Red preps for major test
Cornell men open with ACC power Georgia Tech
By LaMond Pope
The Ithaca Journal
November 22, 2003
ITHACA - Since arriving at Cornell in 2000, men's basketball coach Steve Donahue has wanted to play a major basketball power in Newman Arena.
But he wanted to make sure a number of things were in place.
"I wanted to bring a marquee team in here and my vision was when we were good enough to challenge for a league title, and that's where we are at," Donahue said Tuesday. "We got it worked out (and) they were kind enough to come."
They are the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The Big Red will host ACC power Georgia Tech in its season opener at 3 p.m. Sunday at Newman Arena.
The Yellow Jackets are the first ACC team to play in Ithaca since
North Carolina came to town on Jan. 3, 1991, to provide a homecoming for Binghamton native King Rice. The Tar Heels won that contest, 109-66.
"It's a big thing for the community, the school and for us," senior co-captain Ka'Ron Barnes said. "If we come and play our best game, we'll have a chance at a victory. I expect a lot of people to be here."
Officials are anticipating a large crowd at Newman Arena, which can seat close to 4,500 people. It's a scene Donahue has long envisioned.
"I wanted it to be the first game and I wanted (to play) while our students were in session," Donahue said. "I wanted it on the weekend, I wanted it nationally televised (the game will be broadcast on College Sports Television). Everything has fallen into place. I want our students to feel the excitement of what college basketball can be. I think you're going to have a fun, exciting college basketball environment at Newman Arena. That's what I wanted to start our season."
The game came together when Donahue approached Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt. The two have ties that stretch back to recruiting battles when Donahue was an assistant at Penn and Hewitt was an assistant at Villanova.
After meeting the last two seasons in Atlanta, the game moved north. Hewitt said his team will get a lot out of the trip.
"When they approached us, I thought it was a good situation," Hewitt said in a phone conversation Friday. "I have a lot of respect for him as a coach. They have a veteran team with all five starters back. And they play a similar style to (fellow ACC school)
North Carolina State, so it will be good for our team to see that early."
Hewitt also has ties to Upstate New York. A 1985 graduate of St. John Fisher, Hewitt coached Siena for three seasons before becoming head coach at Georgia Tech in 2000.
Last year, he guided the Yellow Jackets to a 16-15 record and an NIT berth.
The Yellow Jackets lost Chris Bosh, who left school early and was selected this past summer by the Toronto Raptors as the fourth pick in the NBA Draft, but do return their four other starters, led by guards B.J. Elder and Marvin Lewis.
Elder scored 17 points in the team's opener, a 79-45 win against Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday. Lewis was the leading scorer in the Yellow Jackets' second victory, scoring 23 points Thursday against Hofstra. The two wins have placed the Yellow Jackets in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT, where they will face top-ranked Connecticut on Wednesday.
Georgia Tech's early success can be traced to its defense. The team is allowing 55 points per game.
"We need to break their pressure," Cornell center Eric Taylor said. "Coach Hewitt has always liked to press and I think we have some talented guards who can break the pressure. Another key is rebounding. They have five athletes, they are more athletic than us, so we are going to have to box out. We have to control the boards."
The Yellow Jackets won the battle of the boards - and just about every other battle - en route to an 81-55 win against Cornell in last year's game at Alexander Coliseum in Atlanta.
Taylor and Barnes were bright spots in that contest. Taylor scored 19 points and Barnes 15 in the loss.
"Ka'Ron Barnes and Eric Taylor are outstanding players. I was hoping that one of the two would have graduated by now," Hewitt said. "I know Eric's grandfather from when I was at Siena. He wanted me to recruit him, and now I wish I had recruited him for Siena. They are good team."
Donahue also realizes how talented Georgia Tech is, but says his team won't be intimidated.
"They will press and push the ball. That's the things we've been doing all preseason," Donahue said. "They will shoot the 3 and up-tempo the game, and I'm not exactly looking to slow the ball down. I'm looking to make good transition, work on our transition defense and play them.
"We know exactly who they are. We've played them the last two years. The players want to prove they are a good basketball team. They are looking forward to playing a good game against Tech. They are hoping that people realize that this isn't just an exhibition to show you what Tech is like, this is to show that we can beat a team like Tech."
Red plays host to first ACC team since 1991
By Per Ostman
Cornell Daily Sun
November 21, 2003
The East Hill is buzzing with anticipation. Sunday marks the beginning of the 2003-04 Cornell men's basketball season, as the Red faces the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech in Newman Arena. It will be the first time since 1990-91, when the
North Carolina Tar Heels graced the campus, that an ACC team has visited Cornell.
"It's a huge game, for the team and for the whole school," said senior co-captain Ka'Ron Barnes. "The ACC is such a high-level league."
