Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Zach Finley & Douglas Davis:
Douglas Davis’ tying try from the top of the arc sailed beyond his target at the horn and Cornell gutted out a 48-45 win over Princeton to move back into a first place tie atop the Ivy League.
"I let it go and it felt a little long but I knew it was on line. I needed the backboard [for] it to go in," Davis said of one of his few second half misses. "I was praying that it would go in somehow, some type of way, but it didn't."
Ryan Wittman’s catch and shoot three with 1:38 remaining - his only triple of the night - looked like it had iced the game for the Big Red and silenced the packed house at Jadwin Gym, sending Cornell up 44-38, but Davis scored the Tigers’ last 11 points, putting them in the position to force overtime.
David finished with a game-high 20 on 6-10 shooting.
Wittman had 13 for Cornell and fellow senior Jeff Foote added 11 inside, perfect from the field.
"I thought it was a terrific basketball game. It was pretty physical. There was a fair amount of stuff going out there that wasn't smooth and pretty but I thought it was pretty intensely played," Princeton coach Sydney Johnson summarized. "I thought these guys really put their heart out. I was really happy with the effort of our team and certainly they should feel good about their effort. It's just a shame we couldn't win the game."
The biggest crowd to see a game in Princeton since a 2004 tilt versus Penn witnessed Cornell score on their first four possessions and take an early 8-0 lead.
Jeff Foote converted thrice, showing a soft touch over Tiger center Pawel Buczak, who was unable to body the 7'0" Foote away as he backed in.
Dan Mavraides' pump fake on the left wing got Chris Wroblewski to sail past him and Mavraides spotted up with 16:55 left in the half to finally put the Tigers on the board.
A deuce by Davis on the left baseline drew Princeton within three, but Alex Tyler's push over Zach Finley brought the lead back up to 10-5.
Mavraides' diagonal feed to Finley was banked home after a pump take and following a pass by Wittman through Tyler's hands, Mavraides took a handoff screen from Finley and evened the score from outside with 14:47 to go.
Cornell responded with eight straight a second time. Wittman drove and went glass. Patrick Saunders was pressured by Cornell's Jon Jaques and lost the ball over the sideline. Louis Dale turned the corner and scored before Kareem Maddox could block his shot, his only basket in seven tries.
Up six, a foul on Foote at the 11:12 mark that should really have been awarded to Tyler gave the Cornell center two personals and he was done for the half. Mavraides found Buczak inside and while Buczak could not convert the whistle came on his second chance. Foote took three shots in the 2:47 but did not have another field goal try until 14:35 into the second half.
Buczak missed both free throws.
A jumper by Tyler bounced in with one on the shot clock to rebuild Cornell's eight point edge with 8:18 showing.
Saunders' high arcing left corner three over the extended arms of Mark Coury inched the Tigers within five.
Wittman pulled up on the left elbow and drew Davis' second personal when he posted the diminutive guard. Coury dove to the hole and laid in a Wittman pass to extend the lead to 22-13 with 5:18 left.
Driven by a wild crowd, the Tigers made a push before the break. Finley was too strong off the glass on a cut, but Saunders rebounded and was fouled by Dale, making both free throws.
Mavraides went coast to coast after picking up a Tyler turnover and when Dale slipped on the arc, Marcus Schroeder pulled up for a long two that made it a one possession game. Cornell called time with 2:11 showing.
Wittman drove with the ball on his right hip and scored, but Maddox answered for Princeton inside. It was Maddox's only basket of the game, as he struggled mightily to a 1-9 tune.
Dale's three was short and the Tigers held for the final shot. Maddox posted and dribbled away from the block towards the free throw line, his shot blocked by Tyler.
Twenty minutes in and Cornell - eighth in the nation in threes made and shooting over 40% from deep this season - did not have a long jumper. The Big Red were 13th in the nation in assists per game and handed out but two in the first half.
Still, Cornell had the three point lead. The Tigers shot 8-21 from the floor (38.1%) and were outrebounded 16-9.
