Sophomore guard Chris Wroblewski has started all seven games for the Red, which travels to Lewisburg, Pa., today to take on the 4-3 Bucknell Bison. Cornell looks to extend its road winning streak to four.
By Zack Slabotsky
Cornell Daily Sun
December 2, 2009
The men’s basketball team will take its three-game winning streak to Pennsylvania, where it will face the Bucknell Bison (4-3, 0-0 Patriot) of the Patriot League. The Red (5-2, 0-0 Ivy) will face a Bison squad looking to avenge a 75-64 loss against Cornell a season ago.
Bucknell was a dominant force in the Patriot League from 2005 until 2007, during which time it reached the Patriot League’s championship game all three years, made the NCAA Tournament twice, and won tournament games against Kansas and Arkansas in consecutive years.
The past two seasons have been a different story in Lewisburg, Pa., however. The Bison lost more than two thirds of its total games during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, and finished tied with Lafayette for the worst conference record last season. The Bison are expected to rebound this season and were picked third in their conference in preseason polls.
Last season, Cornell earned a victory over Bucknell that was in many ways symbolic of the program’s ascent up the college basketball hierarchy. Current seniors Lou Dale and Ryan Wittman had 20 and 17 points, respectively, in leading Cornell to its first victory over Bucknell in six attempts. Bucknell had defeated Cornell in all five of the games the two teams played between the 2004 and 2008 seasons; however, the Bison could not overcome a 65 percent shooting night by the Red.
Tonight, Cornell has a chance to get its first road win against Bucknell in the Donahue era. The Red is 0-4 at Bucknell since Steve Donahue became head coach of the Red.
The current incarnation of the Bison relies on balanced scoring and stifling team defense. Bucknell has held opponents below 40 percent shooting thus far this season. On offense, no player averages more than 12.4 points per contest, but four players average at least 9.9. Junior point guard Darryl Shazier leads the Bison attack.
“Their point guard [Shazier] is very good at setting up his teammates, so we’re going to have to limit his penetration,” said sophomore guard Chris Wroblewski.
Shazier’s penetration has created open jump shots for his teammates.
“Their big guys can step out and shoot, so we’re going to have to know where those guys are at all times,” Wroblewski said.
The Red will also need a game plan to stop guard Bryan Cohen. Last year, as a freshman, Cohen scored 20 points at Newman Arena. Senior forward Patrick Behan could also pose a challenge to Cornell, although the Red defense held Behan to just four points a season ago.
The Red may again be without senior forward Alex Tyler, who missed the final two games of the Legends Classic and sat out yesterday’s practice with an injury. If he is unable to play, the Red will look to senior Mark Coury and junior Adam Wire to step up in his absence.
Red forward Ryan Wittman will be out to show why he was deserving of the Ivy League Player of the Week award, which he earned a share of for the second time this season last week. He has averaged 14.7 points in three career games against the Bison. He is averaging 17.1 points per game through seven games this season.
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