News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

Below, some news and notes for Wednesday...

Incoming Cornell recruits, Shonn Miller (St. Ignatius HS) Cleveland, OH, 6-6, F and Dave LaMore (Dexter HS) Dexter, MI, 6-10, C, discuss over Twitter what jersey numbers they would like wear at Cornell next season.

• Some updates on Cornell's incoming recruits: The Cleveland Plain Dealer published an extended recap of St. Ignatius' 63-62 defeat on Saturday to Benedictine. What the article makes clear is what we already knew, incoming Big Red recruit, Shonn Miller, can beat you a lot of different ways. His 28 point performance included at least one dunk as well as four 3-pointers. Future Cornell classmate and big man, Dave Lamore, scored 15 points in the 1st half and 22 points on the game last night as Dexter defeated Tecumseh 61-29, per MLive.com. He was an impressive 9/10 from the foul line. Tonight, Devin Cherry (Meridian HS) Meridian, MS, 6-3, G and his Wildcats face Starkville in the semifinals of the 6A state tournament. The Meridan Star notes, "One year removed from a loss to rival Starkville in the Class 6A state title game, the Meridian boys find themselves running into the same foe — just one game earlier this time. This go round , the two teams will battle in the semifinal round of the MHSAA Basketball Tournament at the Mississippi Coliseum tonight... Meridian is led by a slew of senior talent headlined by Mississippi State signee and Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen Rodney Hood... [and] Cornell signee Devin Cherry..." Also in state playoff action, Galal Cancer (Christian Bros. Academy), Albany, NY, 6-2, G, did what he does best last night, take over games when his team needs it. The Albany Times Union writes the following recap (and had a live blog on the game):

ALBANY -- The years roll by and the players graduate, but one thing remains a constant with the Christian Brothers Academy boys' basketball program each March. Reaching the Section II Class AA final has become a annual rite of passage for the Brothers.

Albany High, however, did not get that memo.

Tuesday night at Times Union Center, the Falcons appeared poised to end the Brothers' season. Pushed to the absolute brink, CBA needed someone to step forward and senior guard Galal Cancer answered the call -- scoring 30 points, including making 16 of 17 foul shots, as the Brothers escaped with a 65-62 semifinal victory over the Falcons in overtime.

"I didn't panic at all," said Cancer, who is headed to Cornell in the fall.

In the second contest, Bishop Maginn continued its incredible playoff ride after a 5-13 regular season by knocking off Suburban Council No. 1 seed Shenendehowa 59-50 in the second semifinal.

The Brothers (21-0) will now compete in their eighth straight Section II Class AA title game -- having won five -- and ninth consecutive championship overall March 8 against the Golden Griffins (8-13). Game time is 7 p.m.

The Falcons (13-7) were really close to pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory against CBA, the 2010 state champions and the No. 3 squad in the state.

Jakei Thurman provided Albany a 53-49 lead with 80 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but Cancer answered for the Brothers with a drive. After an Albany timeout, Cancer stole the inbounds pass and converted his drive to knot the score at 53. It remained that way as the teams headed into a four-minute overtime session.

"Galal is not only hitting foul shots, but coming up with the big steal when we really needed it at the end of regulation," CBA coach Dave Doemel said. "The defense he plays is tremendous. The free-throw shooting, he is so confident in that we're pretty grateful when he is on the line."

Cancer converted all eight of his free throws in overtime. The final two came with 20.7 seconds remaining in the extra session to provide the Brothers a 65-62 advantage. Albany's Shaqile Owens missed on a 3-pointer and Wesley Phillip missed on a 14-footer -- when the Falcons needed three points -- at the buzzer.

CBA went the first 6:25 of the fourth quarter without a basket and turned the ball over six times in the quarter.

"We lost our composure a little bit and I credit Albany High for that. They played as good a defense as anybody has played (against us) all year," Doemel said. "They were hounding us every place on the floor and we needed to react a little bit better, and we didn't do that."

• The Albany Times Union's Sidelines Blog also writes on Cancer:

Think of all the superlatives you can praise a basketball team with, and that still would be selling the Albany High boys’ basketball team short Tuesday night.

Gritty, determined, resilient, unrelenting and clutch are all things Albany deserved to be called Tuesday.

And the Falcons almost did the unthinkable at Times Union Center — beat Christian Brothers Academy and prevent the Brothers from extending their streak of reaching the Section II Class AA title game to eight straight years.

But for all the praise that possibly could be heaped on Albany, CBA senior guard Galal Cancer deserved that, and then some.

The Brothers were uncharastically sluggish in the fourth quarter — the time CBA so often has surged away from would-be playoff challengers.

When things looked bleak, Cancer summoned up his best basketball of the evening. The senior scored the final two baskets of regulation — including a steal and conversion that forced overtime — and proceeded to score 10 points in the extra four minutes to propel CBA to a thrilling 65-62 overtime decision over the Falcons.

Cancer made 7 of 12 shots from the field and 16 of 17 attempts from the foul line to register a season-high 30 points.

“Galal is not only hitting foul shots, but coming up with the big steal when we really needed it at the end of regulation,” CBA coach Dave Doemel said. “The defense he plays is tremendous. The free-throw shooting, he is so confident in that we’re pretty grateful when he is on the line.”

“He is a great player. Great players do great things in tight situations,” Albany coach Jon McClement said of Cancer.

CBA went the first 6:25 of the fourth quarter without a basket. Jakie Thurman provided Albany (13-7) a 53-49 edge after forcing a turnover with 80 seconds left. The Falcons missed two shots at the end of regulation.

Albany’s speed and aggressiveness helped force CBA into 17 turnovers and also limited the Brothers to just nine three-point attempts. Cancer and Joe Krong combined to make 14 of 25 shots, and the rest of the team converted just 7 of 22 attempts.

“We lost our composure a little bit and I credit Albany High for that. They played as good a defense as anybody has played (against us) all year,” Doemel said.

Thurman made 6 of 14 shots for the Falcons. Shaqille Owens scored 13 points for Albany, and the trio of Wesley Phillip, Amari Gaddy and Jahmeer Rollin all delivered 10 points.

Despite all the strong moments Albany enjoyed and how well it performed defensively, the Falcons simply had no way of stopping Cancer.

The victory sends CBA to its ninth straight championship appearance (the first during the streak being the Class A final loss to La Salle in 2003) March 8 against Bishop Maginn.

• Jeff Foote ('10) has created quite the impression with the Spanish media since signing with Melilla Balancesto in the 2nd Division. Foote, who is on a 1-year loan from Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv club, is averaging 11.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in just 23 minutes per game during Melilla's last 6 games. These are impressive numbers from a rookie in one of Europe's top leagues. The following highlight package was produced by Foote's club.

• Former Cornell assistant coach, Joe Burke, now the head coach of Skidmore College has guided the Thoroughbreds into the Division III NCAA Tournament.

