boarded up... Saint Peter's has won the battle othe boards in eight of the 10 games this season, including a season-best 10-carom margin against Binghamton on Nov. 26.
• The only two games this squad did not have the advantage was against Kent State on Nov. 17 and against Seton Hall on Dec. 14.
• Saint Peter's is 2-6 when they hold a rebounding edge and 1-1 when the opponent has the edge in 2013-14.

playing with the big boys... While the 83-80 overtime win against Seton Hall on Dec. 14, ended a 17-game losing streak against the Pirates, defeating teams from the bigger conferences is no stranger to the Peacocks.
• It was the third time under head coach John Dunne Saint Peter's has defeated a BCS school after downing Alabama 50-49 in 2010-11 and Rutgers 56-52 in 2012-13.
• The Peacocks have beaten a Big East school in each of the last two seasons.
• Saint Peter's also has wins against Boston College, Georgetown, UMass and Michigan State on their resume in team history, but the biggest win in program history might have been when the squad downed top-ranked Duke 100-71 in the 1967-68 NIT to reach the "Final Four" of that tournament.

washington honored... Junior Desi Washington was named the MAAC Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 9-15.
• It was the junior's first MAAC weekly honor after being named to the All-MAAC Preseason second team prior to the start of the season.
• Washington was also named the Corvias ECAC Metro/Upstate Player of the Week, College Sports Madness National Mid-Major Player of the Week and College Sports Madness MAAC Player of the Week.
• The junior earned the honor after scoring a career-high 34 points, including the decisive 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left in an 83-80 overtime win against Seton Hall to end a 17-game losing streak against the Pirates.
• Washington was honored four times as a member of the Delaware State men's basketball team when he was awarded the MEAC Rookie of the Week in 2010-11 four times.
• Washington is the fourth player to earn the league honor under head coach John Dunne and the first since Ryan Bacon earned the recognition on Jan. 31, 2011.

forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go downtown... After starting the season hitting under 30 percent of its attempts from 3-point land in its first two games, the Peacocks have connected  on 30 percent or better from behind the arc in five of their last seven games.
• Saint Peter's connected on a season-best 10 of 19 attempts from 3-point land against Seton Hall on Dec. 14. Junior Desi Washington powered the 3-point barrage after hitting 7 of 9 from behind the arc.
• Washington leads the team with 23 treys this season while fellow junior Marvin Dominique has 11 triples.
• Washington was the squad's best 3-point shooter last season after connecting on 81 of 217 attempts for 37.0 percent.• On defense, teams are shooting 33.0 percent on 3-pointers while the Peacocks held the opponents to 32.4 percent last season.

what's your number... Saint Peter's has reached 80 points twice this season after falling 87-80 to LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 9 and defeating Seton Hall 83-80 in overtime on Dec. 14.
• Three of the last four times the Peacocks have reached 80 points in a game were against LIU Brooklyn. The squad is 1-2 in those contests against the Blackbirds.
• Saint Peter's has reached 80 points in a game eight times in the eight seasons under head coach John Dunne and the squad is 5-3 in those games.
• The team has scored at least 70 points in a contest 37 times under Dunne and the Peacocks are 23-14 when it reaches that mark.
• Saint Peter's is also 1-0 when the team scores 90 points in a game.
• The Peacocks have scored at least 70 points three  this season and are 2-1 in those contests.
• Saint Peter's reached 70 points in three games last season. 

dominate and unique equals marvin dominique... Junior Marvin Dominique has scored in double figures in his first 10 games in a Peacocks uniform.
• The junior has recorded one 30-point game, four 20-point performances and four double-doubles in his first nine games of his initial season in Jersey City.
• Dominique  recorded a career-high 31 points along with 14 rebounds against LIU Brooklyn in the season opener on Nov. 9.
• The junior hauled in a career-best 16 rebounds against Niagara on Dec. 8.
• Dominique did not score more than 10 points in a game or post more than 11 rebounds in a contest in 40 tilts with the Rams.
• After not recording a double-double with Fordham, Dominique has three double-doubles this season.

