News and Notes: Monday Afternoon Edition

Below, some news and notes for Monday...

• The Cornell Club of Washington, D.C. will attend Cornell's road game at Maryland on January 3. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.com.

• On January 5, former Cornell assistant coach, Jay Larranaga, now the head coach of the Erie Bay Hawks in the NBA D-League, will take his team to Springfield to face Jeff Foote (Cornell '10) and his Springfield Armor team. Foote finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds in his last game against the Austin Toros. See additional alumni updates further below in this post.

• The Harvard Crimson newspaper published some postgame quotes from Steve Donahue last week following Harvard's defeat of struggling Boston College. The Crimson writes, "You would be hard-pressed to find someone who knows Ivy League basketball better than Steve Donahue. The second-year Boston College head coach spent 10 years as an assistant to Fran Dunphy at Penn from 1990 to 2000, and another 10 years as Cornell’s head coach, leading the Big Red to three Ivy League championships and a berth in the Sweet Sixteen in 2010." The Boston Globe similarly noted, "Donahue... dominated the Crimson in his last few years at Cornell [before leaving for Boston College]."

• Check out The Cornell Basketball Blog's updated profiles of Cornell's four committed recruits from the classes of 2012 and 2013, Braxston Bunce (Kelowna Secondary School) Kelowna, BC, Canada, 6-11, Holt Harmon (Plano West HS), Plano, TX, 6-9, F; Nolan Cressler (Plum HS) Plum, PA, 6-4, G (class of 2012); and Tim Higgins (Paul VI HS) Fairfax, VA, 6-10, C (class of 2013). In addition, a listing of the Ivy League's committed recruits in the class of 2012 is available by clicking here. Above, new video highlights of Holt Harmon.

• Over the holidays, Holt Harmon finished with 12 points in the 3rd place game of the Whataburger Tournament. See ESPN Dallas for a recap.
  

• Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recap sections from each of Cornell's games this season.

November 11, 2011 at St. Bonaventure L 58-79


November 14, 2011 vs. Binghamton W 76-61

November 16, 2011 at Buffalo L 59-68

November 20, 2011 vs. Boston University W 71-66

November 22, 2011 at Delaware L 68-76

November 27, 2011 vs. American L 63-65

December 3, 2011 vs. Lehigh W 81-79 (OT)

December 17, 2011 vs. Albany W 85-82 (OT)

December 19, 2011 at Illinois L 60-64

December 21, 2011 at Penn State L 67-74

December 28, 2011 at Stony Brook L 58-69 (OT)

December 31, 2011 at Bucknell L 60-63

• 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 2 is No. 263 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 183 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 226. 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 11
Johnson & Wales 66 Brown 86 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 57 Connecticut 70[ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 58 St. Bonaventure 79 (Box Score - Recap)
MIT 49 Harvard 76 (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 56 Rutgers 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 59 Maryland-Baltimore County 45 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 73 Central Connecticut State 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 12
Wagner 73 Princeton 57 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 14
Albany 77 Brown 68 (NIT Tip-Off-1st Round@Syracuse, N.Y.)[ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Temple 73 Penn 67 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Furman 58 Columbia 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Binghamton 61 Cornell 76 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 15
Harvard 73 Holy Cross 64 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Quinnipiac 68 [SNY] (Box Score - Recap)
Brown 52 Manhattan 54 NIT Tip Consolation@Syracuse, N.Y. [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 16
Cornell 59 Buffalo 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Vermont 65 Dartmouth 53 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 58 North Carolina State 60 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 17
Penn 78 Rider 72 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Lyndon State 37 Yale 101 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 19
Buffalo 53 Princeton 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Hartford 52 Brown 59 (Box Score - Recap)
American 66 Columbia 58 (Box Score - Recap)
Bryant 62 Dartmouth 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Robert Morris 60 Penn 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 77 Loyola Marymount 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 21
Brown 48 George Mason 74 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 22
Brown 79 Monmouth 71 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 53 Stony Brook 67 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 64 Delaware 72 (Box Score - Recap)
Wagner 71 Penn 65 (Box Score - Recap)
Elon 56 Princeton 55 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Seton Hall 73 (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 24
Dartmouth 69 San Francisco 71 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 75 Utah 47 [HDNet] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, November 25
Dartmouth 64 vs. Alaska-Anchorage 52(Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 46 Florida State 41 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Bucknell 62 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
Pittsburgh 78 Penn 58 [TCN] (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 26
Yale 84 Army 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 59 Manhattan 41 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Morehead State 68 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
James Madison 60 Penn 58 [TCN] (Philly Hoop Group Classic) (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 48 Western Michigan 65 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 59 Central Florida 49 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 27
Brown 64 Sacred Heart 77 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 66 West Alabama 66 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
American 65 Cornell 63 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 28
Swarthmore 42 Columbia 104 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 29
Manhattan 72 Penn 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 74 Hartford 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 30
Dartmouth 50 New Hampshire 53 (Box Score - Recap)
Lafayette 69 Princeton 54 (Box Score - Recap)
Rhode Island 56 Brown 65 [myRITV] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 1
Harvard 55 Vermont 48 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 2
Columbia 69 Loyola Marymount 61 (LA Westside Centennial Classic) (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 3
Vermont 52 Yale 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Brown 54 Iowa 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Lehigh 79 Cornell 81 (OT) (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 65 Villanova 73 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 72 North Texas 57 (Box Score - Recap) (LA Westside Centennial Classic)