The Red has played the Ramblin' Wreck each of the past two seasons, losing both times. Last January in Atlanta, the Red managed only 55 points against the Tech press. However, this year's team is unfazed by its major-conference foe.
"We're not intimidated," said junior two-guard Cody Toppert. "Not intimidated at all."
"We look at them like they're just another team," added Barnes. "I feel like we have real good chance to beat them."
The Red has reason to be confident. Cornell returns all five of its starters from a season ago, including Toppert and Barnes, a consensus Preseason First Team All-Ivy selection. Also back is junior co-captain Eric Taylor, who leads all Ivy returners in rebounding. Reigning rookie of the year Lenny Collins and a finally healthy Gabe Stephenson round out the starting lineup.
The Red will need to call upon its veteran experience to combat the press-style employed by the Yellow Jackets. Barnes and Toppert will have to make quick decisions and avoid pressured turnovers as they bring the ball up the court.
"We've worked a lot in practice on breaking down their press," said Toppert.
"I've played against pressure my whole life," said Barnes. "I'm not worried."
Georgia Tech travels to Ithaca, N.Y., in the midst of the Preseason NIT, having beaten Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday and Hofstra Thursday. Tech will play in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden later next week.
The Yellow Jackets are led by junior guard B.J. Elder, who led Georgia Tech in scoring with 17 points on Tuesday. Also returning from last year's squad are juniors Isma'il Muhammad and Luke Schenscher, a 7-foot-1 center who could give Cornell problems down low.
The Red has spent lots of time in the film room scouting the tendencies of its ACC opponent.
"We're as prepared as possible for this game," said Toppert. "We know what we've got to exploit -- B.J. Elder doesn't create off the dribble well, Marvin Lewis doesn't attack the glass. Things like this. Knowing their styles will help us play our game."
The Red is expecting a large turnout at its season opener and doesn't expect to disappoint the crowd.
"In previous years, the fans were used to us losing," said Barnes. "We're going to be successful this year, and it's great that everyone is hyped up to see us play.
"We want a big crowd. Any team that's good, they have that. We need that."
"We're going to be ready to go," said Toppert. "Bring the enthusiasm."
Jackets sting Big Red
Coach Steve Donahue has long dreamed of a scene like Sunday at Newman Arena.
His Big Red was in a fight with ACC power Georgia Tech, trailing by one point with 13 minutes remaining in a nationally televised game.
There was a sellout crowd listed at 4,762, including a raucous student section that cheered every Cornell basket and jeered the Yellow Jackets and any call that went against the Big Red.
But Georgia Tech spoiled Cornell's perfect ending, scoring 11 consecutive points during four-minute span midway through the second half en route to a 90-69 victory against the Big Red.
B.J. Elder scored seven of his 15 points during the stretch. He also finished with 10 rebounds to hand Cornell a loss in its season opener.
Donahue knew if Cornell wanted to post an upset against the Yellow Jackets (3-0), it would need to rebound well and avoid turnovers.
Cornell accomplished the first, holding its own on the glass while getting outrebounded 44-37 (Gabe Stephenson had 10 rebounds for the Big Red). But the team struggled at times with Georgia Tech's press and turned the ball over 21 times.
"In the first half we were down four, but I thought we outplayed them except for some unbelievable mental lapses on some turnovers," Donahue said. "They stretch it to 11 (in the second half) and instead of playing sound basketball, we try to make it up in one possession. We didn't play the way we need to play to beat Georgia Tech.
"My feeling was we got more careless and tried to make up a deficit, even a four-point deficit, with over-penetration. We tried to do too much off the dribble and tried to make plays that weren't there. We also had a couple of easy layups that went in-and-out and that was critical because now they are going in transition and Georgia Tech is very good in transition."
Five Yellow Jackets, including Elder, scored in double figures. Jarrett Jack had 21 points while Marvin Lewis finished with 18. Seven-foot-one center Luke Schenscher added 15 and Isma'il Muhammad scored 12 points, four of which came on consecutive dunks during the 11-0 run.
"We prevented them from (scoring transition baskets) in the first half of the game, but for four possessions they came down and scored," said junior guard Cody Toppert, "and we didn't necessarily take bad shots, we just missed shots and we weren't able to get back and set up with our defense and they were able to come down (and score)."
Cornell found their shots more difficult to come by in the second half.
After shooting 48.4 percent from the field in the first half, including 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from 3-point territory, Cornell shot 30.3 percent in the second half and was just 1-for-12 from beyond the acr.
"I thought in the first half, we had three or four scouting report mistakes, and they took advantage of that," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "The second half, we did a much better job of recognizing where Toppert was and made (senior guard Ka'Ron) Barnes work for everything."
