8:37 AM
seo all
DATE & TIME: Wednesday, November 18th, 7:30 p.m. (et)
FACTS & STATS: Site: Mullins Center (9,493) -- Amherst, Massachusetts. Television: None. Home Record: Cornell 0-0, UMass 0-0. Away Record: Cornell 1-0, UMass 0-1. Neutral Record: Cornell 0-0, UMass 0-0. Conference Record: Cornell 0-0, UMass 0-0. Series Record: First-ever meeting.
GAME NOTES: The Massachusetts Minutemen open their home slate tonight, as they host the Cornell Big Red as part of the Legends Classic at the Mullins Center.
The Minutemen are coming off a disappointing season-opening performance, as they dropped an 84-67 decision at UCF on Friday. UMass had its string of six straight season-opening wins snapped dating back to a loss to Indiana in 2002. Following this game, the Minutemen will host Arkansas-Fort Smith as part of the Legends Classic before heading to Atlantic City for the final two rounds of the tourney.
As for Cornell, it is coming off an impressive opening win, topping Alabama, 71-67, on the road this past Saturday. It marked the program's first win over an SEC school in 37 years. The outcome though, wasn't all that big of a surprise, as the Big Red returns all of its starters from last year's club that won the Ivy League and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Tonight's game marks the first-ever meeting between Cornell and UMass on the hardwood.
The Big Red shot 50.0 percent from the floor and went 10-of-18 from beyond the arc, as it surprised Alabama on Saturday. Cornell converted 13-of-19 free- throw attempts and handed out 14 assists as a team. Ryan Wittman led the charge, pouring in 23 points and making 5-of-8 three-pointer. It was a good start, but by no means a surprising one, as Wittman led the Big Red with a solid average of 18.5 ppg last season. Jeff Foote added 17 points and seven boards, and Louis Dale contributed 13 points and seven assists. Both players were instrumental to the team last season, with the 7-0 Foote tallying 11.8 ppg and 7.2 and the 5-11 Dale posting 13.0 ppg and 3.6 apg.
UMass shot a dismal 33.3 percent from the floor, compared to a much better 54.5 percent effort by UCF, as it dropped its opener on Friday. The Minutemen hung tough for a while by hitting 12 three-pointers, although it took a school-record 38 shots from long range. Ricky Harris guided the team in defeat with 15 points and four helpers. It was a decent showing from Harris, who is capable of taking over a game and he showed that by netting 18.2 ppg in 2008-09. Anthony Gurley, who tallied 11.2 ppg a season ago, contributed 14 points off the bench, while freshman Freddie Riley chipped in 12 points on 4- of-9 shooting from downtown.
Cornell has loads of experience and talent and this group should show some of that with another road win tonight.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Cornell 75, Massachusetts 70
0 comments:
Post a Comment