Sunday, December 4
Columbia 78 La Sierra 56 (Box Score - Recap) (LA Westside Centennial Classic)
Seattle 70 Harvard 80 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, December 5
Brown 49 Providence 80 [ESPN3/SNY] (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 73 Sacred Heart 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, December 6
Holy Cross 45 Columbia 46 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 7
Delaware 60 Penn 69 (Box Score - Recap)
New Hampshire 69 Brown 56 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 59 Rutgers 57 (Box Score - Recap)
Bryant 59 Yale 76 (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 8
Harvard 53 Connecticut 67 [ESPN2] (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 10
Central Connecticut State 80 Brown 90 (Box Score - Recap)
Long Island 53 Columbia 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 76 Boston University 52 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 60 Drexel 64 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 73 UCLA 77 [DirecTV] (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 47 Notre Dame 65 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, December 13
Dartmouth 51 IPFW 56 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 14
Princeton 72 Rider 71 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 17
Elon 54 Dartmouth 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Albany 82 Cornell 85 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, December 18
Princeton 71 Northeastern 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 68 Rhode Island 65 [COX RI] (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, December 19
Cornell 60 Illinois 64 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 55 Colgate 61 OT (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 21
Dartmouth 64 Army 67 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 67 Penn State 74 [Big Ten Network] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 22
Florida Atlantic 51 Harvard 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 59 Siena 63 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 23
Maine 71 Brown 58 (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 74 Albany 82 (Box Score - Recap)
Marist 71 Penn 84 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, December 28
Columbia 59 Marist 79 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 59 Stony Brook 68 OT [Cablevision] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, December 29
Brown 49 St. Francis (N.Y.) 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 67 Boston College 46 [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 70 Davidson 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 71 Wake Forest 72 (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, December 30
Princeton 75 Florida State 73 (3OT) [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Lafayette 67 Columbia 77 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, December 31
Cornell 60 Bucknell 63 (Box Score - Recap)
Holy Cross 65 Dartmouth 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 70 Florida 90 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
Saint Joseph’s 69 Harvard 74 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, January 1
Princeton 76 Florida A&M 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 55 Duke 85 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, January 2
American at Brown, 1 pm
Fairleigh Dickinson at Columbia, 7 pm

Tuesday, January 3
Bucknell at Dartmouth, 7 pm
Harvard at Fordham, 7 pm
Holy Cross at Yale, 7 pm
Cornell at Maryland, 8 pm [ESPN3]

Wednesday, January 4
Columbia at Colgate, 7 pm
Penn at Lafayette, 7 pm

Saturday, January 7
*Dartmouth at Harvard, 2 pm
Albright at Cornell, 2 pm

Sunday, January 8
Columbia at Elon, 2 pm
The College of New Jersey at Princeton, 2 pm
St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) at Yale, 7 pm

• Take a look at the exclusive Inside Tour of Cornell Basketball video. The tour video was produced by the staff of Slope Media with background music performed by Cornell alumnus, Alex Kresovich. The background song, is the main theme song for the 2012 version of the video game, NBA2K. Also a must see-- check out the three-year combined highlight video package produced by Slope Media from the '08-'09, '09-'10 and '10-'11 Big Red seasons.

• Below is an updated directory listing of some Twitter feeds associated with the Cornell basketball program. You can also follow The Cornell Basketball Blog on Twitter.

-Josh Wexler ('88)
-Steve Cobb ('05)
-Ryan Rourke ('06)
-Andrew Naeve ('07)
-Jason Canady ('08)
-Khaliq Gant ('09)
-Conor Mullen ('09)
-Brian Kreefer ('09)
-Ryan Wittman ('10)
-Pete Reynolds ('10)
-Jon Jaques ('10)
-Louis Dale ('10)
-Alex Tyler ('10)
-Geoff Reeves ('10)
-Jeff Foote ('10)
-Andre Wilkins ('10) (inactive)
-Aaron Osgood ('11)
-Adam Wire ('11)
-The Cornell Rebounders Club
-Max Groebe ()
-Chris Wroblewski ()
-Andrew Ferry ()
-Jonathan Grey ()
-Miles Asafo Adjei ()
-Peter McMillan ()
-Errick Peck ()
-Josh Figini ()
-Galal Cancer ()
-Ned Tomic ()
-Dominick Scelfo ()
-Jake Mathews ()
-Dwight Tarwater ()
-Manny Sahota ()
-Dave LaMore ()
-Shonn Miller ()
-Devin Cherry ()
-Nolan Cressler (committed recruit)
-Braxston Bunce (committed recruit)
-Holt Harmon (committed recruit)
-Tim Higgins (committed recruit)
-Assistant Coach Mike Blaine ()
-Assistant Coach Marlon Sears ()
-Assistant Coach Arlen Galloway ()
-Brian Delaney, WPIE/ESPN Radio Ithaca ()
-Ed Boulat, Ithaca Journal
-Cornell Daily Sun Sports ()
-Slope Sports ()
-WVBR Sports ()
-Former assistant coach, Jay Larranaga ()
-Former head coach, Steve Donahue ()
-Former assistant coach, Nat Graham ()
-Former assistant coach, Woody Kampmann ()
-Former Assistant Coach Ricky Yahn ()
-Former Intern Assistant Ryan Woerner ()