Saunders' runner was off the mark and following an offensive board by Buczak, a Mavraides pass was tracked down by Dale in the backcourt, outracing Davis for possession. Wroblewski connected from outside and the Cornell lead was doubled.
Saunders put back a Mavraides finger roll as it came off the iron and after Wittman's jumper bounded away, Davis' wild baseline jumper with the shot clock expiring somehow curved through the cylinder.
It was clear that the message at halftime in the Princeton locker room involved being more physical with Foote and bodying him further from the basket after he caught an entry pass. Foote threw a pass out of bounds when he could not get by Buczak.
Buczak faked a hand off screen to Davis and Davis curled into the paint, fouled by Tyler as he tried to spin the ball off glass. Both free throws were good and the score was tied.
Mavraides, who went scoreless in the second half, could not connect on an open triple with 15:44 to go and when play resumed Dale drove and was fouled by Saunders.
Dale, an 83.3% free throw shooter this season, was off on his first try but made the second to kick Cornell up 28-27.
Mavraides attacked the paint and dished to Davis setting up on the left wing for three, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game. Princeton called time to settle down, 14:23 left to unfold.
Wroblewski drove at Finley off glass to even the score and Tyler spun into the paint on an inbounds for a short jumper that made it 32-30.
"It just seemed like a couple of things that they did were a little too easy," Johnson said. "There were some drives that were right at the rim and that's not something that we allow too often."
Mavraides exploded into the lane for a lefty soar, but he was too strong off glass. Davis tried to control but the ball eventually came to Dale.
Davis came up with a loose ball after collecting a Wittman jumper and threaded the needle between two defenders for a lefty bounce pass that Hummer caught in stride and placed home.
Misses from Dale and Wroblewski were sandwiched between a wide open three try from Schroeder that did not connect.
Hummer stepped in front of a pass by Dale to Foote inside and Maddox controlled. With the shot clock running down Maddox had to force it up inside over Foote and Foote rebounded, calling time before he could be tied up.
Wroblewski drove into the lane and Finley answered inside with a reverse, found by Hummer out of a double team. The score was tied for the fifth time, 34-34.
Foote's first field goal attempt of the second half game came with 5:25 showing. He backed into Finley and soared above a block try, scoring while the whistle blew. Foote's free throw hit the back iron, bounced high enough to kiss the top of the backboard and fell in.
Hummer found Finley inside again, but Finley's shot and subsequent tip were no good and Finley picked up a personal during a loose ball.
A magnificent Foote jumper, spinning away from Buczak to the left baseline and scoring in one fluid motion made it 39-34 Cornell with 3:55 left and it looked like the defensive struggle was leaning towards the Big Red.
With a possession running out of time, Davis' step back crossover three over Dale gave the Tigers life.
Tyler missed inside and Schroeder rebounded in front of Foote, fouled on the play. Schroeder and Tyler both received technical fouls for bumping/jawing after play had stopped. It was Princeton ball with a chance to pull even when play resumed.
Davis spun by Dale and into the lane, but was whistled for a surprising carry. The ball went back to Cornell.
Wittman got inside the arc and was on the mark from the free throw line.
This time Davis spun by Dale again and was fouled by Wroblewski as he stepped into the lane. Davis had made 14 straight free throws, and had not missed since the exam break, but was off on his second try at the line. Cornell led 41-38 with under two minutes to go.
The Tigers had chased Big Red leading scorer and expert marksman Ryan Wittman all over Jadwin Gym. Wittman finally got a top of the key patented catch and shoot dagger with a smidge of space and he doubled the Big Red lead.
Inbounding with seven on the shot clock, the ball went inside to Hummer. He might have lost the ball going up. He might have been trying to muscle the ball outside. Either way the bounce came to Davis, who had a fraction of a second to hurl up a three that sailed through the net to make it 44-41 with a minute left.
There was a 12 second difference between the game clock and the shot clock, so Princeton had time to wait for the ball to get to Foote, whom Buczak fouled. Free throws are Foote's biggest weakness. He had made just 55% of his tries this year. His attempt was no good, rebounded by Hummer.
