No Shame In That Game: Cornell Challenges, But Can’t Top Kentucky

Kentucky 62, Cornell 45

The final score doesn’t reflect the challenge Cornell gave No. 1 Kentucky Thursday night, but anyone who watched the game saw a team full of non-scholarship players give a bunch of future NBA first-round picks all they could handle. Kentucky’s athleticism, speed and length were ultimately too much for
the Big Red, who were never able to get into a good rhythm offensively.

After jumping out to a 10-2 lead, Cornell let DeMarcus Cousins and UK capitalize on high-percentage shots in the paint to go on a 30-6 run. A 16-point halftime deficit was simply too much for the Ivy Leaguers to overcome, despite much improved play in the second half. Had adjustments been made earlier, the Big Red might have had a chance.

Kentucky’s defense shut down Cornell’s number one weapon, their three-point shooting, and the Big Red didn’t take advantage of what was given to them. Kentucky was double-teaming the ballhandler on screens, leaving the man rolling to the hoop wide open, but it was obvious to the Wildcats–and everyone watching–that the Big Red weren’t looking for that second option. Stymied beyond the arc, the Cornell players were taken out of their rhythm and weren’t able to create off the dribble or get aggressive in the paint.

Will Cornell Get Its Hollywood Ending?

Watch tonight’s game with fellow Cornell alums at
Harry Caray’s Wrigleyville!

Tip-off is at 8:57pm Central–see you there!

I wrote a guest spot on tonight’s Cornell/Kentucky game for the site One Great Season. Check out a snippet…

Any Given Thursday: Cornell Aims For Hollywood Ending

Thursday night when Cornell takes on Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, Hollywood better be watching.

Forget “Hoosiers,” the tale of the Big Red taking on Big Blue has
enough intrigue to make Oliver Stone commission the screenplay for “Any
Given Thursday.” Just look at the way the villain and underdog roles
are already fleshed out.

A team that’s won seven NCAA Championships and a team that’s only
appeared in seven NCAA Tournament games. A bunch of “one-and-done”
freshmen taking on a group of “one last run” seniors. A coach who’s
worked his way around the rules against a coach who’s worked his way up
the ranks. Kids playing for the scholarship money and a chance at the
NBA and kids playing for the love of the game and a chance to take a
break from studying.

The screenwriter won’t need to create new characters, either; these Cornell heroes already boast dramatic Hollywood story lines…

Keep reading…

Calling All Cornell Grads: Watch the Big Red in the Big Dance at Harry Caray’s Friday!

For the third year in a row, the Big Red are in the Big Dance! The No. 12 seed Cornell team will face off against the No. 5 seed Temple Owls in the opening round and ’87 alum Grant DePorter, President and Owner of Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group, is once again uniting Midwest Cornellians to cheer on their team. 

Watch the game with fellow Big Red alums and supporters in a private room at Harry Caray’s Steakhouse (33 W. Kinzie) this Friday afternoon at 11:30am Central.

The Big Red, who went 13-1 in conference play, went 15-1 in their last 16 games heading into the tourney. Their 43.4-percent shooting from three-point range is the highest in Division 1 ball and they’re equally as accurate overall, shooting  43.4-percent from the field to rank 16th. Cornell held tough against their three NCAA Tourney opponents this year. They fell to Syracuse early in the year, defeated America East champions Vermont in November and lost a heartbreaker to No. 1 ranked Kansas 71-66 in January, nearly snapping the Jayhawks’ 50-game home winning streak.

Temple won both the Atlantic 10 regular season title and the Atlantic
10 Tournament en route to a No. 5 seed, and their 29 wins this season
are the third most in team history. The Owls went 4-3 against NCAA
Tourney teams this year, defeating Siena, Villanova and Xavier,
splitting their two contests with Richmond and falling to Georgetown
and Kansas.

Click through to watch analysis of the match-up from ESPN, Fox Sports and CBS Sports…