So, the first week of the semester has come and gone, and it’s beginning to set in—the slothful, luscious, and amazing month of break is over. In its place have entered classes, syllabi, meetings with advisors, and other not-so-fun things. But the thing that most people have forgotten in their quest to recapture a semblance of relaxation, now that the weekend has come, is that one of the most important basketball games in their time as a Columbian is this Saturday night at seven p.m. in Levien.
Looking at the schedule, one might say confusedly, “But it’s the second Ivy League game...and it’s against Cornell.” The answer to this type of confusion is that this year, the Ivy League is a completely different beast. Neither Penn nor Princeton was chosen as the favorite to win the league, rather, it was Cornell that looks to be the team to beat. In a match-up last Saturday in Ithaca, the Lions faced the Big Red to open the Ivy League season and fell, 70-64, in a tight contest. This Saturday, the two will meet again, and the outcome of the game will affect both teams—and the whole Ivy League—dramatically.
In the Disney movie “Remember the Titans,” Denzel Washington’s character knows that if his team loses one game, his role as coach will be in jeopardy. He knows that he must win every game in order to have a chance to keep his job.
This is similar to the case for the Light Blue on Saturday night. Having already lost to Cornell once this season, Columbia’s hopes to win the Ancient Eight this year will hinge on winning here on its home court. A loss on Saturday would put the Light Blue at 0-2 in the league, so that it would have to run the table in order to have a realistic chance to take the league title. Losing to Cornell would also result in two Lion losses against the Big Red, and in the case of a first place tie at the end of the season, the tiebreaker—head-to-head games—would go to Cornell.
This year, the Lions are viewed as a dark horse to win the league, which is better than what is normally said about most Columbia athletic programs. The opportunity for a league title has been four years in the making for Joe Jones’s team, and with Saturday comes the ultimate test.
Last week’s loss shouldn’t discourage fans, as the game was much closer than the final six-point margin would indicate. The teams were tied at halftime and traded buckets for most of the second half, but foul trouble hurt the Lions down the stretch. Since Cornell’s three main guards shoot more than 80 percent from the charity stripe and drew most of the fouls, the Big Red was able to convert easy points in the second half.
I wasn’t there to see the game—there are very few reasons why I would ever want to go for that godforsaken excuse for a college town again—but I did listen to the call on WWDJ. Listening to Jerry Reco and Dalen Cuff call the game, two things because clear to me: that Columbia’s offense needs to find some kind of flow, and that Cuff was very animated in his anger with the refs, maybe even a little too animated.
Maybe the refs weren’t that good, but even so, the Light Blue needs to adjust its game and its defense so that Cornell’s best free throw shooters—Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale, and Adam Gore—are well defended but not fouled.
On the offensive end, the Lions are going to need to work the inside-out game, going to forwards John Baumann and Ben Nwachukwu early on in the game. These two are the best weapons against Cornell’s defense and will need to be on the court together consistently in order to open the court for the guards.
Long story short, this game has the ability to make or break the Lions’ season. Every game from this point on is almost a ‘must-win’ for Columbia, and this weekend is the first chance for the home fans to catch a glimpse of the 16-game Ivy League regular season tournament. With a game of this magnitude rarely played by a Columbia team, let alone at an on-campus venue, this is a great chance for students to shake off the stress of the first week of classes and catch a solid basketball game.