counting on the newbies... The Peacocks have seven newcomers on the roster and they have accounted for 447 of the squad's 661 points this season.
• The newcomers have accounted for 68 percent of the offense this season led by junior Marvin Dominique and his 18.1 points per game.
• Junior Desi Washington has 133 of the 214 points scored by the returning players from last season while senior Chris Burke has 55 points this season.
• Washington and Burke are the only returners thathave posted double figures in points this season while Dominique and fellow juniors Jamel Fields and Tyler Gaskins and freshmen Trevis Wyche and Quadir Welton each have at least one 10+ point contest this season.

double vision... Saint Peter's has had a player post double figures in rebounds seven times this season.
• Junior Marvin Dominique has five of the seven double-digit rebound games after hauling in a career-high 14 boards against LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 9, 11 caroms against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 23, 10 against Canisius on Dec. 6, a career-best 16 boards against Niagara on Dec. 8 and 14 rebounds against Hartford on Dec. 22.
• Freshman Quadir Welton also had 10+ rebounds against the Blackbirds when he hauled in 11 rebounds while senior Chris Burke grabbed 11 boards against Hampton on Nov. 12.
• The Peacocks only had three double-figure carom games last season.

thirtysomething and staying in the twenties... Junior Desi Washington scored a career-high 34 points against Seton Hall on Dec. 14 to mark the second time this season and the fifth time under head coach John Dunne's eight-year tenture he had a player score 30 points in a game.
• Junior Marvin Dominique also reached 30 points this season when he poured in a career-high 31 points against LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 9.
• Wesley Jenkins is the only other player to post 30 points in a game when he reached the total twice.• The Peacocks are 3-2 under Dunne when a player registers 20 points in a contest.
• Dominique has scored 20 points or more five times this season and Washington has done it twice.
• Saint Peter's is 33-36 when a player has a 20-point performance under Dunne.

capital gains... Junior Desi Washington has posted double figures in 26 of the 40 games, including nine  20-point performance, since he joined the team at the start of last season.
• Washington has reached double figures six times this year, including a career-high 34 points against Seton Hall on Dec. 14.
• The Peacocks are 7-3 when Washington reaches 20 points in a game.
• Washington played his freshman campaign at Delaware State in 2010-11 and scored 394 points with the Hornet.
• The junior has recorded 572 points in his two seasons in Jersey City and needs 34 points to reach 1,000 points for his career.
• Washington was named the MAAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career after his career day against Seton Hall.

thats what you call a career day... Junior Marvin Dominique notched a career-best 31 points against LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 9.The junior also hauled in a career-best 16 rebounds against Niagara on Dec.8.
• Freshman Quadir Welton registered a career-high 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Blackbirds.
• Freshman Trevis Wyche recorded a career-best 11 points and eight assists against Kent State on Nov. 17.
• Junior Tyler Gaskins recorded a personal-best 13 points against Boston University on Nov. 30.
• Junior Desi Washington posted a career-best 34 points against Seton Hall on Dec. 14.

saint peter's and collegiate debuts... Freshmen Quadir Welton and Trevis Wyche both made their collegiate debut in the starting lineup against LIU Brooklyn on Nov. 9.
• Welton posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Wyche registered four points and seven rebounds against the Blackbirds.
• Fellow freshman Howard Sellars also saw his first collegiate action on Nov. 9 and recorded his first two career points and rebound in the contest.
• Junior Kris Rolle also made his collegiate debut on Nov. 9 before notching his first Saint Peter's points against Hampton three days later and joining the starting lineup for the first time against Kent State on Nov. 17.
• Junior Tyler Gaskins saw his first time in a Peacocks uniform against Fairleigh Dickinson. He dished out an assist in four minutes of action against the Knights.

adams leaves the program... Junior Vic Adams decided to leave the team at the end of the first semester.
• Adams averaged 5.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in five games this season.

