News and Notes: Thursday Edition

Below, some news and notes for Thursday...  

• The Ithaca Independent writes on Wednesday, "The Big Red has six televised contests coming up in the next two weeks, the first of them tonight's midweek men's basketball homestand against Saint Bonaventure, nationally televised on the NBC Sports Network. Cornell's cagers will be on the road next week, but their games will be televised; on November 18th they'll play at the University of Wisconsin, with video coverage on ESPN3.com and ESPN mobile apps, and on the 20th they visit Arizona State University, with the game on the Pac 12 Network.  'The NHL lockout isn't any good for hockey fans,' says Cornell director of athletic communications Jeremy Hartigan, 'but it leaves networks looking for midweek games' like college basketball."

• The Pittsburgh Post Tribune writes:

Nolan Cressler was known as a sharp shooter for the Plum varsity boys basketball team, and the 2012 graduate, who finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer, could light up the scoreboard from anywhere on the court.

Now, fans of the Cornell University men’s basketball team — and those from Western Michigan, as well — know a little more about what Cressler can do on a basketball court.

Cressler debuted for the Big Red on Saturday, as the team opened its season against Western Michigan from the Mid-American Conference and honored the school’s 1987-88 Ivy League Championship squad.

He didn’t start, but he made his 18 minutes off the bench count.

Cressler scored a game-high 20 points, as three Cornell players finished in double figures in the 63-55 nonconference victory.

He did almost all of his damage from the perimeter, as he sank six 3-pointers and missed only two for 18 of his 20 points.

Cressler also converted a field goal from inside the 3-point arc; grabbed two rebounds; and recorded one block, one assist and one steal.

He entered the game for the first time at the 16:06 mark of the first half, and he drained his first 3-pointer 28 seconds later.

That field goal was the first Big Red basket of the season, and it cut Western Michigan’s early lead to 4-3.

Cressler added a fast-break layup at 14:51 to give Cornell a 7-4 lead, and the Big Red went on a 9-0 run overall to move ahead 9-4.

Cressler finished the first half with 11 points, including a trio of threes.

Cornell held a slim 26-24 lead at halftime and outscored Western Michigan, 37-31 in the second half.

While Cressler was 6 of 8 from 3-point range, his teammates were 2 of 17 from long range.

The Big Red was scheduled to return to the court Wednesday with a home game against St. Bonaventure.

The game was to be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network and was to be contested past the deadline for this week’s edition.

• 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

• 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 November 15 is No. 164 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. 187 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 178. 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 at Central Connecticut State, 7:30 pm

Friday, November 16
Saint Peter’s at Cornell 7 pm 
Rutgers at Princeton, 7 pm
Manhattan at Harvard, 7:30 pm
Yale at Evansville, 8:35 pm (Coaches v. Cancer)

Saturday, November 17
Drexel at Penn, 4 pm
Yale vs. Buffalo (Evansville, Ind.), 6 pm (Coaches v. Cancer)
Brown at Maine, 7 pm
Marist at Columbia, 7 pm

Sunday. November 18
Yale vs. Western Illinois (Oakland City, Ind.), 3 pm
Cornell at Wisconsin, 6 pm (Las Vegas Invitational) [ESPN3]