Gamecenter: Cornell 57, Princeton 50

1st 2nd Final
Cornell (14-9, 7-2 Ivy) 36 21 57
Princeton (10-12, 1-7 Ivy) 25 25 50
Jadwin Gym – Princeton, NJ Boxscore
 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence Princeton used a 14-2 run to cut a 16-point deficit to four, and appeared poised to make it a one-possession game when a missed layup at Cornell’s end turned into a 2-on-1 break the other way. However, a charging call on Marcus Schroeder wiped out the bucket by the freshman, and Louis Dale responsed with a three-pointer. Kevin Steuerer hit his first three of the season to bring the Tigers within four, but after an Alex Tyler offensive foul, Mike Strittmatter missed a jumper that would have brought Princeton within two. Two Dale free throws were met with a long two-point jumper by Kyle Koncz. Ryan Wittman converted a pair of free throws, and Koncz put back a Strittmatter miss to make it 50-46. The Big Red ran clock before Wittman put a dagger in the Tigers with a moving jumper from just inside the arc, giving Cornell a six-point lead with 42 ticks left.
Key sign it was over Schroeder’s layup brought Princeton back within four with 34 seconds on the clock, but Dale was perfect at the line. Koncz and Schroeder each got looks at three-pointers, but neither would fall, and Dale made it a three-possession game with a free throw at the 19-second mark. It took the Tigers 13 seconds to get a Justin Conway layup, and free throws by Wittman with five seconds remaining sealed the deal.
Key performance Wittman snapped out of a shooting slump with a 20-point night, going 6-for-15 from the floor and 4 of 9 from three-point range on the night. The freshman wing added three rebounds and an assist in 39 minutes.
Key statistic Cornell owned a massive edge at the free throw line, attempting 32 free throws to just seven for Princeton. The Big Red outscored the Tigers 25-3 at the charity stripe. Dale singlehandedly bested the Tigers with an 8-for-10 performance at the line.
Notes

– Andrew Naeve recorded his third-straight double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Big Red.

– After Joe Scott said he might use Koncz only in a pinch, the junior saw 25 minutes, scoring a team-high 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer from about 24 feet out at the end of the first half.

– Steuerer came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points in 29 minutes.

– The win was Cornell’s third straight at Jadwin Gym and Steve Donahue’s fifth in six games against Scott.

– The Big Red opened the game with a 15-3 run.

– Cornell recorded just two field goals during the first 16:21 of the second half and finished the half just 4 of 16 (25.0 percent) from the field.

– The loss eliminates Princeton from Ivy contention and guarantees only the sixth non-winning Ivy season in school history.

– The Big Red heads down to Philadelphia for a showdown with first-place Penn (16-8, 7-1 Ivy) on Saturday, February 17 at 7:00 pm ET. The Tigers welcome Columbia (13-10, 4-5 Ivy) to Jadwin Gym at 7:30 pm ET.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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