News and Notes: Signature Win Hunt Moves to Syracuse, New York

Cornell's journey through "Heaven's Eleven" ends tonight-- the time span that The Cornell Basketball Blog is calling the 11 days between 11/14 through 11/24-- wherein the Big Red squared off against four very challenging major conference opponents in Alabama, UMass, Seton Hall and Syracuse. Cornell is on a quest to pick up "Signature Wins" that will impress the tournament selection committees during March. Through Heaven's Eleven, Cornell is 2-1 picking up victories over Alabama (SEC), UMass (A-10) and falling to Seton Hall (Big East). Below, some news and notes for tonight's game.

• Check out The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center for information about tonight's battle with the 'Cuse.

• NunesMagician.com writes, "Syracuse Doesn't Want to Fall Into the Corn-hole"

Here is a video preview of the game from Syracuse.com:

• Cornell gets some spotlight in today's Shootaround in the New Jersey Star Ledger:
  

Cornell sharpshooter Ryan Wittman is one of the reasons why the Big Red have big-time NCAA aspirations this season.

The Shootaround, Tuesday Edition: What to watch for in college basketball this week

After watching Seton Hall dismantle his sizzling hot Cornell team, Big Red coach Steve Donahue couldn't help but look at the larger picture.

During his postgame press conference following the Pirates' 89-79 win over Cornell Friday night, coach Bobby Gonzalez said that he felt this was a resume win for Seton Hall.

Think about that: a Big East team beat an Ivy League team and considered it a marquee win.

"I appreciate that," Donahue told The Shootaround. "I think it's a testament to what these guys have built here. I said to (Cornell), 'They're happy as heck that they won this basketball game.' Somehow an upper-eschelon team in the Big East is happy that they beat Cornell. I think it speaks volumes about what these guys have put together at Cornell."

Even though no Ivy League team has won a game in the NCAA Tournament since 1998 — when Princeton beat UNLV — Cornell is trying to change that. Including the way that the Big Red is approaching the bid process.

Since the automatic bid from the Ivy League is earned by winning the regular-season title, Cornell is taking no chances in case something goes wrong in conference play. Seton Hall was just one of a number of big-time matchups that the Big Red have lined up this season. From No. 10 Syracuse Tuesday night to road games against Bucknell, Davidson and LaSalle, as well as a home contest against Saint Joseph's — Cornell is taking an aggressive approach to scheduling. They've already pulled off two non-conference road wins against Alabama and Massachusetts. The Big Red will even travel to No. 1 Kansas on January 6.

And why shouldn't they? They have one of the best pure scorers in the country in Ryan Wittman. This is the same Cornell team that has already won back-to-back Ivy League titles and has been called the best team the league has had in nearly 20 years.

But Donahue isn't content to just accept losses this season. Cornell no doubt enjoys the compliments, but would like them to come after wins, too.

"I was really looking to see, 'Where are we? What's our quality?'" Donahue said. "I'm extremely impressed with what we're doing. How we're going about it. ... I think they realize that what's going to come from these other games is going to make us a better basketball team."

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3 THINGS I LEARNED FROM LAST WEEK

...3. Syracuse-Cornell might be one of the best early-year games.
Both of these teams can flat-out play. Syracuse looked tremendous last week, first dismantling No. 13 California and then No. 6 North Carolina. Wesley Johnson is a great fit for the Orange on both sides of the ball. He's long (perfect for Boeheim's 2-3 Zone) and he's athletic (perfect for those Scoop Jardine high passes). But Cornell is no slouch, as Ryan Wittman is a player. Trust The Shootaround — he can go toe-to-toe with any shooter/scorer/player in the country. If he's hot, he's the perfect player to destroy that Syracuse zone. Remember, he scored 33 points (27 on 3-pointers) last year in a 10-point loss to the Cuse.

• While we do not endorse gambling, one such gambling website, SBR has a good preview analysis of the game and picks the Orange:

Syracuse Orange make green tonight against Cornell Big Red

Jim Boeheim will not allow a letdown tonight for his Orange when Syracuse hosts the Cornell Big Red in a Big East/Ivy League battle at the Carrier Dome.

The 10th-ranked Syracuse Orange look to avoid a big-time letdown when they host Cornell tonight at the Carrier Dome.

The Orange are 4-0 (4-0 ATS) which includes back-to-back wins over a pair of nationally ranked teams, North Carolina and Cal. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said after the victory over the Tar Heels that the Cornell game would be the toughest game of the season.

The Big Red returns all five starters from a squad that went 21-10 last season, winning the Ivy League and advancing to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

When these two teams met a year ago Cornell, a 16-point underdog, led by 16 at the half before losing 88-78. The Big Red enters tonight’s game with a 2-1 record that includes wins at Alabama and UMass and a home loss to Seton Hall.

Cornell’s “bread and butter” is its 3-point shooting. Through the first three games the team has hit 13 of 29 (45%) from beyond the arc. They’ll need another big shooting night to challenge the 2-3 zone defense of Syracuse which has been lights out.

In four games the Orange has yet to allow an opponent to shoot better than 40% from the field or 30% from 3-point range. As both North Carolina and Cal will attest, the Syracuse lineup has bought into Jim Boeheim’s defense first philosophy and it’s resulted in the unbeaten start and the two big upset victories.

One of Cornell’s big problems in the early going has been rebounding where they’ve been beaten on average by seven boards per game. Syracuse has a slight advantage on the glass and will have a definite edge tonight against the smaller frontline of the Big Red.

The 'Cuse is shooting nearly 55% per game which is sixth in the nation, and averaging just over 89 PPG, the 12th-best total in the land.

Should the game boil down to free throws, Cornell will have a huge advantage with the Big Red draining 81% of their opportunities from the charity stripe.

This game is full of ifs and buts. If Syracuse continues to score like they’ve done thru the first games and if its defense can contain Cornell’s outside shooting, then the Orange should win it going way. But if Syracuse suffers any sort of letdown they’ll likely win but miss the cover.

I’m banking on Boeheim. I think the veteran coach will have his team ready to play and play hard. Lay the points as the Orange beats the Big Red and make us some green tonight.

Free Pick: Syracuse -14 (-110)