"Steve's team played great. They shot extremely well in the first half. They executed very well, got their shots and knocked them down. In the second half we paid a little more attention to their shooters, particularly Toppert."
Toppert scored all but two of his 16 points in the first half.
Barnes (21 points), Eric Taylor (14) and Stephenson (10) also reached double figures for Cornell.
Cornell managed to get its biggest lead of the game midway through the first half, going on an 8-0 run to take a 21-13 edge, fueled by a Barnes 3-pointer and four points from Taylor.
The Yellow Jackets used an 11-2 run to regain the lead, including seven straight when Barnes was briefly off the floor for a rest. The teams traded the lead 10 times in the first half and were tied on four other occasions.
Cornell's final lead of the game came with 7:24 remaining in the first half when Barnes made a layup to put the Big Red ahead 27-26.
"We have guys that can run the floor," Donahue said. "David (Lisle) and Cody got out on the break. I can't think of too many bad decisions in transition. Unfortunately, we've got to stop them, and we didn't stop them."
Georgia Tech took a four-point lead into halftime, and extended it to seven four minutes into the second half.
Cornell chipped away at the deficit with a tipped basket by Taylor and then free throws by sophomore Lenny Collins (one), Stephenson (two) and Taylor (one) to get within 55-54 with 13:14 remaining in the game.
With the crowd in a frenzy, Elder nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Yellow Jackets some breathing room.
The next time down the floor, Elder missed a jumper, but Muhammad was there for a dunk on the rebound. Elder then threw an ally-oop pass to Muhammad to push the lead to eight and finished the run with back-to-back baskets.
"B.J. is our best player and what he did in the second half is what I expect," Hewitt said. "If he gets looks, I keep saying he's the biggest secret in college basketball in the country."
Cornell never recovered.
While the game will go down as a loss, it will also could go down as building block for the program. The announced attendance was the second-largest ever at Newman Arena for a basketball game, only exceeded by a crowd of more than 5,000 which showed up the last time an ACC school - North Carolina - came to Ithaca in 1991.
Cornell men's basketball has long run a distant second on the East Hill winter sports pecking order.
Hockey rules the day, and for good reason. It tends to win conference championships and occasionally flirts with winning a national title. The atmosphere at Lynah Rink is not to be missed.
Cornell basketball, on the other hand, rarely wins, and its crowds are often so small they can be counted during player introductions. Newman Arena and Cameron Indoor Stadium are never confused with one another.
Sunday, Cornell took a big step in bringing its basketball program back to life when it hosted Georgia
Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In front of a nearly packed house and a small national television audience (the game was shown on CSTV, but not available on local cable), the Big Red gave the Yellow Jackets a big-time scare, and gave the fans a big-time thrill.
Although Cornell lost 90-69, it more than held up its own end. The Big Red trailed by just 55-54 with 13 minutes left, but the athletic ability and depth of the Yellow Jackets - a team that has already played twice on ESPN this season and will play No. 1 UConn in the Preseason NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday - eventually took over.
Far more surprising than Cornell's performance, but equally good to see, was the crowd, which was rowdy throughout and more importantly, existed.
The attendance was listed at 4,762, the second-largest basketball crowd ever at Newman for a Cornell basketball game (North Carolina drew approximately 5,000 fans in 1991).
Sunday's attendance was inflated somewhat (there were closer to 3,600 in attendance than 4,762), but the crowd was a stark contrast to previous years, even when Penn and Princeton come to town.
"The student body was tremendous, standing the whole game," said Cornell fourth-year coach Steve Donahue. "That is a real testament to their support of us. The guys appreciated that."
Getting a crowd at Newman Arena, a festive honest-to-goodness college basketball atmosphere, has been one of Donahue's main goals since he took over the program just prior to the start of the 2000-01 season.
But Donahue knows that it was no use crying about a lack of fan support if he didn't put a good product on the floor.
The Big Red has had just one winning season (1997-98) in the past decade. And while Cornell is usually competitive in its home games, the consistent losing makes it hard to draw good crowds consistently, especially in a town and at a school not famous for supporting any team sport other then men's hockey.
This year, by all appearances, the Big Red has a good product on the floor, and is considered one of the favorites for the Ivy League title.
Senior guard Ka-Ron Barnes should challenge for Ivy Player of the Year, and is the league's returning leading scorer, averaging 14 points per game last season. Barnes was a menace to the Yellow Jackets for much of Sunday's contest, finishing with 21 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Only his six turnovers was a negative.
"The atmosphere was terrific," Barnes said. "The support was great.
"When you go everywhere else, they have that kind of support and to have that here, it is good for us."
Joining Barnes in the backcourt is junior guard Cody Toppert, who had 14 first-half points against Georgia
Tech, and finished with 16. And should never be left alone from 3-point range.