• Throughout the year we provide periodic updates on Cornell's alumni playing professionally. Below, some updates:
  

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico premier league/Arecibo Capitanes, BSN Puerto Rico premier league)-As of January 2, Aubry is averaging 6.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Halcones finished the regular season 34-6 and in 1st place out of 14 teams in the Mexican LNBP. Aubry, a 6'11" center, splits his time in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican professional leagues. He is also a member of Puerto Rico's national team joining several NBA stars. A well traveled pro player, Aubry spent several seasons in the NBA D League in the early part of his career with the Fayetteville Patriots and Florida Flame and earned honorable mention all D-League in 2002. During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry has also played professionally in the ABA (Miami Tropics) and abroad in Puerto Rico (Arecibo, Leones de Ponce, and Santurce, BSN Puerto Rico), Spain (Tarragona, LEB Gold Spain 2nd Division), Mexico (Halcones Rojos and Chihuahua Dorados, LNBP Mexico premier league), Poland (Slask Wroclaw, PLK Poland premier league), Argentina (Libertad Sunchales, Liga A Argentina), Uruguay (Hebraica, LUB Uruguay )and Peru (Alas Peruanas, Peru).

-Cody Toppert ('05) (Ourense, LEB Silver Spain 3rd Division)-As of January 2, Toppert is averaging 5.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. Ourense is 7-3 (3rd place out of 13 teams in the Spanish LEB Silver). During his pro career, Toppert, a 6'4" wing forward, has also played in England (Plymouth Raiders, British Basketball League), Italy (Forli, LegaDue Italy 2nd division), the CBA (Great Falls Explorers), as well as in Portugal (Barriernese, LCB Portugal premier league), Germany (Goettingen, BBK Bundesliga Germany premier league) and New Zealand (Taranaki Mountain Airs, NBL New Zealand premier league).

-Jason Hartford ('08) (Unsigned free agent)-As of January 2, Hartford is unsigned for the 2011-2012 season. He was cut during the week of October 17 by Cader Rocha, LUB Uruguay premier league and is now a free agent. He was averaging 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, second on the team in both categories. The 6'9" Hartford previously played professionally in Portugal (Ginasio, LCB Portugal premier league), Finland (Huima, Korisliiga Finland premier league) and Mozambique (Maxaquene, D1 Mozambique premier league).

-Louis Dale ('10) (Goettingen, BBK Bundesliga Germany premier league)-As of January 2, Dale is out for the season with a torn ACL. He was averaging 11.9 points, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per game before the injury. Dale is in his second professional season, both seasons in Germany with Goettingen.

-Ryan Wittman ('10) (Unsigned free agent)-As of January 2, Wittman is unsigned for the 2011-2012 season after he terminated his contract on September 26 with Zastal of the PLK Poland premier league. He played the 2010-2011 season in Italy (Forli, LegaDue Italy 2nd division) and in the United States (Fort Wayne Mad Ants, NBA D-League).

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Springfield Armor, NBA D-League)-As of January 2, Foote is averaging 14.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game in the D-League. He participated in the Portland Trailblazers' 2011-2012 training camp. Springfield is 7-7 (2nd place out of 8 teams in the Eastern Conference). He played the 2011-2012 preseason with with Zastal of the PLK Poland premier league and the full 2010-2011 season in Spain (Melilla, LEB Gold Spain 2nd division) while on loan from Euro League powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.

-Adam Wire ('11) (Unsigned free agent)-As of January 2, Wire is an unsigned free agent. He was waived by Vaerlose, Denmark BBK premier league during December. He was averaging 11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1.9 assists per game. On November 4, 2011 he was named the Eurobasket Player of the Week for Denmark. The 2011-2012 season is his rookie year.

-Aaron Osgood ('11) (Unsigned free agent)-As of January 2, Osgood is an unsigned free agent. He was waived by Vaerlose, Denmark BBK premier league during December. He was averaging 11.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. The 2011-2012 season is his rookie year.

Visit The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board to interact with other fans of Cornell and Ivy League basketball. Membership is free! You may also follow us on Twitter.

Blueprint for Success, the yearbook commemorating Cornell's memorable 2009-2010 season is on sale. Visit the Cornell Athletics website to order your copy today! Or pick up a copy sold in the Cornell Store on campus.

Fans of the basketball program in the Ithaca area should not miss the opportunity to join the Cornell Rebounders Club.