Instead of going for the tie, Davis pulled up from a step inside the arc and his silky jumper cut it to 44-43 Cornell.
Schroeder and Mavraides trapped Dale in the corner on the inbounds and the senior guard made both sides of his one and one.
Instead of going for the tie, Davis brought the ball up, darted into the lane, was bodied, regained possession and was fouled by Dale trying to get the ball up to the rim.
Davis made both free throws.
Should Cornell recover from their shocking loss at Penn and win the Ivy League for a third straight time, five seconds of pinball may be the moment the Big Red look back on as what saved their season.
Inbounding under the Princeton basket, the ball came to Dale in the far corner. Mavraides was able to get around Dale and save the ball back into play. The Tigers had a numerical advantage and were in an ideal scramble situation. The ball deflected twice, back out of bounds off Finley. Cornell retained with :09.4 showing. While Princeton never had both hands on the ball, they still had missed an opportunity to somehow go ahead.
Hummer had no choice but to foul Wittman, a 86.2% free throw shooter. Wittman's first try looked bad out of his hand, but it kicked up off the front rim and tickled in. The second try was true and the Big Red had a three point lead.
Dale looked to foul Davis before he could try to tie, but Davis juked left on Dale and began to motor.
"I felt that I beat my guy pretty bad and I wanted to take the shot earlier, but with Foote's length I didn't think I would be able to get it off," Davis said of the final possession. "I hit Pawel...and then I came back around."
Opting not to pull up from 27' away, Davis passed to Buczak, who set a tall screen and handed back to Davis drifting to his left. Davis' difficult jumper went long and Cornell erupted.
"I saw a lot of emotion tonight on both sides. You never want to lose, but it is really interesting to see how this game was played relative to games that have been played here in my tenure," Johnson said of Princeton's first Ivy loss in six tries. "It was just a drastically different basketball game and it is something I want us to have every time out."
"I saw Cornell...they looked like they won the Ivy League championship. They were pretty excited to beat us," observed Johnson. "That's how we want people to feel. We want people to respect that jersey."
If Princeton can match the intensity they had against the Big Red and a wild, boisterous crowd can fill Jadwin for five more home games, the rest of the Ivy League's respect of the resurgent Tigers will continue to grow.
After the game, Johnson, Davis and Finley were floored by the packed house and the return of a ravenous student section.
"I've never seen Jadwin like that. Ever. I've seen pictures, but it is lovely playing at Jadwin when it is like that," Davis said hopefully. "I can't wait to play in front of another crowd like that at home."
"Doug says he's never seen it like that. I've been here a little bit longer and I've definitely never seen it like that," added the senior Finley. "Just to know that we have that support from our fans and from the community is really great to see that."
"We want to win badly. We are about winning. To see that environment and to have these guys - and they put themselves in this position to have a big game like that, so they ought to take a lot of pride in that," Johnson said of the 5,775 on hand - a crowd that appeared to be several hundred larger than what was announced.
"The next step is to win a game like that. Terrific atmosphere, the wrong team won. That's all there is."
Notes:
-Princeton finished 16-44 on the night (36.4%), 6-14 from three (42.9%) and 7-10 at the line (70.0%). Cornell shot 19-42 (45.2%), 2-8 outside (25.0%) and 8-10 from the stripe (80.0%).
-The Big Red had a season low four assists and 10 turnovers. The Tigers' ratio was 10:9.
-Princeton remains the only team to hold Cornell under 50 points in the past three years.
-Maddox was a team-worst -11 in 18:34 of play. The leaners and hooks that worked the past three games were not effective versus the Big Red. Maddox also missed twice from outside and is 1-10 from three this year.
-The game was played at a season low pace of 50.
-Spotted in attendance on Saturday: Last year's senior class of Michael Strittmatter and Jason Briggs, plus former players Ahmed El-Nokali, Patrick Ekeruo, Howie Levy, Kit Mueller and the return of the 14 Club!
