Cornell fans cheer as the team is introduced before its game against Harvard last March.
Cornell center Jeff Foote, 1, celebrates a home victory over Dartmouth with fans last Februrary during the Big Red's Ivy League championship season. Cornell has won 19 straight games at Newman Arena, which is tied for the third longest such streak in Division I men's basketball.By Brian Delaney
The Ithaca Journal
March 6, 2009
ITHACA — Cornell has spent the better part of the last two seasons fortifying Newman Arena into a nightmare venue for opposing teams.
Never will that effort be potentially rewarded more than this weekend, should Cornell hold serve and capture its second straight Ivy League men's basketball championship and automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
The Big Red (19-9, 9-3) owns a 1.5 games lead in the standings over second-place Princeton (12-12, 7-4), with Penn in town tonight and those very Tigers visiting Saturday to wrap up the regular season. Cornell can clinch with a win and a Princeton loss at Columbia, or with a single win Saturday.
The Ivy League is the only Division I league without a conference tournament.
"It all comes down to this last weekend," said junior Ryan Wittman, Cornell's leading scorer at 18.5 points per game. "It should be fun; should be a great environment, if it's anything like last year."
Newman Arena was a sight to behold on March 1, 2008, when Cornell routed Harvard 86-53 for its first championship since 1988 in front of a standing-room only crowd. The student section stormed the court and reveled in the net-cutting ceremony, and two games later the Big Red polished off a rare 14-0 romp through the league slate.
As Cornell's three league losses this season indicate, the unanimous preseason favorites have absorbed a few body shots while defending their title. The one constant has been their play at home.
Cornell's 19-game win streak at Newman is tied for third longest in Division I with Pittsburgh and Dayton. The program has won 30 of its last 33 in the building, and hopes to exploit that advantage beginning with tonight's game against the struggling Quakers (9-16, 5-6). Seven of Cornell's top 10 scorers are shooting 50 percent or better in 11 home games this season.
Although tickets for both games were still available as of Thursday night, a pair of sellouts are likely.
"My point all the time about playing well at home is that it's more exciting, it's more enjoyable to have your friends, your family and the students going crazy," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. "It doesn't make the job any easier. You've got to have great execution; you've got to play with great energy and you've got to execute. The home crowd doesn't help with that, in my opinion. So if you understand that, it's going to be a much more enjoyable time to play at home."
Cornell beat Penn, 88-73, on Feb. 7 in Philadelphia, one night after getting stifled by 20 points at Princeton. The Quakers have endured a slew of injury problems, and Penn's student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, has reported that leading scorer Tyler Bernardini is "real questionable" with a concussion suffered against Brown on Saturday.
It will be the second time this season Penn is catching Cornell coming off a loss. The Big Red fell at Harvard on Saturday, 71-70, with a share of the league championship on the line.
Never will that effort be potentially rewarded more than this weekend, should Cornell hold serve and capture its second straight Ivy League men's basketball championship and automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
The Big Red (19-9, 9-3) owns a 1.5 games lead in the standings over second-place Princeton (12-12, 7-4), with Penn in town tonight and those very Tigers visiting Saturday to wrap up the regular season. Cornell can clinch with a win and a Princeton loss at Columbia, or with a single win Saturday.
The Ivy League is the only Division I league without a conference tournament.
"It all comes down to this last weekend," said junior Ryan Wittman, Cornell's leading scorer at 18.5 points per game. "It should be fun; should be a great environment, if it's anything like last year."
Newman Arena was a sight to behold on March 1, 2008, when Cornell routed Harvard 86-53 for its first championship since 1988 in front of a standing-room only crowd. The student section stormed the court and reveled in the net-cutting ceremony, and two games later the Big Red polished off a rare 14-0 romp through the league slate.
As Cornell's three league losses this season indicate, the unanimous preseason favorites have absorbed a few body shots while defending their title. The one constant has been their play at home.
Cornell's 19-game win streak at Newman is tied for third longest in Division I with Pittsburgh and Dayton. The program has won 30 of its last 33 in the building, and hopes to exploit that advantage beginning with tonight's game against the struggling Quakers (9-16, 5-6). Seven of Cornell's top 10 scorers are shooting 50 percent or better in 11 home games this season.