Ivy Awards: Wroblewski to Honor Roll

The Ivy League Office named Chris Wroblewski to the weekly honor roll. The Ivy office notes of Wroblewski:

HONOR ROLL
Chris Wroblewski, Cornell, Senior, Guard (Highland Park, Ill.)
11 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists at Stony Brook
5 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists at Bucknell

IVY LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS 2011-2012

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Week 1 November 14-Zack Rosen, Penn/Greg Mangano, Yale
Week 2 November 21-Zack Rose, Penn
Week 3 November 28-Keith Wright, Harvard
Week 4 December 5-Meiko Lyles, Columbia
Week 5 December 12-Kyle Casey, Harvard (Cornell not eligible)
Week 6 December 19-Ian Hummer, Princeton
Week 7 December 26-Tyler Bernardini, Penn
Week 8 January 2-Greg Mangano, Yale

ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Week 1 November 14-Shonn Miller, Cornell/Jvonte Brooks, Dartmouth
Week 2 November 21-Shonn Miller, Cornell/Gabas Maldunas, Dartmouth
Week 3 November 28-Shonn Miller, Cornell/Alex Rosenberg, Columbia
Week 4 December 5-Jonah Travis, Harvard
Week 5 December 12-Gabas Maldunas, Dartmouth (Cornell not eligible)
Week 6 December 19-Galal Cancer, Cornell/John Golden, Dartmouth
Week 7 December 26-Jvonte Brooks, Dartmouth
Week 8 January 2-Denton Koon, Princeton

Game Preview Center: Cornell at Maryland (1.3.12)

Get all the information you need about the Cornell Big Red's game at Maryland, January 3, 2012 (8 pm) right here with The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. As the game approaches, we will be adding relevant links to this space. Let us know your thoughts on the upcoming game by either leaving a comment to this post, sending us an email (CornellBigRedFan@gmail.com), or posting a message on The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum (click here, free membership).

RELATED LINKS

Multimedia Links

• Cornell Athletics Redcast Service (Online Audio Coverage All Games, Video Home Games)
• Cornell Athletics (Live Stats)
• Hits 103 Ithaca (Online Audio Coverage All Games)
• ESPN3.com
  

Cornell Basketball Related Links

• The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum and Message Board
• Cornell Redcast Audio/Video Coverage
• Cornell Basketball's Official Website at CornellBigRed.com
• Cornell Daily Sun Sports
• Ithaca Journal Sports
• ESPN 1160 Radio
• Cornell Rebounders Club
  
• Cornell on CBS
• Cornell on CNN/SI
• Cornell on ESPN
• Cornell on Fox Sports
• Cornell on YahooSports/Rivals.com
• Cornell on TheSportsNetwork.com
• Cornell Athletics Game Notes for Maryland
• Sports Network Predicts Cornell at Maryland
  

Maryland Basketball Related Links

• Official Maryland Basketball Website
  
• Maryland on CBS
• Maryland on CNN/SI
• Maryland on ESPN
• Maryland on Fox Sports
• Maryland on YahooSports/Rivals.com
• Turtle Sports Report
• Terrapin Times
• Testudo Times Previews Cornell at Maryland
• Maryland Athletics Game Notes for Cornell

Testudo Times Previews Cornell at Maryland

Previewing Maryland-Cornell: Terps Get One Last Tune-Up Before ACC Play
Testudo Times

Only once in the past four years has Maryland escaped all of its non-conference guarantee games without a loss. After dropping games to American, Ohio, William & Mary, and Morgan State in past years, it's sort of gotten to the point where I'm expecting the Terrapins to lose one of these.

But so far, they haven't. They've gotten close, but they were able to escape some scary games before hitting their stride and blowing a few teams out. Now they're only one game away from escaping all of their tune-ups undefeated and entering ACC play 10-3 and riding a seven-game win streak. Sounds good, right? And only Cornell stands in their way. (For the lazy folks: the game is tomorrow, the 3rd, at 8:00. TV is ESPN3.)

You'll probably remember the Big Red as a pretty dangerous team from their Sweet Sixteen run back in 2010, when they were the best three-point shooting team in the country. This year's iteration is drastically different from that one, but they're still probably the most dangerous and talented of all of Maryland's tune-up opponents.

The pure record probably doesn't quite do them justice. Cornell is only 4-8 and are in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Those four losses have come by an average of only 6 points a game, all four came on the road, and came against pretty decent teams (Illinois, Penn State, Stony Brook, Bucknell). There's no shame in losing to the first two teams, especially on the road; the last two are probably a bit more worrisome to Bill Courtney and should make Maryland the favorite pretty easily.

As I mentioned above, this year's Cornell is really different than the stereotype you might have in your head. They don't shoot the ball nearly as well, for one; their effective field goal percentage is only 48.7%, which is middle of the road nationally and actually worse than Maryland's. They're not bad from deep - they're 34.7% as a team and have an elite sniper in Drew Ferry - but they're far from the lights-out group that made that run a few years ago.

Actually, this year's Cornell prides itself more on defense than anything else. They're a zone team from what I can tell - at least that's what nearly knocked off Illinois in Champaign - though they also utilize some trapping aspects and a bit of man-to-man occasionally. No matter what defense they utilize, they're pretty good at it: their defensive eFG% is very good and in fact they're 29th in the country in defensive 3pt%. I rarely bet against Terrell Stoglin, but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say he doesn't get another six threes in tomorrow's contest. Then again, Stoglin has flashed an ability to score from anywhere on the court, so I wouldn't bet against him getting his points some way or another. Cut off the three with an aggressive zone, and he'll find a way to attack the zone and get inside it. I'm guessing, at least.