• Penn senior, Jack Eggleston tells the Daily Pennsylvanian that he did not start just four games in his entire Penn career and recounts the opponents as, "Howard, Miami, Cornell and Princeton."

• Speaking of Ivy League graduating seniors, below is also listing of the seniors expected to graduate for each of the eight Ivy League schools.
  
  -Brown (Peter Sullivan, Garrett Leffelman, Adrian Williams, Chris Taylor)
  -Columbia (Asenso Ampim, Max Craig, Zack Crimmins)
  -Cornell (Adam Wire, Mark Coury, Aaron Osgood)
  -Dartmouth (Ronnie Dixon, Clive Weeden)
  -Harvard (none)
  -Penn (Jack Eggleston, Andreas Schreiber, Conor Turley, Darren Smith, Dan Monckton)
  -Princeton (Kareem Maddox, Dan Marvaides, Bobby Foley)
  -Yale (Porter Braswell, Raffi Mantilla, Alfonso Costa)

• 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 March 2 is No. 225 out of 347 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. 200 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 216. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

• Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recaps from each of Cornell's games this season. Associated press recaps courtesy of Rivals.com/YahooSports.com are always available by clicking on Cornell's schedule/results on the right column of this blog.

1. at Albany W 65-61 (video recaps)
   
2. at Seton Hall L 68-92
3. vs. Delaware W 75-61 (video recap)
4. vs. St. Bonaventure L 54-56
5. at Lehigh L 57-60
6. at Boston University L 61-66
7. at Syracuse L 58-78
8. at Minnesota L 66-71 (video recap)
9. at Binghamton L 68-69
10. vs. Bucknell L 64-75
11. vs. New Hampshire (@ VCU) L 66-68
12. vs. Wofford (@VCU) W 86-80
13. vs. Buffalo L 66-78
14. vs. Stony Brook W 60-52
15. at Columbia L 75-79
16. Columbia L 66-70
17. at Dartmouth L 57-64
18. at Harvard L 57-78 (video recap)
19. at Yale L 70-71
20. at Brown W 91-79 (video recap)
21. vs. Penn W 82-71 (video recap)
    
22. vs. Princeton L 55-57 (video recap)
23. vs. Harvard L 60-73 (video recap)
    
24. vs. Dartmouth W 96-76 (video recap)
25. at Princeton L 66-84
26. at Penn W 74-72
    

• 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 12
Columbia 71 La Salle 82 Box Score - Recap
Rutgers 73 Princeton 78 OT Box Score - Recap
Cornell 65 Albany 61 Box Score - Recap
Brown 69 Fordham 65 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 13
Harvard 53 George Mason 66 Box Score - Recap
Davidson 64 Penn 69 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 52 Providence 87 Box Score - Recap
Yale 75 Quinnipiac 84 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 14
Cornell 68 Seton Hall 92 Noon [SNY/ESPN3/ESPN Full Court] Box Score - Recap
Princeton 60 Duke 97 [ESPNU] Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 15
Maryland-Eastern Shore 74 Columbia 108 Box Score - Recap
Yale 55 Providence 58 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 16
Brown 67 Rhode Island 92 Box Score - Recap
New Hampshire 55 Dartmouth 53 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 17
Delaware 61 Cornell 75 Box Score - Recap
Holy Cross 49 Harvard 72 Box Score - Recap
Penn 54 Manhattan 59 Box Score - Recap
Columbia 66 St. John’s 79 Box Score - Recap

Thursday, November 18
Yale 75 Boston College 67 Box Score - Recap

Friday, November 19
St. Bonaventure 56 Cornell 54 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 71 Hartford 57 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 20
Harvard 75 Mercer 69 Box Score - Recap
Sacred Heart 67 Brown 81 Box Score - Recap
Columbia 76 Longwood 95 Box Score - Recap
Drexel 77 Penn 56 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 21
Dartmouth 59 Loyola (Md.) 73 Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 22
Cornell 57 Lehigh 60 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 64 James Madison 65 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 23
Bucknell 55 Princeton 66 [at JMU] Box Score - Recap
Colgate 63 Columbia 76 Box Score - Recap
Quinnipiac 69 Dartmouth 52 Box Score - Recap
Lafayette 65 Penn 74 Box Score - Recap
Yale 47 Illinois 73 [ESPNU] Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 24
St. Francis (N.Y.) 63 Brown 67 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 69 Bryant 66 Box Score - Recap
Presbyterian 69 Princeton 67 [at JMU] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 27
Brown 66 New Hampshire 70 Box Score - Recap
Army 79 Yale 87 Box Score - Recap
Colgate 63 Dartmouth 80 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 61 Boston University 66 Box Score - Recap
Penn 58 Pittsburgh 82 [ESPN3.com] Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 28
Colorado 66 Harvard 82 Box Score - Recap
Columbia 64 American 62 Box Score - Recap
Siena 77 Princeton 86 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 30
Cornell 58 Syracuse 78 [ESPN3.com/Big East Sports Network] Box Score - Recap
Maryland-Baltimore County 59 Penn 71 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 82 Lafayette 64 [Lafayette Sports Network] Box Score - Recap
Hartford 76 Yale 81 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 1
Columbia 68 Bucknell 73 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 53 Vermont 80 Box Score - Recap
Fordham 57 Harvard 80 Box Score - Recap

Thursday, December 2
Brown 46 Hartford 58 [Connecticut Sports Network] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 4
Army 52 vs. Penn, 68 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 62 Michigan 65 [Big Ten Network] Box Score - Recap
Yale 78 Vermont 82 Box Score - Recap
Brown 62 Maine 54 Box Score - Recap
Stony Brook 72 Columbia 73 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 66 Minnesota 71 [Big Ten Network] Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 5
Saint Joseph’s 65 Princeton 74 Box Score - Recap

Monday, December 6
Brown 64 Providence 91 Box Score - Recap
Albany 53 Yale 74 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 7
WPI 54 Harvard 69 Box Score - Recap
Wagner 71 Columbia 77 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 8
Princeton 64 Monmouth 61 Box Score - Recap
Yale 75 Bryant 53 Box Score - Recap
Villanova 65 Penn 53 [The Comcast Network] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 11
Boston University 71 Harvard 87 Box Score - Recap
Bryant 72 Columbia 76 Box Score - Recap
Army 68 Dartmouth 71 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 12
Princeton 82 Tulsa 78 (2 OT) Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 14
Dartmouth 61 St. Francis (N.Y.) 69 Box Score - Recap

Friday, December 17
Princeton 69 Wagner 57 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 18
Cornell 68 Binghamton 69 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 19
Dartmouth 42 Iowa State 71 Box Score - Recap
Sacred Heart 71 Yale 62 Box Score - Recap

