News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

Below, news and notes for Wednesday...

Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds last night in the NBA D League with the Springfield Armor.

The Ithaca Sports Blog writes:

2/7 Cornell 83- Penn 90: The Big Red battled and rallied late in the city of brotherly love, but that was not enough as Cornell lost yet another game. After the Quakers jumped out to a 50-32 lead at halftime, the Big Red were able to catch fire and cut into the big deficit. Sophomore Nolan Cressler had 22 points for Cornell as he continues to put up big numbers despite his team’s struggles. At the end of the day though, a team usually won’t win too many games in which they allow their opponents to shoot 61 percent, which Cornell allowed Penn to do.
2/8 Cornell 48- Princeton 69: Yet again Cornell allowed its opponent to jump out to an early lead as the Big Red dropped to 1-19 (0-6 Ivy) on the season. Princeton was up 16 points at the half, and did not look back. Nolan Cressler again led the way for the Big Red, scoring 14 points in the loss. Cornell has yet to win a game outside of Ithaca, as the Big Red are 0-13 on the road this season.

The Columbia Spectator writes:

"The fourth week of Ivy League play saw road teams actually come away with wins—prior to last week, only Columbia and Harvard had wins away from home—resulting in several exciting games and unexpected results. Yale (11-9, 5-1 Ivy) and Penn (6-13, 3-2 Ivy) both came away with two wins, while Harvard (18-4, 5-1 Ivy), Columbia (14-9, 3-3 Ivy), Brown (12-8, 4-2 Ivy), and Princeton (13-6, 1-4 Ivy) split their respective contests. Dartmouth (9-11, 2-4 Ivy) went winless in front of its home crowd, as did Cornell (1-19, 0-6 Ivy), which continues to seek its first Ivy win of the season.... Penn emerged victorious, securing two wins in front of home crowds at the Palestra. Friday night was a high-scoring, 90-83 affair against Cornell. Penn led 50-32 at the half, and despite a tighter second half of play, the Quakers managed to hold off the Big Red. Guard Tony Hicks racked up 27 points, as well as a career-high seven assists. Guard Miles Cartwright and forward Fran Dougherty also put up impressive numbers, scoring 19 and 17 points, respectively...Princeton rebounded [Saturday] night in Jadwin Gym, taking down Cornell, 69-48. Cornell remains winless in Ivy play."

On the Cornell at Penn game on Friday, the Daily Pennsylvanian writes, "The Big Red’s 83 points marked the squad’s highest regulation total of the season. Cornell also got hefty contributions from its youth against the Quakers: sophomore Nolan Cressler remained aggressive and posted 22 points, and freshmen David Onuorah and Darryl Smith scored 11 and 15, respectively – both career highs."

Ivy Hoops Online has a new power poll for the Ivies and writes in part:

8. Cornell (0-6) (7 points)
Two more games, two more losses. That’s how it’s been going for the Red in a season Cornellians are just itching to forget. The one thing Bill Courtney’s squad can hang its hat on this season is that the guys refuse to quit. It’s true; give them credit for that. I don’t know many 1-17 teams that will fight down 12 on the road with 4:04 left to make it a five point game with two seconds to play, but then again, I don’t know many 1-17 (now 1-19) teams. The fight is not enough to garner anything more than an 8th place vote in the Power Poll, but it is enough to keep at least this Cornellian plugged into the season. Let’s see if it’s enough to get in the win column. -Jake Mastbaum

Cornell's incoming recruiting class next season includes four members: Riley Glassmann (Fremd HS) Palatine, IL, 6-5, G, William "Will" Bathurst (Olean HS) Olean, NY, 6-3, G, Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof (Gonzaga HS) Washington, D.C., 6-7, F, and Pat Smith (Archbishop Wood HS) Warminster, PA, 6-5, F. Smith was named First Team All Catholic League for his senior year.

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 12, 2014 is No. 344 out of 351 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. 340 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 337. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

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