Unfortunately, they're also very good at forcing turnovers (top 100 nationally good) and much better than, say, Samford. Maryland turned the ball over 17 times against the Bulldogs; how many times will they give it away against the Big Red? With any luck, Terrell Stoglin will get his control back and Alex Len will have settled in; otherwise, things could get messy.

One final note: you probably think Cornell is a slow-it-down, grind-it-out team, right? That's what they were in 2010 and that's what most mid-majors, particularly pasty defense-and-shootings ones, do. But not Cornell. They're 43rd in the country in raw possessions per game, and 70th in KenPom's adjusted tempo rankings. They will run. Maryland, of course, will also run. That could get very interesting.

Individually, the big name to watch out for, especially for a team like Maryland, is the guy I mentioned above, Drew Ferry. The 6-4 senior leads Cornell in scoring (14 ppg) and is a flat-out sniper. He's taken 105 three-point attempts, which is 18th in the country (and 16 of the players above him have played in more games) and is shooting nearly 46% from deep, good for 42nd in the country. I'm sure you all know that Maryland has occasional struggles with a sniper getting hot from deep; if Ferry gets hot, he'll shoot the lights out. I'm guessing Sean Mosley will match up with him to start, and he'll have to be very good tomorrow.

Chris Wroblewski, a 6-0 senior point guard, is the other really big contributor. In fact, he's probably the most important player on the team; he's second in points per game at 8.8 and, like most point guards, really makes the offense tick. He's 32nd nationally in assists per game (5.8) and is averaging fewer than two giveaways per game, which is pretty impressive given how much he handles the ball. Much has been made about Terrell Stoglin not defending - I mean, he admitted that he did play defense - and as such I'd assume that Pe'Shon Howard would handle Wroblewski, but Stoglin will probably switch onto him when Pe' has to sit. It'll be interesting to watch that.

The good news for Maryland: the Big Red really lack height. They're one of the smallest teams in the country, with only two players taller than 6-7: Eitan Chemerinski, a 6-8 junior (he's from Potomac, if the name sounds familiar), and Josh Figini, a 6-9 junior who starts at the 5. They average only 34 minutes between the both of them and are hardly particularly impactful players as things normally go. With Alex Len on the floor, though, I imagine at least one of them will be on the floor at all times; otherwise it'll fall to 6-7 Shonn Miller to guard the 7-1 Ukrainian. (Yes, I just smiled at the thought.) Len should be getting the ball and getting it a lot.

Cornell's struggles against Bucknell and Stony Brook probably look pretty bad, and it's nice that Maryland's getting them when they're in a valley. But I'm not writing them off because of only two games: both were road games, and they took Stony Brook to overtime and lose to Bucknell by only three; in other words, they were very close to winning both games and entering this game 6-6. They did beat Albany, after all, as well as a very underrated Lehigh team. (On the other hand, they also lost to American.) All things told, they seem to be a fairly inconsistent team, with the ability to lay an egg against poor competition but also with the ability to knock off a superior opponent.

Their three-point shooting, pace, and ability to force turnovers scare me quite a bit, frankly. Maryland hasn't dealt too well this year with track meets (remember Iona?), particularly track meets against teams that are good at forcing turnovers. There's some potential for this to get really sloppy, and if Ferry gets open the Big Red can cause some serious damage. This game is all about execution and taking care of the ball for Maryland; they need to dictate the pace, out-athlete Cornell where they can, and not give up turnovers leading to easy baskets. Oh, and get the ball to Len on the inside when in the halfcourt; that's too big a mismatch not to exploit every possession.

I'm always wary of giving predictions in previews, especially because I'm usually 100% wrong. (As I'm sure all of you can attest.) And this game does worry a bit ... but it'd worry me a lot more if Pe'Shon Howard wasn't on the team. So long as Maryland can rely on Howard to control the pace and be careful with the ball, this is a game they should be winning, particularly now that they can run with the Big Red and outmuscle them on the interior. If Maryland takes care of business in this one - say, another double-digit win, which is what I'm feeling on the way - you should feel very good heading into ACC play.

Game Recap: Cornell 60, Bucknell 63

Big Red edged out again
Cornell remains winless on the road

Ithaca Journal: CU Men's Basketball

SATURDAY: Bucknell 63, Cornell 60

RECORD: 4-8

NEXT: at Maryland (9-3), 8 p.m. Tuesday

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Cornell men's basketball coach Bill Courtney returned to his alma mater, Bucknell University, on Saturday for the first time as a visiting coach.

And although the 1992 Bucknell graduate and member of the Bison's Athletics Hall of Fame received a warm reception from the crowd of 2,649 in his return, the team he used to star on was far from a gracious host.

Mike Muscala scored all 18 of his points in the second half and led a terrific effort on the boards with 13 rebounds, helping Bucknell rally past Cornell, 63-60, in a New Year's Eve matinee.

Bryan Cohen added 13 points and Bryson Johnson hit a key 3-pointer late en route to a 12-point night as the Bison improved to 9-6.

Junior guard Johnathan Gray scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Big Red, which dropped to 4-8 -- 0-7 away from home -- and suffered its third loss by five points or fewer.

