News and Notes

Above, Cornell's Mark Coury scrambles for a loose ball during Cornell's 71-67 victory at Alabama. The Kentucky transfer lived up to expectations, contributing 18 minutes of hard nosed defense along with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 1 steal on a 2/2 performance from the floor. Below, Cornell and Ivy League Basketball news and notes.

• In Ivy League roster report news, Harvard's Peter Boehm and Peter Swiatek have left the Harvard basketball team. Both players were sophomores and neither were expected to earn substantial minutes this season due to a freshman class that was recruited to take over their positions. The transaction drops Harvard's roster to 16 players for this season and 15 for 2010-2011, but with no seniors on the roster next year, the Crimson still face substantial overcrowding in the younger classes.
  

• Denzel Washington flew to Penn State to watch the Penn Quakers take on the Nitany Lions. His son, Malcom, was just added the official Penn roster this week but he did not get into the game.
  

• Ivy League Weekend Results (Home Team Listed Second)

Friday, November 13
Yale 86 Sacred Heart 92(Connecticut Six) Box Score - Recap
Brown 68 St. Francis (N.Y.) 64 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 58 Boston College 89 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 87 Holy Cross 77 Box Score - Recap
Penn 55 Penn State 70 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 14
Princeton 71 Central Michigan 68 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 71 Alabama 67 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 15
Brown at Virginia Tech, 4 pm
William & Mary at Harvard, 2 pm
Dartmouth at George Mason, 4 pm

Monday, November 16
Yale vs. Hofstra, 6:30 pm (NIT at Storrs CT)
Penn at Villanova, 7 pm

Tuesday, November 17
Yale vs. UConn/Colgate, 4:30/7 pm (NIT Storrs CT_
Columbia at DePaul, 9 pm [SNY]

Wednesday, November 18
Rhode Island at Brown, 7 pm
Manhattan at Princeton, 7 pm
Cornell at UMass, 7:30 pm [online video from UMass available]

Friday, November 20
Brown at St. John's, 7 pm
Longwood at Columbia, 7 pm
Seton Hall at Cornell, 7 pm [SNY/Time Warner Cable Sports]
Bryant at Harvard, 7 pm

In the news media...

• FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman writes on Twitter, "Cornell with the not-really-of-an-upset against Alabama. Crimson Tide new coach Anthony Grant needs to upgrade talent in Tuscaloosa." Although, we note that Alabama's 6'8" JaMychal Green played for the USA National U18 Team in Argentina at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championships, played in the 2008 McDonald's All-American Game with the nation's top 25 players and was named the 2008 "Mr. Basketball" in the State of Alabama. Green was ranked the No. 21 prospect in the nation by Rivals.com. Meanwhile, 6'6" freshman Tony Mitchell was ranked the No. 37 prospect in the nation according to USA Today for the class of 2009. Perhaps Alabama needs to upgrade its talent to win an SEC title, but this program has talent light years ahead of an Ivy League team.

• The Providence Journal notes that Providence "improved to 2-0 with its win over Bucknell, but now faces an impressive Mercer team on Sunday. Then comes a trip to Alabama to face a Crimson Tide team that was upset by Cornell on Saturday in its season-opener."

• The New Britain Herald writes, "Sure, the Big Red drew more spectators than Ithaca, [College for basketball) pa]ticularly in recent years with Cornell grabbing back-to-back NCAA tournament berths. But Cornell’s biggest draw always has been — and one could argue always will be — its hockey team. Now if you’re looking for a truly memorable hockey experience, make your way to Lynah Rink some time."