News and Notes: Friday Edition

Get all the information you need about the Cornell Big Red's season series against Columbia: vs Columbia in Ithaca, NY, Saturday, January 19, 2013, 3 pm (NBC Sports Network) and at Columbia, Saturday, January 26, 2013, 7 pm, with The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center.  Below, news and notes for Friday...

• TV World notes, "NBC Sports Network will televise five live-event college sports contests across the next three days, including Top 15 college hockey teams on consecutive nights and a college basketball tripleheader on Saturday.  COLLEGE BASKETBALL.  Coverage begins on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET, when Cornell hosts Columbia at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. Randy Moss will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the matchup alongside analyst Dalen Cuff."

• Jeff Foote's (Cornell '10) Zaligiris club of Lithuania fell to 1-3 in the EuroLeague's "Top 16" with a defeat to No. 1 ranked CSKA, 87-63 last night.  Foote finished with 4 rebounds and 1 assist but was 0/3 from the floor in 8 minutes.  Above, Foote and Ibby Jaaber (Penn '07) in action last night.  Also a photo of the arena.  The game was broadcast live on ESPN3 and NBA TV.  

• Jake Mastbaum previews Cornell headed into the Ivy League conference play:

Tempo and Depth Will Carry the Big Red

To be successful in this league you have to play consistent basketball: 40 minutes, 14 games at the same high level. Emerging from a long weekend 0-2 could be the difference in two-to-three spots in the final standings. High highs and low lows just don’t work in a league without a conference tournament. Consistency will be of foremost importance for Cornell because the Red have been everything but over its 17 non-conference games. This team’s failure to string together 40 consistent minutes and struggles against fellow mid-majors have led some to re-evaluate it from a dark horse title contender to a bottom half finisher.

While certainly a fair assessment based on the non-conference eye-test, it’s hard to count out the Red just yet. Cornell is certainly offensively challenged. What the Red have going for itself is its style of play. At times, Cornell looked too fast for its own good, but the positives of successfully playing fast in the Ivy League cannot be ignored. Bill Courtney’s up tempo, run for 40-minutes style of basketball is different from just about everyone else in the league. Cornell manufactures almost 3% more possessions per game than Penn, the second fastest tempo in the league, and over 7% more possessions per game than the Ivy League average. Defensively, Cornell has the size, speed, and athleticism to force teams who like to play 60-65 possessions per game to shoot up above 70. Opponents will try to slow Cornell down and force the Red to execute a half court offense, but I’m of the mindset that it’s easier to speed a team up than slow it down. Rushed basketball leads to bad shots and forced turnovers, especially on the second night of a back-to-back Ivy weekend.

The question will become if Cornell has the offensive efficiency to take advantage of what its defense will create. It’s easy to be skeptical. Offensively, Cornell has looked stagnant and turned the ball over at a high rate. Cornell will need to evolve offensively to fully reap the benefits of its style of play. I think Bill Courtney has the pieces to do just that. The biggest offensive strength Cornell has is its number of options. There isn’t a reliance on one guy to score. If Shonn Miller can’t get his looks, Errick Peck and Devin Cherry are there to penetrate. If Johnny Gray’s shot isn’t going down, Nolan Cressler and the newly emerging Dom Scelfo will quickly get tabbed to pull from behind the arc. In a back-to-back tournament style league, options can be your biggest asset.

I do think Courtney can find scoring somewhere in the Miller-Peck-Gray-Cancer-Cherry-Scelfo-Cressler cast of characters and minutes will come down to who has the hot hand on any given night. Still, production from this group won’t be enough to translate into the number of league wins that will satisfy fans in Ithaca. The two keys: Miles Asafo-Adjei and Eitan Chemerinski. This year’s league is led by dynamic guards and if Brian Barbour, Siyani Chambers, Miles Cartwright, and Austin Morgan can’t be stopped, Cornell doesn’t have a chance. Asafo-Adjei is more than capable of locking down any matchup Courtney writes on the white board before tip, but his achilles heel is and has always been his offensive game. Miles doesn’t have to score to be effective because offense isn’t what earns him minutes. What he needs to do is take care of the basketball. Cornell has turned the ball over way too much this season and point guard play has been the catalyst for this deficiency. When Asafo-Adjei is on the court and makes smart decisions with the ball, Cornell wins. In games when he has better than a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, Cornell is 5-1. This must continue for Cornell to be successful.

The second key, Eitan Chemerinski. Eitan is a guy who can and has been asked to score, but whose

success lies in his efficiency, not his volume. Chemerinski has never been the type of center who will wear you down over the course of a game and leave with a 20 point night. For Cornell to win, Eitan needs to play strong and smart. When he shoots over 60% from the field, even if he only takes two or three shots, Cornell is 7-2. When he grabs six or more rebounds, Cornell is 3-0.