Gray had a chance to send the game to overtime after stealing an inbounds pass with 1.1 seconds left, but his desperation shot bounced off the rim as time expired.

Senior point guard Chris Wroblewski added 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Just before Gray's steal, Wroblewski stole the ball from Johnson along the sideline, brought the ball upcourt and got off a long three, but the ball hit the rim and bounced out of bounds with 1.1 to play.

The Red, winless so far on a rough five-game road trip that ends Tuesday at Maryland, led the entire first half before the Bison -- who had their 18-game home win streak snapped three days earlier by Loyola (Md.) -- righted themselves after the break.

Despite missing its first seven shots and 15 of its first 18, Bucknell never trailed by more than nine points in the first half and went into halftime down 25-20. The Bison erased that lead with its first three shots of the second half.

Sophomore Ryan Hill, who made his first career start, opened the half with a driving layup, and then Muscala followed with a layup and a dunk for his first points of the night. The jam, off a nice feed from Cohen, gave Bucknell its first lead at 26-25.

The lead would change hands four more times before Joe Willman gave Bucknell the lead for good with a put-back at the 10:22 mark. After another Muscala dunk, Steven Kaspar took a charge, which led to another Muscala bucket in the lane. After Cornell missed a pair of free throws, Muscala hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to cap an 8-0 run and give Bucknell a 44-37 lead with 8:12 to play.

The Bison could not expand that lead, however. After being bottled up most of the afternoon, Drew Ferry -- Cornell's leading scorer at 14.6 points per game -- finally shook free and drained a couple of late treys to keep the Red close.

The second of those made it a 56-54 game with 2:20 to play, but Johnson followed with a 3-pointer from the right corner to stretch the lead back to five.

In the final minute, Cornell junior forward Eitan Chemerinski missed an open layup, then committed his fifth foul going for the rebound. Bucknell's Brian Fitzpatrick made one of two free throws at the other end to push the Bison lead to six, 60-54, and the home team hung on from there.

» NOTES: The Bison held a 40-31 edge on the backboards, including 16-7 on the offensive glass. ... Courtney still owns Bucknell records for career free throws made (400) and most 20-point games in a season (16 in 1990-91). He scored 31 points and had six assists and five rebounds against the Big Red as a senior, helping Bucknell to a 98-96 victory in Lewisburg.

Late Shots Falls Short, Men's Hoops Falls At Bucknell
Cornell Athletics

Box Score (PDF)

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Cornell men's basketball team rimmed out a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 12 seconds to tie after getting possession back on steals and defending Patriot League champion Bucknell held on for a 63-60 victory on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The Big Red lost its fourth straight to fall to 4-8, while the Bison improved to 9-6.

Junior Johnathan Gray scored a career-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds and senior Chris Wroblewski chipped in 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds, with both getting last-second looks to knot the back-and-forth game in the final seconds. Senior Drew Ferry added nine points for the Big Red, which limited Bucknell to 38 percent shooting overall and 20 percent from 3-point range.

Timely offensive rebounding by Bucknell and untimely free throw misses by the Big Red helpd the Bison start a new home win streak after having its 18-game one snapped on Wednesday against Loyola (Md.). Reigning Patriot League Player of the Year Mike Muscala had a dominant second half, scoring all 18 of his points after the break. He also grabbed 13 rebounds for the double-double. Bryan Cohen added 13 points and Bryson Johnson scored 11, with Brian Fitzpatrick scoring nine points and grabbing seven rebounds. The Bison held a 40-31 edge on the backboards, including a 16-7 advantage on the offensive glass.

The New Year's Eve matchup was another near-miss for a Big Red team starving for a road victory, falling to 0-7 away from Newman Arena. Even a crowd with split allegiances, with a strong Cornell showing and a Bucknell group well-aware of Big Red head coach Bill Courtney's presence on the visitors sideline, wasn't enough to push the team to its first road victory.

Bucknell held a five-point lead with 17 seconds to play before Wroblewski drew a foul and hit both free throws, two of his six points in the final 40 seconds, to cut the deficit to 63-60. Gray stole the ball from Johnson and Wroblewski got an open look on the left wing, mirroring the identical shot he made to win the Albany game. This time, Wroblewski's shot rimmed out and went out of bounds with 1.2 seconds to play. Cohen's inbounds pass to midcourt was intercepted by Gray, and his running jumper was on line but hit the back rim as time expired.

It was a 48-46 Bucknell lead with five minutes to play when the Bison were able to take control. After missing a free throw, Bucknell got an offensive rebound and Muscala's putback was good, plus the foul. Muscala's free throw missed, but was rebounded by Cohen. The ensuing offensive possession saw Johnson miss a layup, but his miss was cleaned up by Muscala, who was fouled. The 6-11 center hit both free throws, and instead of a two-point game and Cornell possession, the Big Red trailed by six (52-46) with 4:30 to play.

The Big Red continued to claw, cutting the deficit to two twice, but never being able to come all the way back.