Although tickets for both games were still available as of Thursday night, a pair of sellouts are likely.
"My point all the time about playing well at home is that it's more exciting, it's more enjoyable to have your friends, your family and the students going crazy," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. "It doesn't make the job any easier. You've got to have great execution; you've got to play with great energy and you've got to execute. The home crowd doesn't help with that, in my opinion. So if you understand that, it's going to be a much more enjoyable time to play at home."
Cornell beat Penn, 88-73, on Feb. 7 in Philadelphia, one night after getting stifled by 20 points at Princeton. The Quakers have endured a slew of injury problems, and Penn's student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, has reported that leading scorer Tyler Bernardini is "real questionable" with a concussion suffered against Brown on Saturday.
It will be the second time this season Penn is catching Cornell coming off a loss. The Big Red fell at Harvard on Saturday, 71-70, with a share of the league championship on the line.
"There were a bunch of things that didn't go our way," said 7-foot senior center Jeff Foote (12.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg), a Spencer-Van Etten graduate. "Especially things we do very well, like free throws. We didn't capitalize on that. We had a lot of dumb fouls and put them in a great situation where they were shooting one-and-one with like 12 minutes left."
Foote spent a good chunk of the game on the bench, due to foul trouble. His presence was clearly missed.
"If he stays on the floor for longer times, we're a much better basketball team, offensively and defensively," Donahue said. "In practice he's been very dominant on both sides of the ball."
Wittman has been terrific lately, averaging 19.3 points in seven games since the Princeton loss. The school's all-time leader in 3-pointers, the 6-6 junior is shooting 55.8 percent (24 for 43) from behind the arc during that stretch.
He said he can sense the team has put the Harvard loss behind them. Considering what's at stake, they have no other choice.
"We better," he said. "There's a championship on the line. We'll be ready to go. Playing at home, we've been playing well here all year, so we're looking forward to it."
Last time out: Sophomore Harrison Gaines scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four assists for Penn, which rallied to beat Brown 64-54 last Saturday.
Last time vs. Cornell: Led by Ryan Wittman's 21 points, four Big Red players finished in double figures in an 88-73 win at the Palestra on Feb. 7.
"Very physical," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. "I think they play very good offense; they throw a lot of schemes at you. There's no trickery to guarding them. It's not like, ‘Hey, they're weak at this or weak at that.' You've got to guard the post. They've got good perimeter players, they move the basketball and play a lot of guys."
Key players: Tyler Bernardini (6-6, 205, Soph., F), Harrison Gaines (6-0, 170, Soph., G), Zack Rosen (6-1, 175, Fr., G), Cameron Lewis (6-8, 225, Sr., F), Jack Eggleston (6-8, 215, Soph., F).
Statistically: Penn went 1-5 at the Palestra this year in the league. ... Bernardini (13.7 ppg) and Gaines (10.3) are the two team's double-figure scorers. Gaines had a career-high 20 against Cornell in February. ... Rosen leads the Ivies in assists per game at 5.08. ... Penn has lost three straight to Cornell. ... Cornell has won 19 straight games at home.
Outlook: Between injuries and youth, the Quakers have had a forgettable season by their lofty standards, and now Bernardini's status for tonight is in question. Penn's student newspaper reported this week that Bernardini suffered a concussion against Brown and is "real questionable" for the Cornell game.
Penn played Cornell tough at Newman Arena last year — also without Bernardini — before losing 87-74. Gaines scored 19 points and Andreas Schreiber, out for the season with a shoulder injury, had a big night with 19 and strong defense against Cornell center Jeff Foote.
The Quakers have struggled to make shots, especially from beyond the arc (.322 on the year). If Bernardini can't go, senior Kevin Egee will need to step in and provide a scoring boost. He's certainly capable of doing it. But with Penn out of the Ivy League championship race and Cornell attempting to secure its second straight title, Penn must start strong. If the Big Red gets in rhythm early, it'll be a long night for the Quakers.
It's fitting that Penn and Princeton, the perennial league powers, stand in Cornell's way.
"In this league, that should be part of it because they've done so well over the years," Donahue said. "To earn it, you've got to beat these guys and we're looking forward to that and embracing that challenge."
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