For the first time in a long time, I have absolutely no idea what to expect from Cornell this conference season. A third place finish? A sixth place finish? Better? Worse? I have absolutely no idea. All I know is it’s going to be a fun 14 games and if you’re a follower of a team from New York, it all starts on Saturday.

• The Province of Vancouver, Canada profiles a Canadian player Cornell once courted in the recruiting process.

• Below, links to our recap sections from each of Cornell's games during the 2012-2013 season. 

1. 11/10/12 vs. Western Michigan W 63-55
2. 11/14/12 vs. St. Bonaventure L 68-72
3. 11/16/12 vs. St. Peter's  L 64-68
4. 11/18/12 at Wisconsin (Las Vegas Invitational) L 40-73 
5. 11/20/12 at Arizona State (Las Vegas Invitational L 53-64
6. 11/23/12 vs. Presbyterian (Las Vegas Invitational) at Las Vegas W 89-55
7. 11/24/12 vs. Longwood (Las Vegas Invitational) at Las Vegas W 84-78
8. 11/28/12 vs. Stony Brook L 53-76
9. 12/1/12 vs. Colgate W 70-63
10. 12/17/12 at Vanderbilt L 55-66
11. 12/19/12 at Duke L 47-88
12. 12/22/12 at Boston U. L 57-70
13. 12/28/12 at St. Francis (PA) W 79-67
14. 12/30/12 at Binghamton W 79-77
15. 1/2/13 vs. Bucknell L 56-72
16. 1/6/13 at American W 68-60
17. 1/12/13 vs. SUNY Old Westbury W 103-84

• 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 January 18 is No. 232 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. 255 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 247.  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 9
MIT 54 Harvard 69 Box Score - Recap
UMBC 75 Penn 80  Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 10
Western Michigan 55 Cornell 63 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 57 Buffalo 53 Box Score - Recap
Yale 82 Sacred Heart 85 (OT) [SNY] [Conn 6] Box Score - Recap  
Columbia 68 Furman 47 Box Score - Recap
Maine 54 Dartmouth 67  Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 11
Brown 58 Binghamton 49 Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 12
Yale 35 Saint Joseph’s 61 (Coaches v. Cancer) Box Score - Recap
Penn 69 Delaware 84 (Preseason NIT) Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 13
Harvard 64 Massachusetts 67 (ESPN Tip Off Marathon) [ESPN] Box Score - Recap
Penn 53 Fairfield 62 (Preseason NIT) [ESPN3] Box Score - Recap
Northeastern 67 Princeton 66 Box Score - Recap
New Hampshire 72 Dartmouth 58 Box Score - Recap
Haverford 40 Columbia 74 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 14
St. Bonaventure at Cornell [NBCSN] Box Score - Recap

Thursday, November 15
Brown 71 Central Connecticut State 86 Box Score - Recap

Friday, November 16
Saint Peter’s 68 Cornell 64 Box Score - Recap
Rutgers 58 Princeton 52 Box Score - Recap
Manhattan 45 Harvard 79 Box Score
Yale 56 Evansville 66 (Coaches v. Cancer) Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 17
Drexel 61 Penn 59 Box Score - Recap
Yale 63 Buffalo 59 (Evansville, Ind.) (Coaches v. Cancer) Box Score
Brown 70 Maine 68 Box Score - Recap
Marist 67 Columbia 62 Box Score - Recap

Sunday. November 18
Yale 47 Western Illinois 59 (Oakland City, Ind.) Box Score - Recap
Cornell 40 Wisconsin 73 (Las Vegas Invitational) [ESPN3]  Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 19
Penn 68 Fordham 70 (Preseason NIT, Bethlehem PA) Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 20
Columbia 75 Villanova 57 [ESPN3] Box Score - Recap
Harvard 56 Saint Joseph’s 75 [NBCSN] Box Score - Recap
Penn 66 Lehigh 73 (Preseason NIT) Box Score - Recap
Cornell 53 Arizona State 64 (Las Vegas Invitational) [PAC-12 Sports Network] Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 21
Bryant 68 Brown 61 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 53 Syracuse 73 [TIME WARNER] Box Score - Recap
Yale 52 Vermont 65  Box Score - Recap

Friday, November 23
Cornell 89 Presbyterian 55 (Las Vegas Invitational at Las Vegas) Box Score - Recap
Columbia 75 Wayland Baptist 63 (SF Hilltop Classic) Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 24
Saint Francis (N.Y.) 76 Brown72 (OT) Box Score - Recap
IPFW 70 Dartmouth 66 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 72 Lafayette53 Box Score - Recap
Army 83 Yale 86 (2OT)  Box Score - Recap
Cornell 84 Longwood 78 (Las Vegas Invitational at Las Vegas) Box Score - Recap
Columbia 59 San Francisco 79 (SF Hilltop Classic) Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 27
Dartmouth 49 Bucknell 62 Box Score - Recap
Vermont 85 Harvard 78 [NBCSN] Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 28
Columbia 61 LIU Brooklyn 70 Box Score - Recap
Stony Brook 53 Cornell 76 Box Score - Recap
Binghamton 54 Penn 65 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 42 Wagner 48 (OT) Box Score - Recap