Gray and Cornell's defense pushed the visitors out to a 25-20 lead after 20 minutes. Gray hit 5-of-6 shots from the floor, only missing on a long 3-point attempt at the half that rimmed out, for a game-high 13 points. He also helped a defensive effort that saw Bucknell shoot just 7-of-23 (30 percent) in the first half, including 11 percent form the arc (1-of-9). Cornell also held its own on the backboards, 14-14. For Bucknell, Cohen had 11 points to keep the Bison in the contest. Neither Muscala (Bucknell), nor Wroblewski (Cornell) scored in the first half, taking a combined four shots.

Gray, inserted back into the starting lineup at Stony Brook, scored six early points for the Big Red as the visitors built an 8-4 edge six minutes into the contest. A Miller 3-pointer, shortly after Cancer hit a 15-foot floater at the end of the shot clock, made it 13-6. Cornell continued to control the pace, with the Bison stuck at six points until Fitzpatrick's layup with 5:28 left in the half. That ended a stretch of 7:12 that Cornell held Bucknell without a point and ended a 7-0 Big Red run. Gray hit a big jumper in the final minute to extend a lead to seven (25-18), but a touch foul sent Cohen to the line. His two makes sent the home team into the locker room trailing by just five points (25-20) despite shooting just 30 percent.

The second half featured five lead changes and even more momentum swings.

Cornell will close out its five-game road swing with a visit to Maryland on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. The contest will be televised by ESPN3.com.

Bucknell holds off Cornell
Ithaca Journal/Associated Press

LEWISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Mike Muscala led Bucknell with a double-double, Bryan Cohen added 13 points and Bryson Johnson knocked down a trio of foul shots in the final 25 seconds to seal the Bison's 63-60 win over Cornell on Saturday.

Muscala, who finished with 18 points and 13 boards, led a pair of second-half Bucknell runs with back-to-back baskets to begin each, bringing the Bison (9-6) back from a halftime deficit.

The Big Red pulled within two, 56-54, with 2:21 remaining, but Johnson preceded his late clutch foul shooting with a 3-pointer at the 1:49 mark to increase the Bison's cushion back to five. That set the stage for his 3-for-4 performance at the charity stripe in the game's final 25 seconds to seal it.

Johnson finished with 12 points for Bucknell.

Johnathan Gray led Cornell (4-8) with 18 points.

Bison overcome slow start to beat Big Red
Daily Item

LEWISBURG -- For the first 12 minutes of Saturday's nonconference game with Cornell, it looked like Bucknell would be gracious hosts to returning alumnus, Big Red coach Bill Courtney, a 1992 graduate and former guard for the Bison.

Bucknell struggled through a horrendous first 15 minutes of the game, going scoreless for more than seven minutes, while managing just six points.

However, a concerted effort to get the ball inside to junior center Mike Muscala led to easier looks from the outside in the second half as Bucknell rallied for a 63-60 victory over Cornell at Sojka Pavilion.

"It was a gratifying win, but it wasn't a masterpiece. I told the kids 'Picasso didn't paint a masterpiece every time out, sometimes you have to throw stuff on the canvas and get it out on the market,' " Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen said. "We had some shot opportunities in the first half, but we really, really struggled to make shots. The guys kept their composure and they found a way to make plays when it wasn't very pretty."

The Bison (9-6) never led in the first half and struggled through a 3-of-17 performance, including 0-of-7 behind the arc through the first 14:40 of Saturday's game. The Big Red did a good job of keeping the ball from Muscala with full-court pressure and by trapping the Bison's ball screens at the start of their offense.

"One of things you have worried about when you play Bucknell is the ball screen offense," Courtney said. "We wanted to take them out of their half court offense. We did that with our full court pressure and our traps on the ball screens."

Cornell (4-8) opened up a nine-point lead on Bucknell at 15-6 on two foul shots by Josh Figini with 8:15 left in the first half. The Bison finally snapped their scoreless streak on a Brian Fitzpatrick putback with 5:28 left in the first half. Fitzpatrick played well off the bench for Bucknell with season highs in minutes (21) and rebounds (9).

I think that's my role on the team. I feel like a lot of the times they double on Mike, I'm free under the basket for the offensive rebound and the garbage basket," Fitzpatrick, a junior transfer from the University of Pennsylvania, said. "I just have to keep working. When we're not hitting open shots, sometimes the best offense is to go get those loose balls."

Bucknell played better over the final minutes of the first half, shooting 4-of-7, and getting back within five points at halftime.

The second half was the Muscala show as he scored all of his 18 points after halftime. His dunk with 18:16 left in the game gave Bucknell the lead in the game for the first time. Muscalla added a game-high 13 rebounds as well.

"They were really trapping every ball screen and really swarming Mike. They were committing three guys inside to him. We tried different ways to get Mike the ball, but more than anything the guys were a little more composed handling those traps in the second half," Paulsen said. "Mike did a really good job of really having a presence and commanding the ball in the paint."

Cornell was able to stay in the game until the end despite giving up 12 offensive rebounds in the second half and 17 second-chance points to the Bison. The Big Red trailed by six with 4:41 left in the game and with 50 seconds left in the contest, but still had two good chances to send the game into overtime.

Chris Wroblewski scored six points in 23 seconds for the Big Red, getting them back within three points and the Bison turned the ball over twice against the Big Red's pressure. Wroblewski missed a tying 3-pointer off the first turnover with five seconds left in the game.