Monday, December 20
Bucknell 75 Cornell 64 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 21
Army 88 Brown 86 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 67 Drake 59 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 22
Princeton 75 Towson 65 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 52 Connecticut 81 [SNY] Box Score - Recap
Penn 78 Delaware 68 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 28
Yale 44 Stanford 60 [Comcast SportsNet Bay Area] Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 29
New Hampshire 68 Cornell 66 [at VCU] Box Score - Recap
Monmouth 69 Harvard 74 Box Score - Recap
Brown 51 Central Connecticut State 67 Box Score - Recap
Penn 57 Marist 66 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 65 Northeastern 63 [at UCF] Box Score - Recap

Thursday, December 30
Cornell 86 Wofford 80 [at VCU] Box Score - Recap
Princeton vs. Furman/Central Florida, 5/7:30 pm [at UCF]
Columbia 74 Maine 71 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 57 Bucknell 74 Box Score - Recap

Friday, December 31
Bryant 71 Brown 84 Box Score - Recap
Lehigh 62 Yale 57 Box Score - Recap
MIT 58 Harvard 84 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, January 2
Elon 70 Columbia 69 Box Score - Recap

Monday, January 3
Buffalo 78 Cornell 66 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 47 Army 67 Box Score - Recap
Penn 62 Kentucky 86 [ESPNU] Box Score - Recap
Brown 67 American 77 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, January 5
Columbia 76 Lafayette 73 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 78 Boston College 69 Box Score - Recap
Marist 57 Princeton 68 Box Score - Recap
Yale 77 Holy Cross 76 OT Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 8
Stony Brook 52 Cornell 60 Box Score - Recap
Baruch 57 Yale 85 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 68 Dartmouth 53 Box Score - Recap
Lyndon State 55 Brown 88 Box Score - Recap
Union (N.Y.) 59 Columbia 64 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, January 12
Penn 83 La Salle 89 OT [The Comcast Network] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 15
*Yale 69 Brown 64 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 67 George Washington 62 Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 75 Columbia 79 Box Score - Recap

Monday, January 17
Quinnipiac 78 Brown 87 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 64 Colgate 67 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, January 19
Penn 56 Temple 73 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 22
*Brown 51 Yale 59 Box Score - Recap
*Dartmouth 50 Harvard 59 Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 70 Cornell 66 [Time Warner] Box Score - Recap
Saint Joseph’s 61 Penn 73 [The Comcast Network] Box Score - Recap

Sunday, January 23
College of New Jersey 40 Princeton 73 Box Score - Recap

Friday, January 28
*Brown 60 Princeton 78 [Verizon FiOS 1] Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 57 Dartmouth 64 Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 66 Harvard 77 Box Score - Recap
*Yale 58 Penn 66 [The Comcast Network] [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 29
*Cornell 57 Harvard 78 Box Score - Recap
*Yale 63 Princeton 67 Box Score - Recap
*Brown 78 Penn 80 OT Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 66 Dartmouth 45 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap

Friday, February 4
*Dartmouth 47 Penn 78 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 61 Princeton 65[ESPNU] [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 79 Brown 87 Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 70 Yale 71 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, February 5
*Dartmouth 53 Princeton 68 Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 91 Brown 79 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 67 Yale 72 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 83 Penn 82 (2OT) Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, February 8
*Penn 59 Princeton 62 OT [Verizon FiOS 1] Box Score - Recap

Friday, February 11
*Brown 75 Dartmouth 66 Box Score - Recap
*Princeton 76 Columbia 46 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Penn 71 Cornell 82 OT Box Score - Recap
*Yale 75 Harvard 78 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, February 12
*Brown 78 Harvard 85 Box Score - Recap
*Penn 62 Columbia 75 Box Score - Recap
*Princeton 57 Cornell 55 Box Score - Recap
*Yale 69 Dartmouth 60 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap

Friday, February 18
*Penn 70 Brown 62 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Dartmouth 60 Columbia 67 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 73 Cornell 60 Box Score - Recap
*Princeton 58 Yale 51 [YES] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, February 19
*Princeton 65 Brown 75 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 61 Columbia 42 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Dartmouth 76 Cornell 96 Box Score - Recap
*Penn 60 Yale 58 Box Score - Recap

Friday, February 25
*Harvard 68 Brown 74 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 54 Penn 64 [The Comcast Network] Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 66Princeton 84 [Verizon FiOS 1] Box Score - Recap
*Dartmouth 75 Yale 79 OT Box Score - Recap

Saturday, February 26
*Dartmouth 76 Brown 100 Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 61 Princeton 66 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 69 Yale 70 Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 74 Penn 72 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap

Friday, March 4
*Penn at Harvard, 7 pm
*Princeton at Dartmouth, 7 pm [SIRIUS]
*Brown at Cornell, 7 pm
*Yale at Columbia, 7 pm

Saturday, March 5
*Penn at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Princeton at Harvard, 7 pm [SIRIUS]
*Yale at Cornell, 7 pm
*Brown at Columbia, 7 pm

Tuesday, March 8
*Princeton at Penn, 7 pm [ESPN3] [SIRIUS]

Read more »

Recruiting News

At Overlake High School (WA), Cornell's Aaron Osgood (left and center) competed on the tennis team, winning a state doubles title as a senior and earning first-team all-league honors three times. He also played three seasons of lacrosse as well. Meanwhile, Cornell's Adam Wire (right) played baseball for Pinecrest (NC). Below, some recruiting updates from around the Ivy League for the class of 2011 as well as for 2012.

For a list of committed players to attend Ivy League schools, including profiles of incoming Cornell recruits, and a listing of Cornell's prospective recruiting targets, click here. For a list of general Ivy League prospective recruiting targets, click here. Please note that we update these lists daily.

According to NCTimes.com, Columbia received a commitment this week from Corey Osetkowski (Canyon Crest Academy) San Diego, CA, 6-10, C. A 255 lb. post player, Osetowksi also intends to play baseball. Osetkowski's only Division I basketball offer was from the Lions, although several D-I schools made offers for baseball.

Chris Anderson (Canyon HS) Anaheim, CA, 5-8, G, committed to San Diego over interest from Irvine and Penn according to ESPN's recruiting trail.

Max Biefeldt (Notre Dame HS) Peoria, IL, 6-7, F, just completed his second official visit, stopping by Illinois over the weekend. He is scheduled to visit Michigan this weekend and will decide between the pair of Big 10 schools, Dartmouth, Valpo, Illinois-Chicago and Ball State. He previously visited Dartmouth. “It’s really nice,” said Bielfeldt to Scout.com of the increased recruiting attention. “For me it just shows that hard work pays off. Bigger schools are taking notice and it is exciting for me. I am looking forward to making my decision.”

Jalil Eppenger (Berkeley HS) Berkley, CA, 6-2, G, has reportedly heard from Cal Poly SLO, Chico State, Metro State, Nevada, Oregon State, Pennsylvania, Pepperdine, San Francisco State, Sonoma State, UC Davis, UC Irving, UC Riverside, and San Diego. Eppenger told NorCalPreps.com that he is hoping to stay in the west.