Thursday, November 29
Sacred Heart 56 Brown 69 Box Score - Recap
Hartford 60 Yale 51 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 1
Brown 50 New Hampshire 63 [WBIN/FCS] Box Score - Recap
Fordham 64 Harvard 73 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 61 Longwood 53 Box Score - Recap
Penn 47 Penn State 58 [ESPN3] Box Score - Recap
Colgate 63 Cornell 70 Box Score - Recap
Bucknell 65 Columbia 57 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 50 Kent State 62 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 4
Dartmouth 49 Elon 71 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 79 Boston College 63 [ESPN3] Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 5
Yale 64 Bryant 62 Box Score - Recap

Friday, December 7
Harvard 49 Connecticut 57 [SNY] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 8
Yale 56 New Hampshire 64  Box Score - Recap
Drexel 64 Princeton 57 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 56 Holy Cross 67 Box Score - Recap
Brown 57 Notre Dame 84 [ESPN3] Box Score - Recap
Villanova 68 Penn 55 [NBCSN] Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 9
Columbia 54 American 42 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 11
Boston University 64 Harvard 65 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 12
Dartmouth 50 Vermont 52 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 15
Princeton 60 Fordham 63 (Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival) [YES] Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 42 Arizona State 61 Box Score - Recap

Monday, December 17
Cornell 55 Vanderbilt 66 [ESPNU] Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 18
Albertus Magnus 63 Yale 112 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 19
Cornell 47 Duke 88 [ESPNU] Box Score - Recap

Thursday, December 20
Rider 45 Princeton 62 Box Score - Recap

Friday, December 21
Penn 60 Delaware 83  Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 22
Cornell 57 Boston University70 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 66 Bryant 79  Box Score - Recap
Holy Cross 65 Harvard 72  Box Score - Recap
Elon 70 Columbia 79 Box Score - Recap
Bucknell 67 Princeton 79 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 23
Brown 42 Northwestern 63 [BTN.com] Box Score - Recap

Friday, December 28
Providence 68 Brown 69 [NBCSN] Box Score - Recap
Cornell 79 Saint Francis (Pa.) 67  Box Score - Recap
Yale 75 Nevada 85 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 29
Manhattan 58 Columbia 69 Box Score - Recap
Penn 63 Wagner 68  Box Score - Recap
Harvard 67 California 62 [PAC-12] Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 30
Cornell 79 Binghamton 77 [TIME WARNER SPORTS] Box Score - Recap
Yale 62 Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 78 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 58 Akron 62 Box Score - Recap

Monday, December 31
Dartmouth 58 Boston College 79 [ESPN3] Box Score - Recap
Brown 50 Albany 57 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 69 Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 70 [ESPN2] Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, January 1
Yale 70 Iowa State 80 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, January 2
Colgate 59 Columbia 66 Box Score - Recap
Bucknell 72 Cornell 56 Box Score - Recap
Penn 57 Butler 70 Box Score - Recap

Friday, January 4
Brown 47 Rhode Island 59 [OSN] Box Score - Recap
Yale 61 Holy Cross 54 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 5
Princeton 74 Elon 64 Box Score - Recap
Penn 57 La Salle 74 Box Score - Recap
Columbia 64 Army 52 Box Score - Recap
Rice 62 Harvard 92 Box Score - Recap
Colgate 78 Dartmouth 62 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, January 6
Cornell 68 American 60 Box Score - Recap
Florida 79 Yale 58 [NBCSN] Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, January 8
Niagara 74 Brown 75 Box Score - Recap
Columbia 69 Holy Cross 78 Box Score - Recap
Army 58 Dartmouth 75 Box Score - Recap
Lafayette 85 Penn 83 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 12
Daniel Webster 34 Brown 71 Box Score - Recap
College at Old Westbury 84 Cornell 103  Box Score - Recap
Oberlin 39 Yale 104 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 75 Dartmouth 65 Box Score - Recap
*Penn 53 Princeton 65 [NBCSN] Box Score - Recap

Thursday, January 17
Colby-Sawyer 42 Dartmouth 80 Box Score
Penn 54 NJIT 53 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 19
Harvard at Memphis, 12:30 pm [FSN]
*Columbia at Cornell, 3 pm [NBCSN]
Saint Joseph’s at Penn, 5 pm [ESPNU]
*Yale at Brown, 7 pm