Stony Brook Athletics Game Notes for Cornell

Dec. 27, 2011

2011-12 Stony Brook Men's Basketball

Game #10: Cornell Big Red (4-6) at Stony Brook Seawolves (3-6)

Wed., Dec. 28 • Pritchard Gymnasium • Stony Brook, N.Y. • 7 p.m.

On Television
Optimum Local Channel 118 with Mike Solano & Rob Pavinelli

On the Radio
WUSB 90.1 FM & GoSeawolves.org with Curt Hylton & Jeff Bernstein

LIVE: STATS | AUDIO | VIDEO | TWITTER

INFO: GAME NOTES (PDF)

Stony Brook Seawolves (3-6, 0-0 America East)
Head Coach: Steve Pikiell, seventh season
Overall Record: 81-132
Record at SBU: 76-114

Cornell Big Red (4-6, 0-0 Ivy League)
Head Coach: Bill Courtney, second season
Overall Record: 14-24
Record at Cornell: Same

About the Game: Stony Brook comes back from the holiday break to welcome the Ivy League’s Cornell Big Red to Pritchard Gymnasium. Both teams are looking to break a modest two-game losing streak and get on the right track as conference play looms. This is the sixth all-time meeting between the two teams, and Cornell leads 4-1, including a 60-52 win in Ithaca last season.

Scouting Cornell: The Big Red are two seasons removed from a run to the NCAA Sweet 16. In head coach Bill Courtney’s first season last year, he led Cornell to a 10-18 record and 6-8 in the Ivy. The team returns three starters from last season, including captain guard Chris Wroblewski, who torched Stony Brook for 29 points in last season’s meeting. Cornell is already 3-0 against America East teams, having beaten Albany, Binghamton and Boston University, all at home. As is accustomed at Cornell, the Big Red rely heavily on the three. Half of its field goal attempts are from behind the arc, and the team averages 25.3 attempts per game. Drew Ferry is the lone double-figure scorer at 14.6 PPG. Wroblewski is averaging 9.0 PPG and is shooting only 26% this season.

Last Time Out: Stony Brook made program history by playing at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, but the team’s offensive woes continued in a 67-58 loss to Rutgers. The Seawolves shot only 26.7% and connected on only 16 field goals in the game. The Seawolves did outrebound Rutgers, 40-34, including grabbing 21 offensive boards that led to 13 second chance points. However, Rutgers, which shot 52.2% from the field, proved to be too much for the Seawolves. Dave Coley led SBU with a career-high 17 points, and Tommy Brenton had a double-double (11 pts, 12 rbs).

A Stony Brook win...

• Improves Stony Brook’s record against the Ivy League to 15-15 all-time.
• Improves Stony Brook’s record against the Ivy League to 2-0 this season.
• Will snap a four-game losing streak against the Big Red.

Home Confines: Stony Brook is unbeaten at home and winless on the road, and the stats have shown how important home games are for the Seawolves. SBU is averaging 76.7 points and 44% shooting while averaging only 60.8 points and 36% shooting on the road.

Dougher Loves Pritchard: Perhaps no one benefits from the confines of Pritchard Gymnasium better than Bryan Dougher. The senior guard is shooting 46% from the field and 56% from three-point range in his home games, but only 31% from the field and 29% from three-point range in road/neutral games.

Tommy's Passing: Tommy Brenton is ranking in the upper echelon among the entire nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. He is 37th in the country with a 2.54 mark. That is also second best among the nation’s forwards, trailing only Pittsburgh’s Lamar Patterson.

Rebounding Machines: Stony Brook has done a nice job on the glass so far this season, outrebounding opponents by a 5.1 margin (38.4 to 33.3). What’s more impressive is the work on the offensive end, grabbing an average of 16.7 offensive rebounds per game. That is leading to an average of 15.8 second chance points per game.

The Line's the Key: Stony Brook’s win-loss record could be tied to its ability to get to the free throw line more than its opponent. The Seawolves are 3-1 in games in which they have more free throw attempts than their opponents (averaging 20.7 attempts in wins) and 0-5 in games in which they have fewer attempts than their opponents (averaging 11.0 attempts in losses). Last season, Stony Brook was 12-3 when shooting more free throws than its opponent, 3-14 when shooting fewer.

Dish and Protect: Stony Brook has done an excellent job distributing and protecting the basketball this season. In four of the team’s nine games, SBU has had more assists than turnovers. The Seawolves have a 0.9 assist/ turnover ratio and a +2.67 turnover margin, both second best in America East.

Camera Ready: Stony Brook appeared on television a school-record 11 times in 2010-11, including four broadcasts on the ESPN family of networks. This season, the Seawolves will appear on television at least 18 times, which will shatter the school record. The full schedule, released Nov. 30, includes three national television broadcasts. Stony Brook will host Boston University on Jan. 27 on ESPNU, and will host Maine on Feb. 26 on CBS Sports Network. The Seawolves will also be on CBS Sports Network Feb. 12 at Vermont.

Up Next: Stony Brook has a short turnaround, playing Rider at home in less than 48 hours. Tip-off at Pritchard Gymnasium is Friday at 7 p.m.