GopherIllustrated.com reports that Henry Brooks (Miller School) Lithonia, GA, 6-8, F, has an official visit scheduled at Minnesota. Recruited by Penn and Cornell in the Ivy League, Miller has offers from Georgetown, Maryland, Oregon State, Northwestern, Virginia Tech among others. "The teams talking to me the most right now are Minnesota, Missouri, Washington, Tennessee," said Brooks. "Those are the schools showing me the most interest. I took a trip to UTEP earlier but right now I have only the Minnesota trip set for the spring."

Read more »

Ryan Pearson's beard debuts on ESPN

The team's pledge to not cut their hair during their current winning streak is taking main stream media now. First Ryan Pearson's beard was in Seth Davis' column this morning then he went on ESPN's First Take morning show.  Here is the clip, his pre-game singing and dancing at the end is a sight to be seen:

Read more »

Team Report from the SportsXchange

Above, Mark Coury from high school senior at Detroit Country Day School and The Family AAU program to the University of Kentucky to Cornell senior. Below, the Sports Xchange and YahooSports have published updated team reports for each of the Ivy League schools. Below are links to each of team reports as well as the full report for Cornell.

• Brown team report-"at Cornell, March 4 Key Matchups: Look for a rousing chorus of “Watch the shooter!” coming from the Bears bench when these teams tip off in Ithaca. When they first met on Feb. 5, the Big Red earned a 91-79 win by making 16 of its 34 3-point attempts."

• Columbia team report-

• Cornell team report-

• Dartmouth team report-"By The Numbers: 9—Dartmouth’s losing streak heading into the season’s final weekend. The Big Green went 0-for-February, and it hadn’t won since it knocked off Cornell 64-57 on Jan. 28."

• Harvard team report-

• Penn team report-"...Both games against Cornell, for example, saw the Quakers come back from double-digit deficits to be in the game at the final whistle. Both times, Penn fell short. After losing in double overtime when the team first met, Penn fell by two at home when Tyler Bernardini’s shot rimmed out at the buzzer... "

• Princeton team report-"The Tigers’ lone loss in Ivy play through Feb. 26 came on the road, as it dropped a 75-65 decision at Brown on Feb. 19. Princeton also barely won at Cornell, and it struggled at Yale before earning a Feb. 18 victory."

• Yale team report-"But even though Yale won’t win the NCAA Tournament bid that goes to the Ivy League champion, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the team will be absent from postseason play entirely. Three Ivy League teams made March tournaments in 2009-10, with Cornell, Harvard and Princeton all getting the chance to play on. Yale has a clear claim on third in the conference, which it could secure with a strong performance in the final weekend at Columbia and Cornell. If it sweeps those road games, it would finish 16-12, 9-5 in the Ivy League, which might be good enough for the College Basketball Invitational or the CollegeInsider.com tournaments... at Cornell, March 5 Key Matchups: The Bulldogs’ home victory over Cornell on Feb. 4 was one for the ages, as Yale came back from 10 down with less than two minutes to play to earn the one-point win. Yale prevailed despite allowing Cornell to make nine 3-pointers in 21 attempts. The Bulldogs will need to do a better job there, and also pay more attention to Errick Peck, who had 16 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals and blocks in the initial meeting."

Cornell Team Report

Yahoo! Sports/SportsXChange

March 1, 2011

GETTING INSIDE

Senior center Mark Coury got a nice memory in his senior season, scoring with one second left on the shot clock to give the Big Red a 74-72 win over Penn at the Palestra.

That will go down as one of the few highlights of a 2010-11 season that hasn’t gone as anyone in the Cornell program expected. As Coury and the rest of the seniors prepare for their final home game in the last weekend of the regular season, they face the knowledge that for the first time in their college careers the season will end with the final whistle of the March 5 game against Yale.

Cornell’s press release says that it has all five starters back next season, and that is technically true. But Bill Courtney relies on his bench to come in and dominate the opposition, and the graduating class has done a very good job in that regard.

Coury came to campus as a transfer from Kentucky, and he has become one of the key post players. He’s finishing his career on a role, with back-to-back 13-point efforts over his past two games through Feb. 26.

Adam Wire hasn’t been in the headlines much, but he will still finish among the top 20 in Big Red history in both steals and field-goal percentage. He’s brought a lot of energy off the bench, especially on the defensive end.

Aaron Osgood will undoubtedly be the most frustrated of the three. After barely playing his first three seasons, the forward was having a breakout senior year only to have it derailed by injuries. He’s been sidelined for the past eight games, and he likely will miss his final two as well.

This season isn’t going to end as well for the seniors as it did for the graduating class a year ago, but if the Big Red continue to play well down the stretch, at least the seniors can say they helped get things prepared for what the program hopes will be better days down the road.

NOTES, QUOTES

• Cornell earned a two-point victory over Pennsylvania on Feb. 26 thanks to Mark Coury’s last-minute basket. That marked the first time all season that the Big Red came out on top in a game decided by three points or fewer.

• The Big Red was a model of efficiency in the victory over Penn. It had 25 assists on its 28 made baskets, with Chris Wroblewski alone totaling 11.

By The Numbers: 49-20—The advantage in bench points that Cornell had in its victory over Penn.

Quote To Note: “I think we’re making a lot of strides. We’ll be much better next year.”— Cornell F Errick Peck, to the Cornell Daily Sun.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

This Week's Games:

• vs. Brown, March 4

Key Matchups: Cornell’s first Ivy League win of the season came at Brown on Feb. 5, so the Big Red know it can beat this team. That will be especially true if it shoots the ball as well from the outside as it did the first time around, when it knocked down 16 of its 34 attempts from 3-point range.

• vs. Yale, March 5

Key Matchups: Cornell’s seniors get the chance to end their college careers by giving some payback to the team that gave it perhaps its worse loss of the year. When the teams met in New Haven, Yale came back from 10 points down with two minutes to play to earn the victory. A better performance at the free-throw line would help, as Cornell made just 15 of its 26 attempts from the stripe in that first meeting.

Player Notes

• Sophomore F Errick Peck made impressive strides after a slow start to the season. He’d been in double figures in 16 of the past 20 games heading into the final weekend.

• Senior F Adam Wire broke the century mark for career steals by grabbing two in the loss to Princeton. He’s just the 11th player in school history to crack that barrier.

Read more »

News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Above, Aaron Osgood from Overlake (WA) High School senior to Cornell senior. This weekend is Senior Weekend for Cornell's home contests against Brown and Yale. Below, some news and notes...

