Team Play, Hot Shooting Catapult Cornell’s Fast Start

Chosen to win the Ivy League by reporters, the Cornell basketball team is living up to the hype with victories over Army and Siena, thanks to a high-powered offense that is averaging 88 points per game. The Big Red is 3-1 on the season with its most impressive wins coming of late. After defeating Army, a team which beat Columbia 81-55, by 15, the Big Red squeaked by preseason Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference favorite Siena 83-77.

Last season Cornell was one of the best-shooting teams in the Ancient Eight as it shot 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range. This year it improved upon that performance, shooting 51 percent from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc, and 77 percent from the free-throw line.

The Big Red owes much of its success to the team’s balance, as six different players average over 10 points a game and eight play at least 15 minutes. Sophomore guard Louis Dale, who was just named Ivy Player of the Week, is averaging 15 points per game and eight assists, while sophomore guard/forward Ryan Wittman leads the team with 15.5 points per game and 13 3-pointers.

While Cornell is turning the ball over nearly 18 times a game, it also leads the Ivy League in assists with 20 per game. Of its 126 field goals, 80 have been assisted, good for 63 percent. Dale and junior guard Collin Robinson have combined to average 14 assists per game—more than the entire Cornell squad averaged last season.

Growing Pains

Coming into the season with its success depending heavily on freshmen, Penn is taking its lumps early in the season as it has started 2-4 and is turning the ball over 17.3 times a game. With two-time Ivy Player of the Year Ibrahim Jaaber and All-Ivy first-team player Mark Zoller gone, the Quakers start three freshmen: guard Harrison Gaines, guard/forward Tyler Bernardini, and forward Jack Eggleston.

The team’s youth has shown itself early as Gaines is turning the ball over 3.5 times a game despite earning Co-Freshman of the Year honors this past week. Eggleston, who is shooting 57 percent, is also turning it over more than three times a game.

Offensively, the Quakers are putting in 73.5 points a game but struggling with their shot. They are shooting 43 percent from the field and just 27.6 percent from three-point range. They attempted over 50 three-pointers last season. With games against Villanova and North Carolina coming in the next couple of weeks, Penn will not get a great chance to fix its offensive woes.

A Successful Homecoming

Last Saturday, Brown recorded its second-ever win against a Big Ten opponent when it defeated Northwestern 73-67 in Evanston, Ill. However, perhaps an even bigger story was the play of freshman forward Peter Sullivan. Sullivan, who had scored four points on the season coming into the game, poured in a career high of 19 to lead the Bears. He scored 16 in the second half. The Bears led by eight at the half but then lost the lead. With the score knotted at 64, Sullivan sank both ends of a one-and-one to give the Bears the lead for good. He also made another one-and-one with 22 seconds remaining to seal the game. He made five of seven shots, including three from long distance, and sank all six of his free throws.