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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell
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Hot-Shooting Cornell Holds Off Princeton, 72-61
February 08, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Ryan Wittman scored 20 points and Jeff Foote had 18, including nine straight in a key first-half stretch, as Cornell remained undefeated in Ivy League play with a 72-61 win over Princeton Friday night at Newman Arena.
Kyle Koncz led the Tigers with 19 points, hitting five of Princeton's 12 three-pointers on the night, and helped keep Princeton (5-13, 2-1 Ivy) within striking distance until the final minutes. Cornell (13-5, 5-0 Ivy) won its seventh straight game and ended the night as the Ivy's only unbeaten team after Penn lost at Columbia.
The Tigers looked like they might be out of it down 10 points at 58-48 with seven minutes left, but Koncz then drilled two big three-point shots, on consecutive possessions, to make it 58-54. But Foote then scored in the lane and was fouled, and the Big Red never led by fewer than seven points after that.
"I think I've seen a lot of good things from my team here in the last three games, even though you can't even say it's ok to lose," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson after the game when asked about his team cutting Cornell's lead to one possession several times during the second half. "I thought Foote made a real difference for them. He's obviously big, and he's going to score when he gets the ball in tight, and we didn't do a good enough job of making it hard for him."
Foote shot 6 for 8 from the field and 6 for 9 from the line in 22 minutes off the bench, while Whitman's 20 points and eight rebounds were both game highs.
Princeton was hot from behind the arc in the early going, making five three-point shots in the game's first 12 minutes, including a Kevin Steuerer triple from the right wing that gave the Tigers a 24-17 lead with 8:43 left. But the Tigers then went cold from the field after that, making just two field goals in the half's final eight minutes.
Meanwhile, first Foote, and then Whitman, were leading Cornell to the lead. The 7-foot transfer from St. Bonaventure scored nine straight points, giving his team the lead for the first time at 28-27. Then, the sophomore forward hit a contested three-pointer and a running jumper in the lane on consecutive possessions, giving the Big Red a 35-29 lead. Jason Hartford's tip-in at the buzzer made it 37-29 at halftime.
The Tigers then scored the first five points of the second half and had two three-point opportunities from Lincoln Gunn to tie the game, but both missed, and Cornell's Adam Gore and Jason Hartford then hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to push the Big Red lead to nine points at 43-34.
Kevin Steuerer had a career-high 17 points for Princeton, while Zach Finley had 10 points in just 24 minutes. Cornell, which defeated Princeton for the sixth time in the the last seven meetings between the teams, shot 54% for the game and 65% in the first half.
Princeton led for almost all of the game's first 15 minutes but did not take the lead after Foote put his team ahead late in the first half. The Tigers fought back to within three points at 48-45 on a Koncz three-pointer with 11:20 left and within two on a Noah Savage three-point shot a minute later, but Wittman hit a big three-point shot for Cornell after that to put his team back ahead by five points.
The Tigers shot 10 for 20 in the first half and 12 for 23 (52%) from three-point range for the game. Princeton made 12 three-point shots for the second straight game, and Koncz moved into eighth place all-time at Princeton in career three-pointers with 141 with his five trifectas on the night.
"I thought we trusted our stuff and kept going to it and that allowed us to keep getting open looks in the second half," said Koncz, who shot 5 for 8 overall and 5 for 7 from three-point range. "It's a long season and there are a lot of games left, and hopefully we can clean up some things we didn't do well tonight and be ready for tomorrow night.
Princeton looks for its first win at Columbia since 2005 Saturday night. Game time at Levien Gym is 7 p.m.