• Noah Rosenstein, impressed with the crowd turnout, discusses in the Daily Pennsylvanian the large attendance on hand for Saturday's Cornell at Penn game. He writes, "Saturday night’s loss to Cornell. Between Feb Club, Greeks at the Palestra and a three-game winning streak, campus was a-buzz about the sequel to Penn’s epic upset of the then-No. 22 Big Red last year. The turnout was certainly there — an above-average 6,874 — and the Quakers certainly thrived on it as they erased a 15-point hole in the second half." Rosenstein does not address the fact that a very significant percentage of the crowd was made up of Cornell alumni with several area clubs in attendance. In fact, in recent years, the Cornell game has always been the Palestra's biggest draw. Last year, the Cornell at Penn game drew 4,332 on a Friday night, despite the fact that Penn was suffering through one of its worst seasons in program history. The crowd was the largest Palestra crowd for an Ivy game all year long during '09-'10 and was larger than Penn's home openers vs. Delaware and Drexel. This season's edition of Cornell at Penn even outdrew the Palestra crowds for visits from Davidson (the home opener), Harvard and Villanova. In short, Cornell is the big ticket for the Palestra and Cornell's area alumni is a big reason why.
  

• Challenge Magazine writes of March Madness, "In 2010, men’s college basketball fans were treated to a competitive tournament, complete with stunning upsets and heartbreaking finishes. Cornell University played the Cinderella role. It was the first time an Ivy League team advanced to the Sweet 16 since 1979."

• OnlineBasketballBetting.com compares St. John's veteran roster to Cornell from a year ago and writes, "Senior experience is vital during tournament time, as the 2010 Cornell squad can attest. The 2011 Red Storm boasts nine hungry and experienced seniors who are all anxious to prove they belong in the Big Dance."

• Kunal Gupta of the Columbia Spectator is frustrated with the Lions' mediocrity in basketball and writes, "And for anyone who thinks a stranglehold on the top can’t be broken, just look at men’s basketball in the Ivy League. Penn and Princeton, the Killer P’s, dominated league play, taking all but three outright titles between 1963 and 2007.(Columbia was one of them, winning in 1968.) All of a sudden, in 2008, Cornell burst onto the scene, knocking the Killer P’s out of power on its way to three straight titles and a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010. Cornell broke through in 2008, and Harvard looks ready to be the next one, if not this season, then certainly in the coming years."

• From Brian Delaney's weekly "Around the Rim" column in the Ithaca Journal:

Ivy notes

* With a road sweep of Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend, Princeton (22-5, 10-1) can clinch its first Ivy League men's basketball title since 2004. The Tigers took control of first place when Harvard (21-5, 10-2) was upset 70-69 Saturday at Yale.

* Yale won by taking care of the ball (3 turnovers) and by forcing Harvard big man Keith Wright into a 3-for-12 shooting night. Yale center Greg Mangano had five blocks.

* Cornell's improvement over the last seven games goes hand-in-hand with the increased production of senior forward Mark Coury.

Coury has scored in double figures in four of the last seven games, including back-to-back 13-point efforts last weekend. His minutes have been steady, at just over 20 per game. He remains one of the league's best positional defenders, and is as good a trapping forward as I've seen in six seasons covering Ivy League hoops.

Coury, along with Aaron Osgood and Adam Wire, will be honored in a senior ceremony this weekend. Each played a significant role for two, if not three, Ivy League championship teams.

* Princeton forward Kareem Maddox was picked Ivy men's player of the week. Yale freshman Jeremiah Kreisberg was the rookie of the week.

• Brian Kotloff of the Daily Pennsylvanian writes, "So many words can describe Penn basketball’s 2010-11 season, depending on whether your highball is half-full or half-empty — thrilling or heartbreaking, a step in the right direction or a missed opportunity, inconsistent or intermittently great. Add to that list, after another tough-to-swallow defeat Saturday against Cornell, the dreaded, two-word label inflicted on teams who fall short this time of year: ‘mathematically eliminated.’"

Jon Jaques ('10) tweeted his reaction to Cornell's victory over Penn on Saturday night at the Palestra.

Ryan Wittman ('10) defending during Saturday NBA D-League action in Bismarck against the Dakota Wizards.

• 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 March 1 is No. 225 out of 347 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. 202 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 216. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

• Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recaps from each of Cornell's games this season. Associated press recaps courtesy of Rivals.com/YahooSports.com are always available by clicking on Cornell's schedule/results on the right column of this blog.

1. at Albany W 65-61 (video recaps)
   
2. at Seton Hall L 68-92
3. vs. Delaware W 75-61 (video recap)
4. vs. St. Bonaventure L 54-56
5. at Lehigh L 57-60
6. at Boston University L 61-66
7. at Syracuse L 58-78
8. at Minnesota L 66-71 (video recap)
9. at Binghamton L 68-69
10. vs. Bucknell L 64-75
11. vs. New Hampshire (@ VCU) L 66-68
12. vs. Wofford (@VCU) W 86-80
13. vs. Buffalo L 66-78
14. vs. Stony Brook W 60-52
15. at Columbia L 75-79
16. Columbia L 66-70
17. at Dartmouth L 57-64
18. at Harvard L 57-78 (video recap)
19. at Yale L 70-71
20. at Brown W 91-79 (video recap)
21. vs. Penn W 82-71 (video recap)
    
22. vs. Princeton L 55-57 (video recap)
23. vs. Harvard L 60-73 (video recap)
    
24. vs. Dartmouth W 96-76 (video recap)
25. at Princeton L 66-84
26. at Penn W 74-72
    

• 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 12
Columbia 71 La Salle 82 Box Score - Recap
Rutgers 73 Princeton 78 OT Box Score - Recap
Cornell 65 Albany 61 Box Score - Recap
Brown 69 Fordham 65 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 13
Harvard 53 George Mason 66 Box Score - Recap
Davidson 64 Penn 69 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 52 Providence 87 Box Score - Recap
Yale 75 Quinnipiac 84 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 14
Cornell 68 Seton Hall 92 Noon [SNY/ESPN3/ESPN Full Court] Box Score - Recap
Princeton 60 Duke 97 [ESPNU] Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 15
Maryland-Eastern Shore 74 Columbia 108 Box Score - Recap
Yale 55 Providence 58 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 16
Brown 67 Rhode Island 92 Box Score - Recap
New Hampshire 55 Dartmouth 53 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 17
Delaware 61 Cornell 75 Box Score - Recap
Holy Cross 49 Harvard 72 Box Score - Recap
Penn 54 Manhattan 59 Box Score - Recap
Columbia 66 St. John’s 79 Box Score - Recap