After the rebound rolled out of bounds, the Bison had a chance to finish off the Big Red by inbounding the ball with 1.1 second left, but another turnover gave Jonathan Gray a chance to tie it with a 3 at the buzzer, but it fell short.

In addition to Muscala, Bryan Cohen added 13 points, 11 of which coming in the first half. Bryson Johnson chipped in with 12 points off the bench.

Gray led the Big Red with 18 points, while Wroblewski added 11 points.

Bison Pound the Glass in 63-60 New Year's Eve Win over Cornell
Muscala Records 18 Points, 13 Rebounds as Bucknell Improves to 9-6
Bucknell Athletics

Box Score | Photo Gallery

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Mike Muscala scored all 18 of his points in the second half and led a terrific effort on the boards with 13 rebounds, helping Bucknell rally past Cornell 63-60 on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. Bryan Cohen added 13 points in addition to his usual strong defense, and Bryson Johnson hit a key 3-pointer late en route to a 12-point night as the Bison improved to 9-6 on the season.

Bucknell Athletics Hall of Famer Bill Courtney '92 returned to Lewisburg for the first time as Cornell's head coach, and his team led for the entire first half before the Bison righted themselves after an ugly start. The Big Red (4-8), who are in the midst of a brutal holiday road trip that has also included close losses to Illinois, Penn State and Stony Brook, received 18 points from Johnathan Gray and 11 from Chris Wroblewski.

Bucknell's victory was its 26th of 2011, a new program record for wins in a calendar year. The previous mark was 25, set in 2005.

Trying to shake off Wednesday's rare home loss to Loyola (Md.), Bucknell struggled early against Cornell's aggressive trapping defense. The Bison missed their first seven shots and 15 of their first 18, and they were stuck on six points for more than seven minutes. Even with that offensive drought, Bucknell held its own defensively and never trailed by more than nine points.

Two free throws by Josh Figini gave Cornell a 15-6 lead, but Brian Fitzpatrick scored inside at the 5:28 mark and Johnson followed with Bucknell's first 3-pointer of the night. Glad to be down just 25-20 after shooting 30.4 percent in the first half, the Bison got going quickly in the second stanza to reclaim the lead.

Sophomore Ryan Hill, who made his first career start, opened the half with a driving layup, and then Muscala followed with a layup and a slam dunk for his first points of the night. The jam, off a nice feed from Cohen, gave Bucknell its first lead at 26-25.

The lead would change hands four more times before Joe Willman gave Bucknell the lead for good with a put-back at the 10:22 mark. After another Muscala dunk, Steven Kaspar took a charge, which led to another Muscala bucket in the lane. After Cornell missed a pair of free throws, Muscala hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to cap an 8-0 run and give Bucknell a 44-37 lead with 8:12 to play.

The Bison could not expand on that seven-point lead, however. Drew Ferry, Cornell's leading scorer at 14.6 points per game and the nation's second-leading 3-point shooter, had been bottled up all night by Cohen, but Ferry managed to shake free for a couple of late treys to keep the Big Red in it. The second of those made it a 56-54 game with 2:20 to play, but Johnson followed with perhaps Bucknell's biggest shot of the night, pump-faking around an airborne defender before hitting a 3-pointer from the right corner to stretch the lead back to five.

The Bison then came up with a stop but turned it back over on a 5-second violation, but then Eitan Chemerinski missed a point-blank layup for Cornell and fouled out going for the rebound. Fitzpatrick made 1 of 2 at the line to make it 60-54 with 50 seconds to play.

Johnson later hit a pair of free throws with 21.2 seconds to put Bucknell ahead 63-58, but the Bison had to survive a few dicey moments at the end. Wroblewski's two free throws pulled Cornell back within three with 16.9 seconds left. With no timeouts left, Johnson got trapped in front of the Cornell bench after receiving the inbounds, and he could not connect his pass up the floor.

Wroblewski came back the other way got a decent look at a long 3-pointer as Cohen lost his footing. The shot drew only iron, however, and went out of bounds back to Bucknell with 1.1 seconds left. Then Gray intercepted the inbounds pass and had another look at a possible tying three, but it also was off the mark and Bucknell escaped with the win.

Bucknell finished at 37.9 percent from the floor, including a 3-for-15 day from the 3-point arc. Muscala's double-double was his seventh of the season and 15th of his career. The junior center went over the 1,000-point mark against Loyola on Wednesday, and now he has moved into 31st place on Bucknell's career scoring list with 1,022 points.

The Bison held Cornell to 37.5 percent shooting and finished with a 40-31 edge on the glass. That included a season-high 16 offensive rebounds, which led to a 17-4 edge in second-chance points.

In addition to Muscala's 13 boards, Fitzpatrick tied his career high with nine rebounds to go along with seven points. Fitzpatrick gave the Bison a big lift with Willman in foul trouble for much of the night.

Now 6-1 at home this season and 90-30 all-time at Sojka Pavilion, the Bison improved to 24-23 all-time against Cornell.

Bucknell was playing on New Year's Eve for just the third time in program history, and for the first time since a 74-70 loss at Florida in 1968.

Bucknell has one more non-conference game to play, at Dartmouth on Tuesday night, before opening Patriot League play at Army next Saturday.