Juniors Gabe Stephenson and Eric Taylor know how to bang inside. Stephenson had a double-double against the Yellow Jackets (10 points, 10 rebounds), while Taylor is the leading returning rebounder in the Ivy League, and finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds on Sunday.
Rounding out the starting five is forward Lenny Collins, who was the Ivy League Freshman of the Year last year.
"This is a very good team," said Georgia
Tech coach Paul Hewitt. "I expect them to be in the Ivy League race all season."
One possible weakness for the Big Red is its bench, or lack of it. Sunday, the Yellow Jackets wore down the Big Red, as all five Cornell starters logged at least 31 minutes. A pair of them cramped up near the end.
But three of Cornell's first four off the bench are freshmen and Donahue did not want to expose them too much in the first games of their college careers.
"We don't go that deep, yet," Donahue said. "I like my freshmen. It is just a hard game for them to get their first college (experience)."
Still, with the proper blend of experience and newcomers, Cornell's season looks promising.
Now, if only Sunday's crowd could prove to be the rule, and not the exception.
"It felt real nice to get in the flow and compete against a team in an atmosphere like that," Stephenson said. "I just hope that we get atmospherer like that the rest of the season. We have a lot of big games left. We have a lot of wins left to get. So it would be nice to see everybody back out again."
Cornell drops opener to Georgia Tech
Matt JamesCornell Daily SunNovember 24, 2003The student body turned out en masse for the men's basketball team Sunday, and the Red gave them a good fight. A crowd of 4,762 filled the seats of Newman Arena from tip-off to the last minute to support the team in its home opener against Georgia
Tech.Head coach Steve Donahue was grateful for the cheering section.
"The student body was tremendous," he said. "I appreciate it; our guys appreciate it."
Senior captain Ka'Ron Barnes agreed.
"The atmosphere was terrific. I think it was good for the school overall and the program," he concluded.
Unfortunately for the Red, though, the team couldn't convert the support into a win, falling to the Yellow Jackets, 90-69.
But much of the game was closer than the score would suggest. Cornell came into the second half down 42-38 and worked its way back to a one-point deficit with a 13:16 left in the game. Just when the Red looked like it might take the lead, though,
Tech launched a 14-2 run over four minutes to take back the momentum and put the game out of reach.
"A lot of it had to do with Georgia
Tech's athleticism," said Donahue.
Tech took over with two fast-break dunks and a stretch of dominating defense that saw it clamping down on the Red's outside shooting and gobbling up as many rebounds as it could.
With a deeper line-up,
Tech wore the Red down in the second half to take the advantage. The Yellow Jackets sealed the deal with an aggressive defense, holding Cornell to 30.3 percent shooting in the final period, with the Red shooting only 1-for-12 from 3-point land.
"I thought in the second half we paid a little more attention to their shooters," said
Tech head coach Paul Hewitt.
"That's one of the things we pride ourselves in," said Yellow Jackets guard Jarrett Jack, "the defensive pressure."
The Yellow Jackets benefited from the athletic play of junior All-ACC guard B. J. Taylor on both ends of the floor in the second stanza, when he contributed six rebounds and 12 points. Jack led the Yellow Jackets with 21 points and eight assists.
Turnovers killed the Red, as it gave up 21 in the game. Donahue cited that as the team's greatest problem.
"We got real careless," he said.
That led to easy points for
Tech and missed opportunities for the Red.
The second half score obscured a well played first by Cornell. In the first, the team played sharp, aggressive basketball, moving the ball around well and converting on its defensive rebounds.
In the initial period the team shot 53.8 percent on 3-point attempts -- including junior Cody Toppert shooting 4-7 from downtown -- moved the ball around well, and ran the fast break with success.
"In my opinion, we outplayed them in the first half," said Donahue.
The coach cited the team's defense and at times its rebounding as positives for the Red.
"When we rebound the ball we're pretty good," Donahue noted, saying that area will likely be key to the Red's success this season.
For the evening, Barnes led the way for Cornell with 21 points and six assists. Junior forward Gabe Stephenson made his return from injury with 10 rebounds, including six offensive boards -- half the team's total.
"It felt really good," he said about seeing his first extended time in more than a year. "It felt real nice to get into the flow."
Hewitt praised the Red's effort overall.
"This is a good team," he said. "They're going to be in the Ivy League race."
And to be sure, both the team and the school would be happy about that. It would undoubtedly lead to more crowds like the one the team saw yesterday, which would only make the Cornell harder to beat.
"I just hope we get atmosphere like that for the rest of the season," said Stephenson.
In anticipation of Cornell's season home opener on November 20 against Seton Hall, down below we post some archived news articles from Cornell's November 23, 2003 game in Newman Arena against Georgia Tech. 
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