Thursday, November 18
Yale 75 Boston College 67 Box Score - Recap

Friday, November 19
St. Bonaventure 56 Cornell 54 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 71 Hartford 57 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 20
Harvard 75 Mercer 69 Box Score - Recap
Sacred Heart 67 Brown 81 Box Score - Recap
Columbia 76 Longwood 95 Box Score - Recap
Drexel 77 Penn 56 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 21
Dartmouth 59 Loyola (Md.) 73 Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 22
Cornell 57 Lehigh 60 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 64 James Madison 65 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 23
Bucknell 55 Princeton 66 [at JMU] Box Score - Recap
Colgate 63 Columbia 76 Box Score - Recap
Quinnipiac 69 Dartmouth 52 Box Score - Recap
Lafayette 65 Penn 74 Box Score - Recap
Yale 47 Illinois 73 [ESPNU] Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 24
St. Francis (N.Y.) 63 Brown 67 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 69 Bryant 66 Box Score - Recap
Presbyterian 69 Princeton 67 [at JMU] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 27
Brown 66 New Hampshire 70 Box Score - Recap
Army 79 Yale 87 Box Score - Recap
Colgate 63 Dartmouth 80 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 61 Boston University 66 Box Score - Recap
Penn 58 Pittsburgh 82 [ESPN3.com] Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 28
Colorado 66 Harvard 82 Box Score - Recap
Columbia 64 American 62 Box Score - Recap
Siena 77 Princeton 86 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 30
Cornell 58 Syracuse 78 [ESPN3.com/Big East Sports Network] Box Score - Recap
Maryland-Baltimore County 59 Penn 71 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 82 Lafayette 64 [Lafayette Sports Network] Box Score - Recap
Hartford 76 Yale 81 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 1
Columbia 68 Bucknell 73 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 53 Vermont 80 Box Score - Recap
Fordham 57 Harvard 80 Box Score - Recap

Thursday, December 2
Brown 46 Hartford 58 [Connecticut Sports Network] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 4
Army 52 vs. Penn, 68 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 62 Michigan 65 [Big Ten Network] Box Score - Recap
Yale 78 Vermont 82 Box Score - Recap
Brown 62 Maine 54 Box Score - Recap
Stony Brook 72 Columbia 73 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 66 Minnesota 71 [Big Ten Network] Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 5
Saint Joseph’s 65 Princeton 74 Box Score - Recap

Monday, December 6
Brown 64 Providence 91 Box Score - Recap
Albany 53 Yale 74 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 7
WPI 54 Harvard 69 Box Score - Recap
Wagner 71 Columbia 77 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 8
Princeton 64 Monmouth 61 Box Score - Recap
Yale 75 Bryant 53 Box Score - Recap
Villanova 65 Penn 53 [The Comcast Network] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 11
Boston University 71 Harvard 87 Box Score - Recap
Bryant 72 Columbia 76 Box Score - Recap
Army 68 Dartmouth 71 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 12
Princeton 82 Tulsa 78 (2 OT) Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 14
Dartmouth 61 St. Francis (N.Y.) 69 Box Score - Recap

Friday, December 17
Princeton 69 Wagner 57 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 18
Cornell 68 Binghamton 69 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 19
Dartmouth 42 Iowa State 71 Box Score - Recap
Sacred Heart 71 Yale 62 Box Score - Recap

Monday, December 20
Bucknell 75 Cornell 64 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 21
Army 88 Brown 86 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 67 Drake 59 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 22
Princeton 75 Towson 65 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 52 Connecticut 81 [SNY] Box Score - Recap
Penn 78 Delaware 68 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 28
Yale 44 Stanford 60 [Comcast SportsNet Bay Area] Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 29
New Hampshire 68 Cornell 66 [at VCU] Box Score - Recap
Monmouth 69 Harvard 74 Box Score - Recap
Brown 51 Central Connecticut State 67 Box Score - Recap
Penn 57 Marist 66 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 65 Northeastern 63 [at UCF] Box Score - Recap

Thursday, December 30
Cornell 86 Wofford 80 [at VCU] Box Score - Recap
Princeton vs. Furman/Central Florida, 5/7:30 pm [at UCF]
Columbia 74 Maine 71 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 57 Bucknell 74 Box Score - Recap

Friday, December 31
Bryant 71 Brown 84 Box Score - Recap
Lehigh 62 Yale 57 Box Score - Recap
MIT 58 Harvard 84 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, January 2
Elon 70 Columbia 69 Box Score - Recap

Monday, January 3
Buffalo 78 Cornell 66 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 47 Army 67 Box Score - Recap
Penn 62 Kentucky 86 [ESPNU] Box Score - Recap
Brown 67 American 77 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, January 5
Columbia 76 Lafayette 73 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 78 Boston College 69 Box Score - Recap
Marist 57 Princeton 68 Box Score - Recap
Yale 77 Holy Cross 76 OT Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 8
Stony Brook 52 Cornell 60 Box Score - Recap
Baruch 57 Yale 85 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 68 Dartmouth 53 Box Score - Recap
Lyndon State 55 Brown 88 Box Score - Recap
Union (N.Y.) 59 Columbia 64 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, January 12
Penn 83 La Salle 89 OT [The Comcast Network] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 15
*Yale 69 Brown 64 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 67 George Washington 62 Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 75 Columbia 79 Box Score - Recap

Monday, January 17
Quinnipiac 78 Brown 87 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 64 Colgate 67 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, January 19
Penn 56 Temple 73 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 22
*Brown 51 Yale 59 Box Score - Recap
*Dartmouth 50 Harvard 59 Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 70 Cornell 66 [Time Warner] Box Score - Recap
Saint Joseph’s 61 Penn 73 [The Comcast Network] Box Score - Recap

Sunday, January 23
College of New Jersey 40 Princeton 73 Box Score - Recap

Friday, January 28
*Brown 60 Princeton 78 [Verizon FiOS 1] Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 57 Dartmouth 64 Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 66 Harvard 77 Box Score - Recap
*Yale 58 Penn 66 [The Comcast Network] [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, January 29
*Cornell 57 Harvard 78 Box Score - Recap
*Yale 63 Princeton 67 Box Score - Recap
*Brown 78 Penn 80 OT Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 66 Dartmouth 45 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap

Friday, February 4
*Dartmouth 47 Penn 78 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 61 Princeton 65[ESPNU] [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 79 Brown 87 Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 70 Yale 71 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, February 5
*Dartmouth 53 Princeton 68 Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 91 Brown 79 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 67 Yale 72 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 83 Penn 82 (2OT) Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, February 8
*Penn 59 Princeton 62 OT [Verizon FiOS 1] Box Score - Recap

Friday, February 11
*Brown 75 Dartmouth 66 Box Score - Recap
*Princeton 76 Columbia 46 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Penn 71 Cornell 82 OT Box Score - Recap
*Yale 75 Harvard 78 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, February 12
*Brown 78 Harvard 85 Box Score - Recap
*Penn 62 Columbia 75 Box Score - Recap
*Princeton 57 Cornell 55 Box Score - Recap
*Yale 69 Dartmouth 60 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap

Friday, February 18
*Penn 70 Brown 62 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Dartmouth 60 Columbia 67 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 73 Cornell 60 Box Score - Recap
*Princeton 58 Yale 51 [YES] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, February 19
*Princeton 65 Brown 75 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 61 Columbia 42 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Dartmouth 76 Cornell 96 Box Score - Recap
*Penn 60 Yale 58 Box Score - Recap

