News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Get all the information you need about the Cornell Big Red's season opener at Syracuse, Friday, November 8, 2013 (TV: ACC Sports Network) with The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center. Below, news and notes for Tuesday...

Above, a Date in Cornell Basketball History, a 1930 Cornell at Syracuse ticket stub.

• Cornell Athletics tweeted this photo last night from the Big Red's photo shoot.

• Here is a link for DirecTV information for Cornell at Syracuse in this Friday's opener.

• The Sports Network's season preview notes:

CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Harvard

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Harvard, 2. Princeton, 3. Yale, 4. Penn, 5. Brown, 6. Cornell, 7. Dartmouth, 8. Columbia

TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:

CORNELL: The Big Red have fallen a long way since being crowned three-time Ivy League champions from 2008-10, culminating in a disappointing 13-18 season (4-10 Ivy) in Bill Courtney's third season as head coach in 2012-13. They will need to overcome the loss of several key players, including Johnathan Gray (10.0 ppg) and Errick Peck (9.7 ppg), but the good news is that they welcome back one of the league's best forwards in Shonn Miller, who not only put up 11.5 points per game on 47.6 percent field goal shooting, but contributed across the board with 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.9 steals per contest last year. Nolan Cressler (9.3 ppg) drained 40.3 percent of his 3-point attempts in mostly a bench role last season, and will be expected to carry a larger portion of the scoring load as a starter. Devin Cherry (6.2 ppg) and Dominick Scelfo (5.1 ppg) are also back in the mix for Cornell.

• Team Rankings has Cornell at No. 248 in a preseason rating.

• Student Sports ranks the top 50 high school teams in the country and writes:

48. (NR) Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) 27-5
Key Players: G Bryant Crawford 6-2 2015 (No. 50 Hoop Scoop Top 100), F Sam Miller 6-8 2015 (Penn State, Rutgers offers), F Jordan Abdur-Ra’oof 6-7 2014 (2nd team All-WCAC, Cornell commit).
Why This Ranking: Although DC Area Player of the Year Kris Jenkins has departed for Villanova, coach Steve Turner’s team will be led by Crawford, one of the most dynamic point guards in the nation. Miller and Abdur-Ra’oof are more than solid on the interior. Besides Crawford, another reason to like Gonzaga is its depth at forward. Plus you can’t leave a WCAC team out of the national rankings picture that went 18-0 in league.
The Skinny: The Eagles also have some promising younger players, such as 2016 Nigel Stewart and 2017s Chris Lykes and Eddie Scott. If one or more of those players steps up, then they become a bigger threat to two FAB 50 ranked clubs for WCAC supremacy. Even though legendary DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) is a bit down, the WCAC is as tough as ever.

• The Indianapolis Star writes from last night, "Purdue found its way back to playing Boilermakers basketball by following one of its newest teammates. Senior forward Errick Peck scored seven points in the first 4 minutes en route to a game-high 16 points, and Purdue used improved defensive intensity to fuel a 91-58 exhibition victory over Wayne State, Neb., at Mackey Arena on Monday.  Peck, a fifth-year senior transfer from Cornell, made his first seven shots, including a dunk for the game’s first basket. The Indianapolis native also collected six rebounds, five steals, two assists and a block without committing a turnover."  See also the Post Tribune which writes in the headline, "Errick Peck Dominates" and notes:

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue will head into Friday’s season opener against Northern Kentucky feeling pretty good about itself.  The Boilermakers overwhelmed an overmatched Wayne State 91-58 in Monday night’s exhibition at Mackey Arena, setting the tone from the outset with an active defense, paced by Errick Peck.  They didn’t get carried away with their positive vibes, though.  Purdue clearly was sharper and more aggressive — while adjusting to the new rules — than in its exhibition opener against Indianapolis, but the Wildcats clearly were not as strong an opponent as the Greyhounds.  Peck had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, six rebounds and five steals (including two in the game’s first two-and-a-half minutes, and four in the first 10-plus minutes). His dunk opened the score a little more than a minute into the game, as Purdue scored the first 11 points and led by as much as 87-48.“I got an early dunk and that kind of got me going a little bit,” Peck said.  “Just go out there, rebound and play hard, and do what the team needs me to do,” the graduate transfer from Cornell added when asked about his role. “If you need me to score on a given night, I’ll do that. If you need me to rebound, I’ll do that. Play defense, do that. I don’t necessarily have a pegged role, but they have me in a starting spot, and I’m appreciative of it.”

• The Purdue Exponent writes, "Peck holds the record at Cornell, where he hit eight baskets without a miss during a game."

• Cornell is mentioned in the Huffington Post in a discussion of strange mascots.