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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell
Players Mentioned
Cornell Deals Men's Hoops 67-59 Defeat in Ivy Opener
January 14, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Though 13 Ivy League contests still remain in Princeton's season, the Tigers will have to rally early for the first time in any of the current Princeton players' careers. The Tigers have started at least 4-0 in the league in each of the last three years and at least 2-0 in each of the last four seasons.
"I think, plain and simple, we didn't come out to play," junior Ian Hummer said. "Everyone in the Ivy League could beat anyone at any point in time. They showed that tonight."
Douglas Davis matched assistant coach Brian Earl '99 as the only players in Princeton history with four seasons of at least 50 3-pointers, but not enough of Davis's attempts fell for the Tigers against the Red. In a battle of two teams accustomed to hoisting the three, Princeton fired and missed, while the Big Red looked inside.
As a team, Princeton (9-8, 0-1 Ivy) finished 6 of 27 from beyond the arc, while Cornell, led from distance on the year by their season's leading scorer Drew Ferry, put up 11 and made just two. From inside the arc, Cornell hit 44 percent, making 22 of 50.
"I thought we did an excellent job on Ferry. I don't think that was the key to the game," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of men's basketball, said. "They made shots when they needed to make them. They got stops and their pressure bothered us. We had turnovers to start the half and to start the game. That is uncharacteristic of us and it has to change."
Rebounding was also a shortcoming for Princeton despite playing a Cornell (6-9, 1-0) team that averaged an eight-rebound disadvantage coming into the night. Instead, the Red moved to 3-0 when outrebounding their foes, doing so 42-41 against the Tigers.
Davis led Princeton with 16 points, two more than Hummer's 14 as the junior forward crept closer to 1,000 for his career and now stands at 956. T.J. Bray also finished in double figures with 12 points, while Brendan Connolly, following his career-high 16 point game against The College of New Jersey, was next with six.
The loss came on a seven-assist night for Bray, tying his career high.
Galal Cancer led all scorers with 17 points as one of two Big Red players in double figures as teammate Shonn Miller joined him with 12 points.
Princeton led 29-28 at the half after a back-and-forth first 20 minutes that saw 18 lead changes and four ties.
Out of a 40-40 tie with 12:42 to go, Cornell went on an 8-0 run and never relinquished its lead. Princeton never got closer than four after Cornell's lead reached that margin. The second half saw Cornell outshoot Princeton 52 percent to 34.4 percent.
"I think it'll bring us back down to earth," Hummer said. "We won a good amount of games in the last month, and I think we were riding a high streak and this kind of put us down."
The Tigers will try to get back in the win column Saturday at Columbia for a 7 p.m. tip. The Lions lost their Ivy opener to Penn Friday night, 66-64.