Friday, February 25
*Harvard 68 Brown 74 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 54 Penn 64 [The Comcast Network] Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 66Princeton 84 [Verizon FiOS 1] Box Score - Recap
*Dartmouth 75 Yale 79 OT Box Score - Recap

Saturday, February 26
*Dartmouth 76 Brown 100 Box Score - Recap
*Columbia 61 Princeton 66 Box Score - Recap
*Harvard 69 Yale 70 Box Score - Recap
*Cornell 74 Penn 72 [SIRIUS] Box Score - Recap

Friday, March 4
*Penn at Harvard, 7 pm
*Princeton at Dartmouth, 7 pm [SIRIUS]
*Brown at Cornell, 7 pm
*Yale at Columbia, 7 pm

Saturday, March 5
*Penn at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Princeton at Harvard, 7 pm [SIRIUS]
*Yale at Cornell, 7 pm
*Brown at Columbia, 7 pm

Tuesday, March 8
*Princeton at Penn, 7 pm [ESPN3] [SIRIUS]

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George Mason Bracketology Part III - Could the Patriots be wearing white jerseys in round 1?

It's no longer starting to look crazy to believe that George Mason could be the higher seed in their 1st round NCAA tournament game.  If they do well this weekend in the CAA tournament, there is not doubt in my mind that they get be given a #7 or #8 seed this year. Some fans are hoping for a #7 just to avoid a possible 2nd round match with a #1 seed. Tell me it doesn't really matter considering most experts can't even agree on four #1 seeds at the moment proving the difference begin this year's #1's and #2's is going to be very marginal. 

Take a look at Andy Glockner's latest bracket projection from SI.com.  He has the Patriots lined up to have to have a possible 2nd round game against Duke in Charlotte. I think it would be difficult for most local Mason fans to find an excuse not to drive down for that one.

Also in case you missed it Ryan Pearson's beard makes an appearance on Seth Davis' latest column.

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Cornell Athletics Game Notes for Senior Weekend

Big Red Out to Finish Season Strong, Say Goodbye to Seniors
Cornell Athletics

Game Notes (PDF) I Buy Tickets I Live Video I Live Stats I Text Updates I 2010-11 Cornell Roster I 2010-11 Cornell Schedule & Results I 2010-11 Cornell Statistics

GAME INFORMATION
Game #27: Brown at Cornell
Tip off: Friday, March 4, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2010-11 Records: Brown (11-15, 4-8 Ivy League); Cornell (8-18, 4-8 Ivy League)
Series Record: Cornell leads 69-45
Last Meeting: Cornell won 91-79, Feb. 5, 2011 in Providence, R.I.

Game #28: Yale at Cornell
Tip off: Saturday, March 5, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2010-11 Records: Yale (14-12, 7-5 Ivy League); Cornell (8-18, 4-8 Ivy League)
Series Record: Cornell leads 107-102
Last Meeting: Yale won 71-70, Feb. 4, 2011 in New Haven, Conn.

Radio: WVBR 93.5 FM (Barry Leonard)
TV: None
Live Stats: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Tickets: available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH BILL COURTNEY
Cornell head coach Bill Courtney is in his first season at Cornell (8-18, .308) ... Courtney became the fifth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on April 23, 2010.

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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell will look to close out the 2010-11 season strong while honoring its three seniors when it plays host to Brown (Friday, March 4) and Yale (Saturday, March 5), with both games tipping off at 7 p.m. Barry Leonard will provide the call on 93.5 WVBR-FM and on the internet as part of the RedCast subscription service.

Seniors Mark Coury, Aaron Osgood and Adam Wire will be honored prior to Saturday's game against Yale. Both Wire and Osgood have been a part of three Ivy championship teams, while Coury was a member of two.

The Big Red is playing its best basketball of the year entering its final weekend, going 4-3 in its last seven games, and will have a chance to post a winning Ivy home record for the fifth straight season with a sweep of the Bears and Bulldogs.

Chris Wroblewski, a Capital One third-team Academic All-American, continues to lead the Big Red in scoring (14.3 ppg.) and assists (5.7 apg.), while classmate Drew Ferry is pouring in 11.7 ppg. Sophomore Errick Peck is the third double figure scorer, averaging 11.2 ppg. Cornell ranks seventh nationally in 3-point field goals per game (9.0).

Friday's game will feature two teams jockeying for positioning in the final standings. Both Brown and Cornell enter the final weekend with 4-8 records and could climb as high as fourth place with weekend sweeps and some help in other league games. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have slim hopes for postseason play with a final weekend sweep. Head coach James Jones will capture a top half finish in the league standings for an 11th straight year.

ABOUT BROWN
• 2010-11 Record: 11-15 (4-8 Ivy League)
• Head Coach: Jesse Agel (Vermont '84), third season at Brown.
• Brown brings an 11-15 record into the contest, including 4-8 in Ivy play.
• The Bears are shooting 44 percent from the floor overall, but are also surrendering 44 percent shooting to opponents.
• Senior Peter Sullivan (14.0 ppg., 5.7 rpg.) leads the Bears in scoring and rebounding and is one of four Bears averaging 9.2 points or better.
• Tucker Halpern (12.7 ppg., 4.6 rpg.), Sean McGonagill 11.7 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 5.1 apg.) and Garrett Leffelman (9.2 ppg.) are also a large part of Brown's balanced offensive attack.
• Third-year head coach Jesse Agel is looking for his first win over Cornell (0-5) and has a 31-54 record overall.

THE SERIES: Cornell leads the series 69-45, dating back to the first meeting between the teams in the 1949-50 season. The Big Red is 12-1 in the last 13 contests against the Bears and has won nine straight. During Cornell's nine-game win streak, it has won by an average of 16.8points per game.

LAST TIME VS. BROWN: Cornell put six players in double figures to hand head coach Bill Courtney his first Ivy League win, a 91-79 victory over Brown on Feb. 5, 2011, at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Cornell continued to make the Pizzitola Sports Center its home away from home, hitting 16 3-pointers, outrebounding the home team by 12 (42-30) and holding a commanding 64-16 edge in bench scoring to snap a five-game skid. Drew Ferry scored 20 points, while both Johnathan Gray and Chris Wroblewski posted 13 points. Wroblewski added five rebounds and five assists to his totals. Both Max Groebe and Errick Peck also scored 11 points apiece and combined for 10 rebounds, while Mark Coury scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds, blocked two shots and stole a pass in 18 productive minutes off the bench. Brown got a 26-point, nine-rebound, five-assist effort from Tucker Halpen as the Bears hit 11 3-pointers of their own. The home team was credited with 21 assists and committed just eight turnovers in the loss.

