Cardinal Connect Previews Cornell

Get all the information you need about the Cornell Big Red's game at Louisville, Friday, November 15, 2013 (TV: WHAS/ESPN3.com) with The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center.

Gameday Preview: Louisville vs. Cornell

Cardinal Connect

CORNELL UNIVERSITY (0-3, 0-0)

-Head Coach: Bill Courtney, 4^th Year @ Cornell (Career HC Record: 35-55)
-Courtney’s entire head coaching career has been at Cornell
-2012-2013 Season: 13-18 (5-9, T-6th in the Ivy League)
-The Ivy League is the only conference in the nation that does not have a tournament

Cornell is 2-6 all-time in the NCAA tournament, with both wins coming as upsets in 2010 as a #12 seed. They fell to #1 seed Kentucky after knocking off #5 seed Temple and #4 seed Wisconsin

This is the first ever meeting between Louisville and Cornell on the hardwood

Since winning three straight Ivy League titles (2008-2010) under former coach Steve Donahue, the Big Red have fallen on some hard times. They have finished in the bottom half of the league for three straight years.

Picked by most pundits to finish sixth or seventh in the Ivy, the Big Red have an 0-3 record to start with losses to #7/8 Syracuse, Loyola and Binghamton. They led the Orangemen 38-32 at halftime of the season opener, but only managed 22 points in the second half as they gave up 50.

Cornell lost their three leading scorers from last year’s team. Two were graduating seniors (Johnathan Gray – 10ppg and Errick Peck – 9.7ppg) and their leading scorer, SF Shonn Miller, who was first team All-Ivy last year. Miller missed the final four games of the season in 2013 with a shoulder injury and despite having the entire the summer to recoup, the injury it still nagging and will keep him off the court for the entire 2013-14 season.

Nolan Cressler hit just over 40% from beyond the 3-point line last year off the bench and has transitioned to the starting role smoothly, leading the team with 18.7ppg. Freshmen G Robert Hatter and C David Onuorah are expected to start Friday night. Hatter is a 6-2 guard averaging just under 16 points per game this year; Onuorah is a 6-9 center averaging 7ppg/6reb.

Two major milestones sit in front of the Cards Friday night. A win would break the school record for consecutive wins (18) which was originally set by the 1979-1980 team and tied on Monday night with the win over Hofstra. It would also give the program their 1,700^th win in Louisville collegiate basketball history.

A win for Cornell would snap a 9-game losing streak that dates back to last season and match a school record for highest ranked opponent ever beaten (1966-67 team beat #3 Princeton). While a win is not in the “cards” for the Big Red tonight, the future is promising. If Miller decides to return following a red-shirt year and the young talent stays, Cornell would be well on its way back to the top of the Ivy League.