preseason poll... Saint Peter's was picked to finish ninth according to the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll. Manhattan, who advanced to the MAAC Championship Game last season, has been tabbed as the preseason favorite while the 2012-13 MAAC Tournament Champion Iona Gaels finished second in the poll. Canisius and Rider finished 3-4 while Marist, Fairfield, Quinnipiac, Niagara, Saint Peter's, Siena and Monmouth rounded out the 11-team poll. Quinnipac and Monmouth will compete in MAAC play for the first time after playing in the Northeast Conference last season.

washington preseason honor... Junior Desi Washington was named to the All-MAAC Preseason third team. Washington, a 6-2 guard, was the Peacocks leading scorer last season after averaging 14.6 points per game and added 3.4 rebounds per game. Washington also led the team in minutes per game (34.4), 3-point field goal percentage (37.0) and free throw percentage (88.0). The transfer from Delaware State made the most of his first season in Jersey City after registering double figures in 20 of the 30 games played. Washington reached 20 points in a game seven times in 2012-13, including a career-high 32 points against Boston University on Dec. 1. Saint Peter's was 5-2 in games the junior recorded a 20-point performance last season. 

the schedule... Saint Peter's will play 13 games at the Yanitelli Center and 16 on the road.
• Prior to the New Year, the Peacocks will play eight of its 11 games on the road.
• The squad will go 32 days in between home games. Saint Peter's will host Binghamton on Nov. 26 and then embark on a five-game road trip before returning home to host Cornell on Dec. 28. It will be the team's first five-game road trip since starting the 2005-06 season with five-straight road games.
• In addition, Saint Peter's will play games in five states this season (New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ohio).
• During the non-conference slate, the Peacocks will face teams from the America East (Binghamton, Hartford), Big East (Seton Hall), Ivy League (Cornell), Mid-America Conference (Kent State), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (Hampton), Northeast Conference (LIU Brooklyn, Fairleigh Dickinson) and Patriot League (Boston University).

realignment schedule… Saint Peter's will play four teams in 2013-14 that were affected by conference realignment this season.
• Boston University moved from the America East to the Patriot League.• Seton Hall was apart of the Catholic 7 that split away from the football schools in the Big East, but the Pirates remained in the Big East.
• Monmouth and Quinnipiac both move over to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference after playing in the Northeast Conference last season.  

hi, how are you doing... Saint Peter's has eight newcomers eligible to play in 2013-14.
• Juniors Marvin Dominique and Jamel Fields each sat out last season due to NCAA Division I transfer regulation. Fields played his first two seasons at Fairfield while Dominique played two years at Fordham before coming to Jersey City. Fields has a 20-point game on his career resume while Dominique posted one 10-point performance and four double-figure rebound games with the Rams.
• Juniors Tyler Gaskins and Kris Rolle join the team after playing two seasons at community college while freshmen Howard Sellers, Trevis Wyche and Quadir Welton also join the team this season.

double your pleasure... Senior Chris Burke, juniors Marvin Dominique and Markese Tucker and freshman Quadir Welton are the only players on the roster that have recorded a double-double in their career.
• Dominique has five double-doubles this season.
• Welton recorded 16 points against 11 rebounds against the Blackbirds on Nov. 9.
• Burke notched his first career double-double after posting 18 points and 10 rebounds against Iona last season. The senior notched his second career trick with 13 points and 11 rebounds against Hampton on Nov. 12.
• Tucker recorded the trick in his freshman campaign.

about the coach... Head coach John Dunne is in his eighth season at Saint Peter's.
• He led the team to the 2011 MAAC Tournament title and berth in the NCAA Tournament.
• Dunne has coached five 1,000-point scorers, three All-MAAC second-team selections, four All-MAAC third-team honorees, two MAAC All-Rookie selections, a MAAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, three MAAC All-Tournament selections and an All-MAAC Academic honoree.

a different looking staff for dunne... Head coach John Dunne has added Matt Henry and Serge Clement to his staff in 2013-14.
• Henry comes to Saint Peter's after serving as an assistant coach and the active head coach for the final four games of the 2011-12 season at Mount St. Mary's. The Mount was 2-2 in the four games he served as active head coach.
• Clement comes to Jersey City after serving as an assistant coach at Adelphi for the last two seasons.