ABOUT YALE
• 2010-11 Record: 14-12 (7-5 Ivy League)
• Head Coach: James Jones (Albany '86), 12th season at Yale.
• Yale is coming off a weekend home sweep of Dartmouth (79-75) and Harvard (70-69).
• Junior center Greg Mangano has been the league's dominant post player midway through the 2010-11 season, averaging a double-double (16.1 ppg., 10.0 rpg.). The 6-10 Mangano also leads the Ivy League in blocked shots (3.2 bpg.).
• Sophomore Austin Morgan (12.4 ppg.) and senior Porter Braswell (11.2 ppg.) are also averaging in double figures for Yale.
• During the non-conference season, the Bulldogs topped former Big Red head coach Steve Donahue's Boston College (75-67) team and had a narrow loss to Providence.
• Head coach James Jones is the dean of Ivy League coaches in his 12th season on the Yale sidelines. He sports a 156-180 overall record and has led the Bulldogs to top-half finishes in 10 consecutive years.

THE SERIES: Cornell leads 107-102 overall in a series that dates back to the 1898-99 campaign. Cornell has had the best of the series recently, winning eight of the last 11 meetings. The Big Red's last five wins over the Bulldogs have come by an average of 21.4 points per game.

LAST TIME VS. YALE: Yale rallied in the final two minutes to pull out a 71-70 victory over Cornell at John J. Lee Amphitheater on Feb. 4, 2011. The Bulldogs stole the win by overcoming a 10-point in the final 1:58 of the contest. Drew Ferry scored a game-high 18 points for the Big Red, including hitting on 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, while Errick Peck scored 16 points and added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots. Also in double figures for Cornell was Eitan Chemerinski with a career-best 11 points and six rebounds and Johnathan Gray with 10 on 4-of-4 shooting. Yale got 18 points from Porter Braswell, while Austin Morgan chipped in with 17 points, including the game-winning three-point play with 12 seconds to play. Greg Mangano had 14 points, nine rebounds and five of Yale's 10 blocked shots on the evening. The Bulldogs shot 49 percent from the field overall and overcame 18 turnovers with 19 team assists.

THANK YOU SENIORS!: Cornell will say goodbye to three seniors this weekend, as Mark Coury, Aaron Osgood and Adam Wire will make their final appearances at Newman Arena.
• Coury was one of the team's top post players in each of the last two seasons, first as a reserve on last year's Sweet 16 squad, and this year as a regular in the rotation. A transfer from the University of Kentucky, Coury's biggest highlight came last weekend when he beat the shot clock to hit the game-winning basket with 35 seconds left at the Palestra to help Cornell sweep Penn.
• A team captain in 2010-11, Osgood was expected to be a major factor in the post this season, and was w en healthy. One of the team's top scorers (7.3 ppg.) and rebounders (4.5 rpg.) this year, Osgood has played in 43 career games with eight starts, shooting 52 percent from the floor and averaging 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds.
• Another team captain, this four-year letter winner ranks among the top 20 all-time in steals and field goal percentage in school history. He has more that 100 steals and 100 assists and enters the weekend having played in 101 games with 18 starts. As a senior, Wire has set career highs in scoring, rebounding and assists.

STREAKS AND STRETCHES:
• Cornell has lost 10 of its 18 games by five points or less and six by three points or less. Its last three losses have come against top three Ivy teams by a total of 16 points. Big Red opponents have hit go-ahead baskets in the final minute of six games (St. Bonaventure, Lehigh, Binghamton, New Hampshire, Yale and Princeton).
• Cornell has started the same lineup in eight straight contests, its longest stretch of the season (4-4). The Big Red has had nine different starting lineups this year.
• The starting backcourt of freshman Jake Matthews and junior Miles Asafo-Adjei have combined for 21 points in the past eight games. Instead, the Big Red has had a dominant edge off the bench, outscoring opponents 355-156 (an average of 44.4-19.5).
• Sophomore Errick Peck has scored in double figures in 16 of the last 20 games, averaging 13.3 points on .449 shooting (93-of-207) after averaging just 4.2 points on .231 shooting (9-of-39) over the first six contests.
• Peck has made 16 3-pointers in his last 10 games (nine in his first 16 contests). He is shooting 16-of-37 from beyond the arc over that stretch (.432).
• Junior Chris Wroblewski has posted 95 assists and 34 turnovers over his last 17 contests.
• Wroblewski has posted at least four assists in 20 of his 24 contests.
• Junior Drew Ferry has hit at least three 3-pointers in 14 of the team's games so far this season.
• Sophomore Johnathan Gray has scored at least nine points in seven of his last 10 games and is averaging 7.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in his last eight contests.
• Senior Mark Coury is averaging 8.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in his last seven games, shooting 23-of-42 (.548). During that span he is averaging 1.3 blocks and 1.1 steals while playing 22.1 minutes per game.
• Senior Adam Wire became the 11th Cornell player to reach 100 career steals with his two against Princeton. He currently has 102.
• Senior Max Groebe has averaged 9.9 points in his last seven games after scoring just three points in the previous four contests.
• Cornell's opponents have hit more 3-pointers than the Big Red just four times in 26 games (at Seton Hall, 10-5; at Harvard 10-5; at Princeton 10-9; at Penn 10-8).
• After shooting under 40 percent from the floor in five straight contests, Cornell has shot 40 percent or better in 13 of the last 18 games.
• 16 of the last 23 opponents have shot at least 20 free throws against Cornell.
• The Big Red has posted positive assist:turnover ratio in 18 of its last 21 games.
• In the team's last eight games, the Big Red has hit 79-of-198 (.399) from 3-point range.
• Cornell has hit double figure 3-pointers in 10 contests this season.
• In its last seven contests, the Big Red has shot 98-of-127 (.772) from the free-throw line (.688 overall on the season).
• Excluding the 19 turnovers in a game at Dartmouth, Cornell is averaging just 10.9 turnovers per game in conference play.
• The Big Red's last seven opponents have just 49 offensive rebounds (7.0 per game).
• As a team, Cornell has 235 3-pointers, its fourth straight season with 200 in a year. Prior to 2007-08, the Big Red had just one such season. In the last six years, Cornell has averaged 238 3-pointers a season (and counting). Included was a school-record 326 a season ago.

WROBLEWSKI NAMED TO CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA THIRD TEAM: Junior Chris Wroblewski has been named to the Capital One Academic All-America third-team for his performance on the court and in the classroom during the 2010-11 season. He was one of two Ivy League players to earn the honor, joining Brown's Garrett Leffelman, a second-team member. Wroblewski is the fourth Cornellian to earn a spot on the Academic All-America team and the first non-senior. Jeff Gaca was a third-team pick in 1993, Lenny Collins was a third-team member in 2006 and Graham Dow earned first-team accolades in 2007.

NEXT UP: With the 2010-11 season complete, the Big Red will kick off the 2011-12 campaign this coming October. Cornell will return all five starters and five of its top six scorers next year.

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